Cardinal Joseph Zen. / Bohumil Petrik Rome Newsroom, Nov 25, 2022 / 03:02 am (CNA). Cardinal Joseph Zen and five others were found guilty on Friday of failing to register a fund that helped pay for the legal fees and medical treatments of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.The 90-year-old cardinal and former bishop of Hong Kong was fined about $500 (HK$4,000). Each of the other trustees of the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund was fined the same amount. Zen told reporters after the verdict on Nov. 25: “Although I'm a religious figure, I hope this (case) won't be associated with our freedom of religion. It's not related.”The cardinal appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court wearing a pectoral cross, clerical color, and a facemask. He used a cane to walk.“I'm just a Hong Kong citizen who strongly supports providing humanitarian assistance," he said, according to Reuters.Zen’s trial from September to November focused on whether it was necessary for the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund trustees to apply for local society registration between 2019 and 2021.The cardinal’s lawyer Robert Pang argued in court last month that imposing “criminal sanctions on the failure to register must be an infringement of freedom of association.”Magistrate Ada Yim ruled on Friday that the fund was a “local society” and was subject to its rules, but she did not apply the maximum penalty for the offense of a roughly $1,200 fine. Yim said in her judgment that the fund “had political objectives and thus it was not established solely for charitable purposes.”Margaret Ng, a lawyer and fund trustee who was convicted with Zen, told reporters outside of the court that the ruling was significant because it is the first time that anyone in Hong Kong had been convicted under the Societies Ordinance for failing to register a society.“It is also extremely important about the freedom of association in Hong Kong under Societies Ordinance,” Ng said, according to AP.Along with Zen and Ng, the other convicted trustees of the fund were singer-activist Denise Ho, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-Keung, and ex-legislator Cyd Ho. Sze Ching-wee, the former secretary of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, was also charged on Friday with a smaller fine. Sze was arrested earlier in November under Hong Kong’s national security law. He has been released on bail, and is required to report to the police in February.The cardinal and the other trustees of the fund were arrested in May along with other democracy activists under Hong Kong’s strict national security law and released on bail shortly after. The South China Morning Post reported that the ruling in Zen’s trial can be seen as “a prelude to more legal troubles … as national security police continue to probe into the group’s alleged collusion with foreign forces.”

Cardinal Joseph Zen, the former bishop of Hong Kong, pictured on Feb. 18, 2021. / Yung Chi Wai Derek/Shutterstock. Rome Newsroom, Nov 19, 2022 / 05:10 am (CNA). Days after Cardinal Joseph Zen’s defense lawyer made his closing arguments in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, one of the pro-democracy advocates on trial with Zen was arrested under Hong Kong’s national security law.Sze Ching-wee, the former secretary of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, was arrested at the Hong Kong airport on Nov. 5. Police told the Hong Kong Free Press that Sze was suspected of conspiring “to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.”Sze has been on trial with the 90-year-old former bishop of Hong Kong and four other trustees of the pro-democracy 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. The verdict in the trial is expected to be handed down on Nov. 25.Those accused with Zen and Sze are lawyer Margaret Ng, singer-activist Denise Ho, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-Keung, and ex-legislator Cyd Ho.Cyd Ho is already jailed for a different charge. Sze has been released on bail and is required to report to the police in February. Zen and the fund’s other trustees were arrested in May by national security police but the cardinal was released on bail and now faces a less serious charge with a maximum penalty of a $1,200 (HK$10,000) fine. All six have pleaded not guilty to charges that they failed to apply for local society registration for the now-disbanded fund that helped Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters pay for their legal fees and medical treatments. Senior Counsel Robert Pang defended Zen in court and argued on Oct. 31 that imposing “criminal sanctions on the failure to register must be an infringement of freedom of association.”Pang has also represented Jimmy Lai, a Catholic pro-democracy advocate and former publisher of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily who has been jailed since December 2020 for violating the national security law.Lai’s trial is scheduled for Dec. 1. Pang told local media that he would file an application on Nov. 18 to halt the trial on the grounds that it would be heard by a panel of three judges instead of a jury, the usual protocol for trials at Hong Kong’s High Court.In a recent interview, Hong Kong’s current bishop said that the Catholic Church has “not remained idle” in the face of challenges posed by the national security law.Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan, who has led the Diocese of Hong Kong for nearly a year, has remained largely out of the public eye and has chosen not to make any statements since the start of Zen’s trial in September.Chow said in an interview with a local Jesuit publication that Catholic institutions had increased support for young people who are in jail by providing education and rehabilitation. According to the South China Morning Post, the Catholic Church runs 224 social and charitable organizations across Hong Kong, as well as 249 educational institutions with 140,000 students.“The difficulty of the national security

Cardinal Joseph Zen (right) arrives at a court for his trial in Hong Kong on Sept. 26, 2022. / Photo by PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images Rome Newsroom, Oct 31, 2022 / 12:10 pm (CNA). Lawyers defending Cardinal Joseph Zen and five other Hong Kong democracy activists took the floor Monday in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, the same courthouse where a Protestant pastor was sentenced to one year in jail for sedition last week.In the third court date this month, Zen’s defense argued before Principal Magistrate Ada Yim Shun-yee on Oct. 31 that the charges against the trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund should be dismissed.The 90-year-old cardinal and the fund’s other trustees have been charged with failing to apply for local society registration for the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund between 2019 and 2021. The fund helped pro-democracy protesters pay their legal fees until it dissolved itself in October 2021.Hong Kong’s Societies Ordinance required any club, company, partnership, or association of persons to register with the police commissioner or ask for an exemption within one month of its establishment.According to the defense, the trustees did not have reciprocal rights and responsibilities and therefore did not set up a society as defined by the ordinance, Asia News reported.The prosecution argued last week that the fund needed to be registered with the police because of its “massive” size and “systematic” mode of operation, according to the South China Morning Post. Zen and the other democracy activists could face a $1,200 (HK$10,000) fine for violating the ordinance.The retired bishop of Hong Kong was arrested in May along with other democracy activists under Hong Kong’s strict national security law but now faces a less serious charge. He has been free on bail since early May.Last week, a Protestant pastor was convicted of sedition in the West Kowloon court for having criticized a judge for losing her “conscience” and clapping during a trial earlier this year over a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.Reverend Garry Pang Moon-yuen was sentenced to one year in prison on Oct. 27. The 59-year-old pastor said: “I may have lost the case on paper, but in terms of defending conscience and justice, and in terms of safeguarding the rule of law, I am victorious.”

null / Credit: Mike Labrum / Unsplash Rome Newsroom, Oct 31, 2022 / 04:40 am (CNA). Catholic bishops in South Korea have offered condolences to the bereaved families of the more than 150 people killed in a crowd surge during Halloween festivities in Seoul on Saturday night.The South Korean bishops’ conference released a statement on Oct. 30 offering prayers for the immediate recovery of the injured and calling on civil authorities to “thoroughly examine” what led to the disaster.The bishops underlined that nothing in society should be put before human life and dignity and asked local authorities to respond accordingly to ensure that a disaster like this is never repeated.Police in Seoul announced on Oct. 31 that they had launched a 475-member task force to investigate how the crowd surge developed. The Associated Press reported that an estimated 100,000 people celebrated in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood when the crowd surge occurred.Among the victims was Anne Gieske, an American college student from Kentucky studying abroad in South Korea, and 25 other foreign nationals.The Korean bishops offered to accompany the bereaved families of the disaster victims and entrusted “the victims who sadly lost their lives in the disaster in Itaewon in Seoul to God’s mercy.”Pope Francis prayed for the victims of the crowd surge at the end of his Angelus address.“And let us also pray to the Risen Lord for those, mostly young people, who died last night in Seoul from the tragic consequences of a sudden crowd surge,” the pope said.

Cardinal Joseph Zen arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on May 24, 2022, in Hong Kong, China. / Photo by Louise Delmotte/Getty Images Rome Newsroom, Oct 27, 2022 / 08:24 am (CNA). The trial of Cardinal Joseph Zen resumed in Hong Kong on Wednesday, days after the Vatican announced the renewal of its agreement with Beijing. Prosecutor Anthony Chau Tin-hang took the floor on Oct. 26 in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, where Zen and five other pro-democracy activists have been charged for failing to apply for local society registration for the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund between 2019 and 2021.The prosecution argued that the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund needed to be registered with the police because of its “massive” size and “systematic” mode of operation, according to the South China Morning Post.The fund helped pro-democracy protesters pay their legal fees until it dissolved itself in October 2021. Chau argued that the fund was political in nature and therefore did not qualify for the exemption in Hong Kong’s Societies Ordinance for organizations set up “for religious, charitable, social, or recreational purposes.”The defense will make its arguments before Principal Magistrate Ada Yim Shun-yee on Oct. 31.According to the defense, the Societies Ordinance was unconstitutional, gave an ambiguous definition of a “society,” and had requirements that went beyond what was necessary to protect national security, Asia News reported.The Societies Ordinance required any club, company, partnership, or association of persons to register with the police commissioner or ask for an exemption within one month of its establishment. Zen and the other democracy activists could face a $1,200 (HK$10,000) fine for violating the ordinance. The cardinal was arrested in May along with other democracy activists under Hong Kong’s strict national security law but now faces a less serious charge. He has been free on bail since early May.All the defendants have pleaded not guilty. Those accused with Zen are lawyer Margaret Ng, singer-activist Denise Ho, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung, activist Sze Ching-wee, and ex-legislator Cyd Ho, who is already jailed for a different charge.The 90-year-old and retired bishop of Hong Kong’s most recent court appearance took place four days after the Vatican announced its decision to renew for another two years its provisional agreement with the Chinese government on the appointment of bishops. Zen has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Vatican’s agreement with China since it was first signed in 2018.

Pope Francis on Oct. 12, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA CNA Newsroom, Oct 12, 2022 / 09:00 am (CNA). Pope Francis on Wednesday called on Asia’s Catholic bishops, currently gathered in Thailand, to discern what the Holy Spirit is telling them. Marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), more than 150 bishops from two dozen nations across the region are meeting in Bangkok from Oct. 12–30.In his video message, Pope Francis said he wished “in some way to accompany you in the work of fraternity and exchange of ideas that you will carry out.”The pope told Asia’s bishops they had to answer the question of what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Churches in Asia.FABC president Cardinal Charles Maung Bo said in a message published on the event’s official website: “The baton of interpreting Christ to the modern man and woman, I think, passes on to Asia. Yes, I strongly believe this is the Asian Millennium.”Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.Bo, archbishop of Yangon, is the first cardinal from Burma and one of several Asian prelates considered to personify the growing prominence of the Church in Asia.The FABC was established in 1970 on the occasion of Pope Paul VI’s visit to Manila, where he encountered 180 Catholic bishops from across Asia.Bishops at the time, Pope Francis said Oct. 12, “noted that the masses were awakening from fatalism to a life worthy of man … culturally diverse societies were awakening to become a true community of peoples.”“This meant that the Church in Asia was called to be more authentically the Church of the poor, the Church of the young, and a Church in dialogue with Asian brothers and sisters of other confessions,” the pontiff added.With the notable exception of the People’s Republic of China, most Asian countries today are members of the FABC, now gathering in Thailand. Pope Francis said on Wednesday, in doing so, the Church was “forming; it is strengthening on the way.” The celebrations marking the federation’s anniversary, initially planned for the year 2020, had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The gathering now underway has the theme “FABC 50: Journeying together as peoples of Asia ‘…and they went a different way’” (Matthew 2:12). In an earlier message to Cardinal Bo, Pope Francis said this theme was “most fitting” within the broader context of the upcoming Synod on Synodality. “I pray that the deliberations of the general conference will enable your local Churches to develop, within the polyhedric unity of the People of God, creatively ‘different ways’ to proclaim the joy of the Gospel, to form new generations of missionary disciples, and to labor for the extension of Christ’s kingdom of universal holiness, justice, and peace,” the pope said.Pope Francis concluded his message on Wednesday by blessing those gathered in Thailand. Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a leading figure at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Evangelization of Peoples, will preside over the closing Mass on Oct. 30.

Andrew Thorburn (seen here in a 2015 photo), a former Australian banking executive and current chairman of church affiliated with the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, stepped down Oct. 4, 2022, one day after being appointed chief executive of an Australian rules football club due to public backlash. / Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images CNA Newsroom, Oct 7, 2022 / 10:14 am (CNA). Two Australian archbishops have warned of the exclusion of Christians from the public sphere after a football club executive resigned because his ecclesial community is pro-life and teaches that practicing homosexuality is a sin. One day after being appointed chief executive of the Essendon Bombers, an Australian rules football club in Melbourne, Andrew Thorburn stepped down from the role following a public backlash.The 57-year-old is chairman of City on a Hill church, which is affiliated with the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne.Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews, of the Australian Labor Party, joined critics, condemning the church’s stance on homosexual acts and abortion as “absolutely appalling.”According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Essendon president David Barham asked Thorburn to choose between being CEO and his chairmanship of the church.Thorburn chose his church.After his resignation, Thorburn said, “It became clear to me that my personal Christian faith is not tolerated or permitted in the public square, at least by some and perhaps by many.”In a statement published Wednesday, Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne said, “This situation sends a chilling message to ordinary faith believers, … that they can’t be trusted to exercise leadership and service in the community. I offer a word of encouragement to them.”“But frankly, if Essendon can’t be inclusive and fair to supporters who hold a religious faith, maybe it’s time to find a new club,” he added.In the State of Victoria, where Australian rules football is simply “the footy” and enjoys fervent devotion and an egalitarian and inclusive reputation, the archbishop’s words drove home his central point: “This has been a polarizing and divisive moment. It has not been about respecting diversity.”Comensoli added his thoughts were with “the families who have long supported their club, now wondering if their beliefs are acceptable to the leadership of the club they belong to or sponsor.”Thorburn’s resignation was not the first time that sport, Australia’s once “great unifier, is giving us increasing examples of intolerant and mean-spirited marginalization of Christians,” Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney said in a statement on Oct. 6.Fisher mentioned the cases of both rugby player Israel Folau and “the Manly Seven,” two recent examples in which another football code was embroiled in a public controversy over attitudes toward LGBT.“Respect and equality, the ‘virtues’ of our time, are being demonstrated time and time again to be a one-way street,” Fisher said.“Any organization that trumpets tolerance, inclusivity, and diversity yet excludes people based on their religious beliefs must ask serious questions of itself.”“People of faith continue to contribute so much to our country in sport, in health, education and social welfare, in professional and political life,

Pope Francis prays on St. Peter's Square, Oct. 5, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA CNA Newsroom, Oct 7, 2022 / 02:31 am (CNA). Pope Francis has expressed deep sorrow and mourning at the news of a deadly rampage at a day care center in Thailand that left at least 34 people dead — 23 of them children. In a telegram signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the pontiff offered his heartfelt condolences. “Deeply saddened to learn of the horrific attack that took place at a child-care centre in Uthai Sawan, His Holiness Pope Francis offers his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this act of unspeakable violence against innocent children,” the message said.The pope prayed that grieving families and all those injured would receive support from their neighbors and concluded his message with “blessings of peace and perseverance in every good.”According to media reports, the massacre was perpetrated by a single man, armed with a gun and knife, on Oct. 6 in the town of Uthai Sawan, some 310 miles northeast of the capital Bangkok. Authorities identified the man as a former police officer, apparently facing trial on a drug charge. The motive is still the subject of an ongoing police investigation. Drawing on local media coverage, Reuters reported the perpetrator had initially gone to collect his child after attending court earlier in the day. Upon not finding his child there, he began the attack.According to a report by BBC News, only one child survived the killing spree.The 34-year-old attacker then returned home, killed his wife and stepchild before committing suicide, several media drawing on local authorities reported. The massacre is understood to be one of the worst involving children in history.

Carlos Ximenes Felipe Belo, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts related to East Timor, speaks during an Indonesian Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) public hearing in Jakarta, March 26 March. / Photo credit: AHMAD ZAMRONI/AFP via Getty Images St. Louis, Mo., Sep 29, 2022 / 14:54 pm (CNA). The Vatican confirmed Thursday that Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, a Nobel laureate and bishop from the Southeast Asian nation of East Timor, has been under “certain disciplinary restrictions” since September 2020 related to accusations of sexual abuse of minors. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican Press Office, said in a Sept. 29 statement to the press that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was “first involved in this case in 2019” and imposed restrictions on Belo the following September. “These included limitations to his movements and to the exercise of his ministry, the prohibition of voluntary contact with minors, of interviews and contacts with Timor Leste,” Bruni said.“In November 2021 these measures were modified and reinforced. On both occasions, the measures were formally accepted by the bishop,” he said.Belo, 74, a priest of the Salesians of St. John Bosco, led the Archdiocese of Dili as apostolic administrator from 1988–2002. Along with current East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta, Belo jointly received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his nonviolent resistance and advocacy amid the 1975–1999 Indonesian annexation and occupation of the country. The Vatican’s statement comes after a left-leaning Dutch magazine, De Groene Amsterdammer, published on Sept. 28 an investigation into allegations of abuse, including rape, allegedly committed by Belo against teenage boys, both before and after he became apostolic administrator of Dili. The investigation anonymously quotes two alleged victims, now in their 40s, who say the bishop abused his position of power over boys in the area who lived in extreme poverty. De Groene says their reporters spoke to “several victims and 20 people with knowledge of the matter,” about half of whom “know a victim” of Belo’s alleged abuse. According to the investigation, allegations against Belo first came to light in 2002. That same year, St. John Paul II accepted Belo’s sudden resignation as apostolic administrator — which at the time Belo said was done for health reasons. The Vatican has not yet confirmed whether or not it had knowledge of the abuse allegations against Belo at the time of his resignation. The following year, Belo left East Timor for Portugal, and in 2004 he took up a missionary post in the Portuguese-speaking African nation of Mozambique, returning to Portugal a few years later. Belo told UCA News in 2005 that while in Africa, he taught catechism classes to children and gave retreats for young people. Ramos-Horta declined to comment on Belo’s case to the Associated Press. The Salesian order in Portugal says that Belo did not have “any educational or pastoral positions or responsibilities” with the group in the country. Belo’s former archdiocese is the largest of East Timor’s three dioceses. In August, Pope Francis made Dili’s archbishop, Virgilio do Carmo da Silva, a cardinal. East Timor,

Cardinal Joseph Zen. / Yung Chi Wai Derek/Shutterstock. Rome Newsroom, Sep 28, 2022 / 04:48 am (CNA). On Tuesday, Cardinal Joseph Zen’s second day in court in Hong Kong, five witnesses were cross-examined and the magistrate ruled that there was sufficient evidence to justify a trial.The 90-year-old cardinal appeared on Sept. 27 for the second consecutive day in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. The prosecution called four police officers and one other witness to testify in the preliminary hearing. Principal Magistrate Ada Yim ruled that the prosecution has sufficient evidence to make a prima facie case against the cardinal and five others for failing to properly register a fund to provide legal aid to pro-democracy protesters, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.Zen’s next trial date is set for Oct. 26. He was arrested in May along with other democracy activists under Hong Kong’s strict national security law. Under the current less serious charge, he could face a fine of about $1,200 but no jail time.In addition to Zen, who has been free on bail since early May, several others have been charged for failing to apply for local society registration for the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund between 2019 and 2021. Those accused with Zen are lawyer Margaret Ng, singer-activist Denise Ho, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung, activist Sze Ching-wee, and ex-legislator Cyd Ho.All the defendants have pleaded not guilty. Cyd Ho is already jailed for a different charge. The fund helped pro-democracy protesters pay their legal fees until it dissolved itself in October 2021.The legal representatives for the six defendants said that they will not testify in court or call any witnesses, but they will submit legal arguments on the interpretation of Hong Kong’s Societies Ordinance, according to the Hong Kong Free Press. The defendants’ lawyers have previously said they had the right to associate under Hong Kong’s Basic Law — the legal framework created when Great Britain handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997.Zen’s trial has received international attention this week, with several Catholic leaders and human rights activists expressing solidarity for the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong.Paul Marshall, the director of the Religious Freedom Institute’s South and Southeast Asia Action Team, told CNA that Zen’s trial “further undercuts China’s 1997 promise of ‘one country, two systems’ when Hong Kong was returned to its rule and shows the government cannot be trusted to keep its agreements.”“The prosecution and trial of 90-year-old Cardinal Zen for peacefully raising funds shows the extreme lengths to which the Chinese government will go to crush any vestiges of dissent and free religion in Hong Kong or the mainland,” he said.