Cardinal Joseph Zen Had a Private Meeting With Pope Francis

Pope Francis (R) privately received Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun (L) on Jan. 5, 2023. (Courtesy of Cardinal Zen's Facebook/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

When Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the honorary bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong and ex-trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Support Fund, was in Rome to attend Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral, he also had a meeting with Pope Francis.

Cardinal Zen, who was in jail on suspicion of violating the National Security Law, was given bail and flew to Rome on Jan. 5, the day of the Vatican funeral.

The monthly Christian publication America Magazine reported that on Jan. 6 Pope Francis privately received Cardinal Zen and Father Cheung Sun-yuet of the Salesians of Don Bosco at his Santa Marta residence. During an interview with American Magazine, Cardinal Zen said he shared his decade of visiting Hong Kong prisons with Pope Francis during the visit.

According to the report, Cardinal Zen thanked Pope Francis for arranging a good bishop for Hong Kong and appointing Stephen Chow Sau-Yan in 2021.

The Pope gifted rosaries and books to thank Zen for his hard work.

In 2022, the National Security Bureau arrested five former fund trustees of the now-defunct news agency Stand News, including Cardinal Joseph Zen, on suspicion of conspiring to collude with foreign power or forces to endanger national security.

One of Zen’s conditions for bail was to hand over all his travel documents. As soon as he landed in Hong Kong, Zen returned his passport to the Hong Kong police.