Cardinal Zen by Jindřich Nosek (NoJin) / Wikimedia Commons
CV NEWS FEED // Anti-communism advocate Cardinal Joseph Zen, 93, has returned from the Vatican to Hong Kong, where a court had granted him temporary use of his passport — which the government had confiscated in 2022 — to attend Pope Francis’ funeral.
Hong Kong Archbishop Emeritus Cardinal Zen arrived at the Vatican April 28 and remained there to attend the General Congregations, at which he gave an address, leading up to the conclave.
On May 12, he posted on his X account that Father Cheung Sum-yui, the priest who accompanied him on the journey, has confirmed to the Voice that the cardinal has returned to Hong Kong. Though the cardinal had recently suffered and recovered from a long illness, he felt it was his duty to go to the Vatican for the funeral and meetings with the cardinals, according to the post.
An outspoken critic of the 2018 Vatican-China provisional agreement and of communism and a trustee of a now-shuttered fund supporting humanitarian aid for pro-democracy protestors, Cardinal Zen was arrested in Hong Kong in 2022 on vague charges of colluding with foreign powers. He was released on bail several hours later, according to the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom.
Nina Shea, the institute’s director, said at the time that his arrest “signifies the end of religious freedom in Hong Kong, the last of the fundamental freedoms to be extinguished there.”
Cardinal Zen has also remained a supporter of imprisoned Catholic journalist and activist Jimmy Lai. He appeared beside Lai’s family when the activist testified before a Hong Kong court in November 2024. Both men have faced investigations for allegedly violating Hong Kong’s controversial national security law.
In late April, a Hong Kong court granted Cardinal Zen permission to temporarily leave Hong Kong and to use his passport to travel to the Vatican. As of this week, the cardinal, who remains on bail following his 2022 arrest, has returned to the Hong Kong archdiocese, which he had shepherded for seven years.