Hong Kong cardinal joins protest for religious freedom in China

Hong Kong, 30 June (ENInews)--Cardinal Joseph Zen Ke-kiun, the retired
bishop of Hong Kong, joined a protest outside the Chinese Liaison Office in
Hong Kong yesterday, asking Beijing to stop harassing Catholic bishops and
priests in mainland China. Zen and the event's organizer, the Catholic
Justice and Peace Commission, criticized Beijing for interfering with recent
bishop ordinations. 

An ordination on 29 June in Leshan, Sichuan, took place without papal
mandate. On the same day, however, one with a papal mandate was stopped by the
authorities in Handan, Hebei. The candidate, Fr. Joseph Sun Jigen, was
arrested. 

Cardinal Zen and about 50 others marched around the Chinese Liaison Office
building after saying a mass for China at a chapel nearby. When they
stopped at the entrance of the office, the Catholic commission delegate, Patrick
Poon, read aloud a statement urging China to respect religious freedom.