China warns church not to interfere after pope names Chinese cardinal

Published: 2006-02-23

HONG KONG (CNS) -- Chinese church officials welcomed Pope Benedict XVI's appointment of Hong Kong Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun as cardinal Feb. 22, but the Chinese government warned that church leaders should not interfere in the country's politics. "We have taken note that Joseph Zen was appointed as a cardinal by the Vatican," Liu Jianchao, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told journalists. "We advocate that religious figures should not interfere with politics." Liu also said he hoped the appointment would not disrupt social stability in Hong Kong. Liu added that Beijing's position on refraining from establishing diplomatic ties with the Vatican had not changed because of the appointment of Cardinal-designate Zen, who is know for his outspoken appeals for maintaining democratic freedoms in Hong Kong and human rights on the mainland. In mainland China, which is estimated to have 12 million Catholics, Bishop Luke Li Jingfeng of Fengxiang said China needed another cardinal, considering the country's large Catholic population. "If the pope did not appoint a cardinal for such a large population," he told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, "I would feel that the Chinese Catholic communities do not have any status in the (universal) church."

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