The bold Cardinal Zen gesture with the Mass in Latin sends multiple messages to Hong Kong

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun knew exactly what he was doing when he published online a photo of his heading a Eucharistic procession after celebrating a traditional Mass in Latin in Hong Kong, and is sending multiple messages with it, a friend of his to the National Catholic Register, an informative partner of ACI Press.

Among the planned recipients are the Catholics of the diocese of Hong Kong and Pope Leo XIV, who has not yet indicated his intentions regarding the Mass in Latin, said Mark Simon, who knows Cardinal Zen since 1996.

“He is talking to his own people, letting them know that he is still there. And, of course, he is in favor of the Mass in Latin,” Simon said on the phone.

“He is saying it,” Simon said, referring to the Mass in Latin, “and when he is making León know where he stands.”

Simon, American, directs businesses owned by Jimmy Lai, a Catholic defender of democracy in Hong Kong who has been imprisoned by the authorities since December 2020. Lai is a friend and defender of Cardinal Zen.

Pope Francis sought to restrict Mass in Latin, particularly with his Apostolic Charter of July 2021 Tradition of guardsto “continue even more in the constant search for ecclesial communion,” according to the words of the document. Pope Leo XIV, chosen on May 8, has not yet expressed his intentions regarding the traditional Mass in Latin.

On the occasion of Sunday of Corpus ChristiCardinal Zen, 93, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, published a photo of his holding a custody with a host consecrated under an umbrella, along with a four paragraph text in Cantonese and English describing a Eucharistic procession in a parish of Hong Kong after a Latin Mass.

“After celebrating the Tridentine Mass (extraordinary form of the Roman rite) in the María Auxiliadora parish in Hong Kong, I led a Eucharistic procession, carrying the sacred Eucharist outside the church and through the streets of the campus,” wrote Cardinal Zen in the publication in social networks Sunday, with parentheses in the original.

Sunday was the solemnity of the Blessed Body and Blood of Christ, traditionally known as Corpus Christiwhich is the most common day of the year for Eucharistic processions.

“Jesus is truly Emmanuel – God with us. He wishes so much to be with us that he left us this wonderful sacrament, offering under the appearance of bread and wine so that we eat it and drink. The food we eat becomes part of our body, but when we receive Jesus, we become his body,” Cardinal Zen wrote.

Simon told the Register that he is not a spokesman for Cardinal Zen and has not spoken with him recently.

But he also said that Cardinal Zen sends precise messages with his public actions.

“May he do this – the reason you call – is exactly because of what he does,” Simon told a register’s reporter. “He is very skilled in public relations.”

“He knows that they will not be happy,” Simon said, referring to officials of the Chinese communist government.

Cardinal Zen was arrested in May 2022 in Hong Kong under collusion positions with foreign forces, and although he is not in prison now, he is still under surveillance of the authorities.

“There is no other feature figure that appears in public. But Zen is the guy who has the sword on his head. They could stop him and put him in prison,” Simon said.

David Alton, Catholic and a member of the British Lores Chamber, described Cardinal Zen as “the most prominent religious leader of our time – knowing to leave his people and refusing to meet the demands of the Chinese Communist Party”, in a publication in social networks.

Simon said he does not believe that the cardinal is trying to provoke the government, but is sending a message of solidarity to their Catholics who try to remain faithful to Rome without submitting to the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, an organization approved by the Government and associated with the Communist Party, which many Catholics feel that it contaminates the “unofficial” church.

“I feel that with the issue of Mass in Latin, it is showing the flag of an independent church of the patriotic church,” Simon said.

In its publication on social networks on Sunday, Cardinal Zen did not make statements about secular policy or about ecclesial policy issues, but focused on the Eucharist.

“We celebrated the solemnity of Corpus Christi, a party that the Church established precisely so that the faithful allow God to be more deeply in his daily life through the Holy Eucharist,” Cardinal Zen wrote.

Later in the publication, he said: “Sometimes we say: ‘Let’s not leave Jesus only in the tabernacle.’ Of course, this is a figurative way of speaking. When Jesus revealed his sacred heart, he said: ‘This heart has loved men so much, and is so little loved in return.'”

“As if our comfort needed,” added Cardinal Zen. “In truth, it is not Jesus who needs us, but he knows that we need him. Forgetting Jesus is our greatest loss.”

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in the National Catholic Register.