austraLasia 1460

Congratulations to our new Joseph Cardinal-elect Zen

ROME: 22nd February 2006 --  Several emails arriving before or after the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI today asked ' how did you know?' in reference to the proposed consistory in March, during which Joseph Zen will be elevated to the rank of Cardinal.  Answer no. 1: austraLasia never said it was Cardinal Zen we were talking about.  Answer no. 2 journalists rarely reveal their sources. Answer no. 3, one didn't need to be Mandrake to guess that it was a possibility, and with China Province celebrating its centenary, and a dream of Don Bosco's in our back pocket...... anyone old enough will recall the lyrics of a popular song: "with a zack in the back of me pocket...."; this time it could well be, "with a zen as a yen....".
    austraLasia, as one voice in the EAO region, would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Bishop Joseph Zen and indeed the China Province which has nurtured his Salesian vocation and whom he symbolically represents in this centennial year for everything that this particular elevation means and which is beyond words, more in the realm of the 'dream' which saw China first linked to Don Bosco's mission.  Recently, when the police in Hong Kong said they were writing to the Pope personally to complain about his forthright support of certain democratic rights, he publically thanked them for the fact, hoping that it would arrive at the same time as his own letter to the Pope offering his episcopal resignation according to Canon whatever number it is (age, basically).  It looks like both the police and Bishop Zen got more than they bargained for!
    Some time ago, Bishop Zen held an extensive interview with a journalist.  The questions were wide-ranging and probing.  You may be able to read that interview in due course.  He reflected on his Salesian vocation.  It is an encouraging reflection: "We came to know the Salesians who accepted aspirants without charge. Certainly this circumstance attracted us to the Salesians. When I entered, I saw that they were really a family. At home we suffered from hunger, but things were not much better there. In any case, there was a great deal of joy. In those years, my vocation continued to grow. My father died before I entered the novitiate. The novitiate was in Hong Kong; therefore I had to come to this city. The novitiate was wonderful. There were 20 novices and I made my philosophical studies at this time. The atmosphere was marvelous. Father Carlo Braga, the provincial, was a holy man with a big heart. The missionaries who were our superiors were also wonderful men. So my journey towards the priesthood was serene and peaceful. I then had the good fortune of going to study at the heart of our society in Turin, Italy, for six years, and another3 years in Rome. These were wonderful years. As everyone knows during the early 1960s the Second Vatican Council was taking place in Rome. I really must thank the Lord for having been able to study philosophy and theology in the Salesian University at the time".  
    If we wish to understand something of his view of his public role, we have it his response to a question (in 2002) about whether or not he was HK's 'prophetic voice': I have become something of a symbol of the freedom of speech that must be preserved in Hong Kong. We must make a balance sheet of my critical involvement in society and towards politics. I must say that we have done well to intervene. It was opportune and necessary. We have simply acted in line with the doctrine of the Church according to the wishes of the Holy See and in perfect accord with the Cardinal and Bishop John Tong. I do not regret my interventions. Also the Diocesan Synod has sanctioned our duty to speak out, to intervene critically in social issues, to express a prophetic role in society. I must say that this is not a pleasant thing, because when one intervenes to defend freedom and human rights, there are polemics, and this does not please some people. This is something that we take into account ahead of time. The criticisms that we have received do not scare me; what we have said publicly in criticism of those in power we had to say, and I think that the majority of the faithful agree with me'.
    Wonder if the Cardinal knows he has a rival?  There is a 'Cardinal Zen' already!  a.k. Jy Munoz, composer and multimedia artist from the Philippines!
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