Hong Kong Prelate Says Pope Francis Is Both Optimistic and Cautious About the Church in China Vatican City, November 21, 2014 (Zenit.org) Deborah Castellano Lubov | 156 hits

Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong has said Chinese Christians can be optimists even if the situation facing the Church of China has not changed.

Cardinal Zen was in Rome for the start of the 2014 AsiaNews International Symposium Tuesday afternoon in Romes Urbaniana University on the theme"Mission in Asia: Pope John Paul II to Pope Francis." The conference aimed at highlighting and fostering understanding of the continuity between the missionary drive of Saint John Paul II and Pope Francis's first steps into the Asian world.

In an interview with ZENIT, the Chinese prelate shared what must be done for his nation's Church, how Pope Francis is acting in continuity with his predecessors, and whether the recent sign of hope--permission being given to Pope Francis' plane to fly over China to and from his apostolic trip to South Korea this August--was, in fact, a sign of hope, or not.

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ZENIT: How do you feel Pope Francis is acting in continuity with John Paul II, in terms of his outreach to Asia?

Cardinal Zen: I think it should be without any doubt because Pope Francis was always very well informed about China. I met him following the work of the synod and also during the other synods, when he was a cardinal, when he spoke about that. And he surely is very interested. But now as Pope, he surely would be very much concerned about China and he has been very cautious. So I think he is the man to guide the whole big project about Asia, especially about China. I realized that hes full of desires but also very, very cautious. I just gave a small article to AsiaNews. Its title is: 'Is Pope Francis Optimistic About the Church in China?' I said: Yes and No. I mean all the believers are optimists. But [he's] not overly optimistic, he's also very cautious. I trust his leadership, with [has] much enthusiasm, but also much caution.

ZENIT: How would you describe the current situation of the Church of China?

Cardinal Zen: I dont see any progress. For a long time. No progress. And the government has not changed anything. Just a harsh policy. So humanly speaking, there's not much hope for optimism. We are optimists because we believe in God.

ZENIT: What do you believe must be done?

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