Peter’s Silence Robs Zen To Pay Xi?

Stakes may be huge for Vatican BUT the Pope’s silence on Godless Commie PRC’s sham trial of Cardinal Zen seems to some a tad like Peter waiting outside Jesus’ mock trial hoping for a miracle change in Roman heart.

Pope Francis is getting a lot of grief for appearing to have “abandoned” the 90-yr-old Cardinal who’s accused by China’s lackies in Hong Kong of sedition. As WSJ columnist William McGurn complained, “As Hong Kong puts the bishop on trial, Francis still offers no support.” Well, the Vatican’s secret “deal” with China made in 2019, presumably to let it survive if not thrive there, is about to expire. And, if the walls of history could talk they’d remind us of how many times the Church has been marginalized, banned, or pilloried by government edict. And, Francis did recently ask to be invited to meet with President Xi, but was advised the red carpet would not be laid out for him any time soon.

As Mr. McGurn also reminds us, however, this is another “ridiculous” trial of a cleric working in Jesus’ rice paddy: “The trial of the cardinal & 5 others” involves an allegation that they didn’t comply with the “now defunct Humanitarian Relief Fund” set up to help pay legal costs for those arrested in 2019-2020 pro-democracy demonstrations. “Prosecutors claim the fund wasn’t registered properly under Hong Kong’s Societies Ordinance—a law frequently used against triads or secret societies.” Convictions carry a fine of up to $1,300 but Cardinal Zen & his co-defendants were originally arrested for colluding with foreign forces to undermine China, which can carry a life sentence. Is Zen’s opposition to that 2019 Pontiff-Xi deal somehow dampening Francis’ zeal for an appeal to the poker-faced Xi for mercy on his behalf?

Davd Soul