Word from Rome

John Allen has some thumb-nail sketches about the men recently named by Pope Benedict to be elevated to Cardinal (as well as a bunch of other good stuff). Since I am most interested right now in Cardinal Zen, here's what he has to say about him

Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong KongCertainly the most politically intriguing selection among the new cardinals, Zen has long been an outspoken force for human rights, political freedom, and religious liberty in Chinese affairs, making him an unpopular religious leader with the Chinese authorities. Zen has bluntly said that the Chinese crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square was "a big mistake," and called on the government to "tell the truth" about those events. He is a vocal proponent of a push for universal suffrage in Hong Kong, telling his flock in a 2005 homily that "a path will appear when enough people walk on it." He has publicly called on officials in Hong Kong to support the aspirations of the people, rather than functioning as spokespersons for the central government in Beijing. At a personal level, Zen is a gracious, humble man, a moderate on most issues, who has said that when he retires he'd like to either teach in mainland China or go on a mission in Africa. His elevation to the College of Cardinals makes that unlikely, and suggests that Benedict XVI is unlikely to accept Zen's resignation when he turns 75 in January 2007.