By Jerome A. Cohen
Cardinal Zen, who has done so much over the decades to alert the world to religious persecution in China and the plight of Hong Kong, has once again tried to stimulate a response from the Vatican. His op-ed in the Washington Post, What’s behind the Vatican’s silence on Hong Kong?, is the most recent effort by one of the most dynamic, feisty and far-sighted human rights activists.
This, of course, is not merely a Hong Kong issue. It makes me wonder why the Pope does not speak out about the abominations of the Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang (or have I missed something among all the increasing condemnations from others who proclaim moral principles?). Instead of secretly, endlessly and abjectly negotiating with the Party in the hopeless cause of obtaining religious freedom in China, the Vatican might grasp the opportunity to begin the long march toward recovering some of the moral authority it has so dramatically lost in recent years.