Joseph Cardinal Zen has urged Catholics to make protecting the family a “primary mission” in pastoral work, in order to fight back against a society that has lost an understanding of the “meaning of life”.
In an essay published today on his blog, Cdl. Zen offered a commentary both on scripture and on the state of the Church in the world today. Such is his regular style, linking the sacred texts to a specific message, and this latest was no exception as he dwelled on the parable of the pearl of great price.
Zen, the 94-year old emeritus of Hong Kong, was unable to travel to the June consistory of the College of Cardinals. But noting that he followed reports of the proceedings closely, Zen highlighted that his brother cardinals discussed “that the root of the problem seems to be people’s loss of the meaning of life. (They have not found the treasure and the pearl, or perhaps they found them but then abandoned them.)”
The cardinal observed that this loss of focus can come in many ways, and given that “selfish desires and emotional attachments lie within us, shouldn’t we be even more vigilant against them.” But he especially cautioned about indulging in sins against purity: “Of course, ethics and morality are not limited to the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, but these kinds of sins are the most likely to lead to addiction.”
The Salesian cardinal warned that “sins associated with the LGBTQ movement completely violate the Creator’s plan for humanity: a man and a woman loving one another for life and passing on life in a loving environment.”
Homosexual acts, he added, “are not only called sin in the Bible; before God, they are an ‘abomination’ (something particularly detestable). The merciful God even rained down fire to destroy Sodom.”
Referencing the LGBT movement, Zen warned that as it risked “violating the Creator’s plan for humanity” then it could strip away beauty from life itself.
“If we deny the preciousness of life and the family, what beauty remains in life? Have we abandoned the spring only to seek water in a leaking cistern?! It is said that even the devil once admitted: once the family is destroyed, victory is his.”
The cardinal urged his readers to work more pro-actively to defend family life, in the face of ideologies which undermine divinely-ordered relationship existing between men and women. “Let us willingly pay the price for the ‘health’ of our families,” he wrote.
“The best strategy in battle is to go on the offensive,” he counselled. As such, Zen called for a collaborative effort in order to protect family life: “caring for and helping others do good is the surest way to help ourselves persevere in doing good.”
Zen called on members of the Church at every level to “mobilise” in defence of the family. “Let us all make the sacred protection of the family our primary mission, the very focus of our pastoral work.”
“Let us”, he continued, “ask the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for us; let us ask the parents of St. Thérèse to be our patrons; and may young people be filled with confidence in God’s plan of love.”
Though somewhat less internationally active of late, the Hong Kong cardinal has remained an vocal member of the College of Cardinals and frequently weighs into the public debate regarding key issues of the day in the Church’s discussion.
During the pre-conclave meetings with the College last year, he issued a scathing critique of the Synod on Synodality, warning that it “is a matter of life or death for the Church founded by Jesus.”
The promotion of “LGBTQ” ideology was one of the items Zen identified as a “hidden objective” of the Synodal process.
He also called for public prayer and penance following the LGBT Jubilee pilgrimage last year, which saw LGBT activists process through the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica while holding rainbow flags and expletive-filled slogans. The event, wrote Zen, “seriously insulted the Catholic faith and the dignity of St. Peter's Basilica, which was a serious sin against God.”
Zen’s voice in the College of Cardinals is a strong one, and his call for a new emphasis on protecting the integrity of family life will find much support further afield.
Michael Haynes is an English journalist in the Holy See Press Corps. He serves as Vatican Correspondent for the Catholic Herald, while readers can follow him at Per Mariam and on X @MLJHaynes.
