When one cardinal publicly criticises another we can be sure that something serious is at stake. In an interview published last week (but conducted in September), Cardinal Joseph Zen had some harsh words for Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The former bishop of Hong Kong accused the Vatican Secretary of State of “manipulating the Holy Father”.
Speaking to the online magazine New Bloom, Cardinal Zen summed up the situation of the Church in China as “terrible”. In September 2018, the Holy See signed a “provisional agreement” with Beijing, ending a decades-long dispute over the appointment of bishops. In future, it was reported, the Chinese authorities would propose candidates for vacant sees and the Pope would either accept or reject them.
