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Hong Kong cardinal, critical of China, to step down
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/24/asia/24hkcatholic.php
Hong Kong: Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, a sharp critic of China over democratic rights and religious freedoms, said Wednesday that the Vatican has agreed to his request to step down next year as the head of the Roman Catholic diocese in Hong Kong, news agencies reported.
He said he would spend more time monitoring Catholic churches in mainland China, according to The Associated Press, which quoted him as saying: "I do not retire to rest. The mainland Chinese church is huge and complicated. Sometimes the pope wants me to give him some advice, so I need more time to research it."
Zen, who turns 77 next month, had twice before asked to be relieved of his diocesan duties. Pope Benedict XVI, he said Wednesday, approved his latest request to step down.
Zen, who was born in Shanghai and fled to Hong Kong after the Chinese civil war, has led the diocese since 2002. Bishop John Tong Hon, 69, who was born in Hong Kong, has been designated as his likely successor.
The Roman Catholic diocese of Hong Kong has an estimated 250,000 members. Macao, the former Portuguese colony and China's other semiautonomous territory, has the only other Roman Catholic diocese in China.
Beijing and the Vatican have not had formal relations since Mao Zedong expelled the papal nuncio in 1951, two years after the Communist takeover. The relationship continues to be strained over the Holy See's recognition of Taiwan.
Mao created the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association in 1957 to control the church on the mainland. It now has an estimated 7 million members. Several million more mainland Catholics worship in underground churches, according to religion scholars.
Translated by Simtech2win
香港教区主教，中国的批评者，即将下台
马克·麦克唐纳
2008年12月24日
香港：陈日君枢机，这位对中国在民主权利和宗教自由方面出言尖刻的批评家，星期三表示，罗马教廷已同意其明年辞去天主教香港教区主教的请求，国际先驱论坛报通讯社报道。
他说他将花更多的时间关注内地天主教会，美联社援引他的话说：“退休不代表不工作，内地教会复杂众多，有时教皇也希望我提供些建议，所以我需要更多的时间作一番研究。”
下月将77岁的陈日君此前已两次请求辞去主教职务，他在星期三表示，教皇Benedict XVI已批准其最后的辞职请求。
陈出生在上海，在内战后逃避香港，自2002年始接任香港教区主教。现年69岁的汤汉主教出生于香港，已被指定为其可能的接任者。
天主教香港教区约有250,000名教徒，澳门则是在这个前葡萄牙殖民地以及在中国其他半自治地区仅有的另一个天主教教区。
自从1951年，也就是在共产党接管政权两年后，毛泽东驱逐了罗马教皇大使，北京和梵蒂冈一直无法正常交往，相互关系更因教廷承认台湾而进一步紧张。
毛泽东在1957年创建了中国天主教爱国会以控制大陆的教会，现在约有700万教徒。据宗教学者宣称，有几百万大陆天主教徒在秘密的教堂做礼拜。 |
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