HONG KONG - In a succession expected to heat up simmering conflicts between the church and Hong Kong authorities, blunt-spoken Bishop Joseph Zen became head of the territory's Roman Catholic Church on Monday following the death of Cardinal John Baptist Wu.
In an interview published as Wu lay near death, Zen blasted Hong Kong leaders for what he called their "toadying" political culture and accused them of doing "stupid things" to please Beijing.
"We do not want to see Hong Kong becoming like any other city in the mainland... So we have to speak out at once if we see any freedom being jeopardized," Zen told the South China Morning Post on Sunday.
Zen, 70, automatically succeeded Wu after he died early Monday of complications from bone marrow cancer. Many here expect that as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese, the liberal-minded bishop may clash more often than Wu did with Hong Kong's government, as well as with the communist leadership in Beijing.
Shanghai-born Zen has been barred from visiting mainland China since 1998.
"He's the most outspoken bishop in the history of Hong Kong," said Ivan Choy, lecturer of social studies at the City University of Hong Kong. "His views on democracy and human rights are almost the direct opposite of the government's."
Zen declined interview requests on Monday. Church spokesman Rev. Louis Ha sought to dispel speculation that Zen's ascension might put church and state at odds.
"We need to express our opinion, but we won't defy any government decision," Ha said. "Bishop Zen will continue to speak out for the rights of the minorities, which is what the church should do."
The government vehemently rejected Zen's criticisms in a statement issued Monday.
"We should let the facts speak for themselves," said the statement issued by the office of the top political leader, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. "We have a sound human rights record comparable with those in other countries."
Tung's staff said he phoned Zen to express his condolences and to welcome his succession.
Zen's staunch support for Hong Kong's freedoms and unreserved criticism of social injustices have made him a hero of human rights activists here.
"He's been playing the role as the society's conscience," said Law Yuk-kai, director of Human Rights Monitor. "He's a frank and direct person and isn't afraid of offending the authorities. This is exactly the kind of people we need in Hong Kong now."
Under an autonomy arrangement reached when this former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, the 347,000 Roman Catholics living in this city of 6.8 million people enjoy freedoms denied to mainland Chinese believers.
China's Catholic hierarchy fled to Taiwan in 1951, two years after the Nationalist government led by Chiang Kai-shek lost a civil war on the mainland and fled to Taiwan. Like other Christians in China, those who remained behind endured persecution and though now free to worship, are required to do so in churches sanctioned by the state.
Scholars estimate that roughly half of the 12 million mainland Chinese Catholics attend unofficial underground churches that have remained loyal to Pope John Paul II. Zen's opponents accuse him of supporting the underground churches and sympathizing with the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is outlawed in China but legal in Hong Kong.
Zen has accused Beijing of meddling with Hong Kong's religious freedom after officials urged local Catholics to keep a low profile over the Vatican's canonization of Chinese martyrs. China described the canonization as an "open insult."
When young children entangled in legal battles for residency were denied schooling here, Zen wrote to Hong Kong's 300 Catholic schools and asked them to take in the children — even if that meant civil disobedience. The government backed down.
Activists here view Zen as one of the few authority figures here willing to speak out against the establishment.
"He will provide a strong moral voice for the community in Hong Kong," said Bruce Van Voorhis, communications officer of the Asian Human Rights Commission.