Warned Zen `too old to change'

Hong Kong, China - Outspoken local Catholic leader Bishop Joseph Zen says he's too old to temper his candidness, despite a warning from Beijing against interfering.

Speaking a day after he was named a cardinal, Zen said while he might try to be more "cautious," he did not think he would change anytime soon. "I'm 74 now, and I'm afraid it will be quite hard to change at this point."

Beijing warned Zen against being too ambitious with its affairs. "We have taken note of Zen's appointment. We advocate that religious figures should not interfere with politics," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao in Beijing Thursday.

Still, Zen said he hopes to use his new role as the only Chinese cardinal to re-establish diplomatic ties between the Vatican and Beijing, a feat he admits will not be easy.

"My great wish is that we can achieve direct dialogue," Zen said a day after the Holy See confirmed the anticipated appointment. "But if we want to have integral freedom, it is not easy and we must go step by step."

Though Zen is among 15 new cardinals chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to join the Vatican's 120-member electoral college, his appointment is perhaps the most contentious, especially coming at a time the Vatican and Beijing have been discussing normalizing their ties.

"I don't think it would be an offense to say the current situation is not normal," Zen said. "Obviously, everyone will admit the church in China is very different from other parts of the world, so I think there is a will on both sides to normalize the situation."

While he said he is still waiting for specific instructions from the Holy See, he hopes to carry out his endeavors based on the pope's words: "All peace is based on truth."

The prelate said he hopes the Vatican and the central government will be able to reach an agreement by the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Zen's attitude toward a possible end to the 55-year dispute between the Vatican and China has evolved substantially since 2002, when he told Time magazine he was "not optimistic" because Beijing appeared to be "tightening."

Sino-Vatican relations have been strained since the 1950s, when the communist regime expelled the Vatican's ambassador and cut diplomatic ties.

Much of the Catholic Church in the mainland has since been forced underground, and followers who wish to worship openly must resort to official state-sanctioned churches that answer to a government-supervised religious panel and do not recognize the authority of the pope.

There are still an estimated 15 to 20 million worshippers living on the mainland. The last Vatican-appointed mainland bishop died in 2001.

Zen has long been a thorn in Beijing's side for his passionate support of universal suffrage, and has been blamed for the failure of Chief Executive Donald Tsang's political reform package.

Zen said his interaction with the pope thus far has been limited. The two first met when the Pope was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who shook his hand and told him how glad he was to "have a Chinese voice in the conference." After Ratzinger was elevated, Zen said he sent a letter outlining his concerns regarding the mainland. The pope responded with a handwritten letter, thanking Zen for his views.

Zen privately told some people previously that he did not want to become cardinal because it would mean checking his tendency to be vocal, especially when dealing with Beijing.

Zen will attend the official two-day ceremony in Rome on March 24. He is the sixth Chinese cardinal in history and the second from Hong Kong after the late John Baptist Wu Cheng-chung.