Vatican City, Jan 5, 2023 / 02:25 am
Cardinal Joseph Zen attended the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Thursday morning after Hong Kong authorities temporarily released his passport for five days to allow him to travel to Rome.
The 90-year-old cardinal from Hong Kong arrived in St. Peter’s Square dressed in red and walking with a cane to concelebrate the funeral Mass on Jan. 5.
The former bishop of Hong Kong, who was arrested last year under the city’s national security law, was allowed by a local court to travel to Italy to be present for the funeral of the late pope who made him a cardinal.
A magistrate ruled on Jan. 3 that the Chinese cardinal would be allowed to leave Hong Kong for five days with his previously confiscated passport temporarily returned to him.