Letters: speak out for Cardinal Zen

The arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen along with four other democracy advocates in Hong Kong, for “collusion with foreign forces”, shows just how paranoid and insecure the People’s Republic of China’s dictatorial regime is over its tenuous hold on power. 

So now, even a 90-year-old churchman is deemed a threat to China’s one-party rule over Hong Kong and China. It is indeed bitterly ironic that your article referred to Carrie Lam, the former Chief Executive, as Catholic, and that John Lee, China’s latest and likely most militant puppet leader, is also a baptized Catholic. Lee’s appointment as Chief Executive will likely mark Hong Kong’s transition into a truly Orwellian society for people of conscience.

Ever since the imposition of the draconian National Security Law, the space for freedom of expression in Hong Kong has been reduced to almost non-existent. This year, with the impending anniversary of the June 4 massacre at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, the candlelight vigil that has been going on in Hong Kong for years will once again be forbidden, as it is deemed as an “unlawful gathering.”

With the weak response from the Hong Kong diocese – they are “extremely concerned” about the “incident” – shows that the Church in Hong Kong is being constantly faced with the barrel of a gun. To show such blatant disrespect to an aged cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, should be enough to give the Vatican’s diplomatic service pause over its ill-advised agreement with the People’s Republic of China. Today, the Hong Kong Archdiocese announced that it will no longer be holding the commemorative Mass for those who died at Tiananmen Square.

In addition to Hong Kong’s sweeping National Security Law and the continuing suppression of human rights in China, we who live in a free society must stand up and speak for those who are unable to speak for themselves. China’s aggressive posturing in the South China Seas and especially toward Taiwan, its United Front tactics that seek to exert its influence internationally, and its Belt and Road initiatives that aim at the building of power bases beyond China’s borders, should all be of grave concern to us in Canada.

Lest we feel that this latest “incident” – the arrest of an aged churchman – is only something that happened in a faraway place, we should know that China’s United Front tactics have already infiltrated Canadian society – through its many Confucius Institutes throughout Canadian academic institutions; they have sought to exert influence over Canadian political figures as well as people of influence, to attempt to sway or soften their opinions on China, and they have, with their seemingly unlimited financial resources, cast their shadows over Hollywood’s movie and entertainment industry. Next time you watch the latest superhero movie, look carefully at the opening credits and see how many of them are funded by China-backed companies.

There are persons of good will who dare to speak out and take a stand. The Catholic University of America just awarded an honorary doctorate to Jimmy Lai, Catholic convert currently imprisoned in Hong Kong for his pro-democracy stance, and five prisoners of conscience in Hong Kong have been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

We who live in a free and open society must continue to speak out for the silenced, the imprisoned, and all those who have been killed for their convictions, within China and in Hong Kong; if we do not speak out against such tyranny, then we are squandering the rights and freedom we have been given.

Please keep Cardinal Zen, the light of Hong Kong, in your prayers.

Patrick May
Vancouver

As a labelled so-called “atheist,’’ let me say thank God for your May 30 story “Religion in Canada isn’t declining quite the way it’s believed, Cardus and Angus Reid Research finds.”

As a baptized Roman Catholic who does not practise but does read and considers himself somewhat agnostic, life has been enough of a struggle without this pandemic and it has really made me re-evaluate, well, the value of religion, even if just at the ground floor where people tend to look out for one another and community can provide strength.

While our beliefs may not align, any sensible person can see the value of moral congregation, especially in the face of such uncertainty. So I wanted to express that many of us outside of the congregation respect the congregation nonetheless.

I am sorry for what has happened to your community within our community; that’s not acceptable. Forgive those who do trespass against you. While they say they know what they do, they know not what they do. In judgment is their own opinion invalidated in the light of reality. May you also avail yourselves of this wisdom from on high and may our days ahead be productive and glad. 

Mitch Hodler
Whitehorse

I would like to comment on the May 2 letter to the editor by Tim McConnell. 

He states that it is anti-Christian elitism to have private health care. I would suggest that people who work hard and save their money should be able to spend it on whatever they want, including private insurance.

Socialism, including socialized medicine, is a dead-end street. It soon comes to an end because it runs out of other people’s money and relies on a spirit of envy, which is anti-Christian.

I suggest that we are about 25 years behind the U.S. in medical procedures because of socialized medicine and a lack of innovation and competition. 

Michael Battle
Vancouver

May I humbly suggest that Father Gallagher avail himself of a number of excellent resources on Indigenous people, starting with the Jesuit Forum’s “Listening to Indigenous Voices,” continuing with First Nations 101 by Lynda Gray, as well as Five Little Indians by Michelle Good before he writes any more articles on the subject.

His article is filled with inaccurate statistics, ultra-defensive rhetoric, and supreme insensitivity to Indigenous people. Besides the nit-picking discussion about the numbers of graves and the statistics of deaths from TB and other diseases, the references to how students’ bodies might have been dealt with shows an extreme lack of knowledge of Indigenous customs and a typically colonial assumption that Indigenous people dealt with their dead in the same way as Europeans.

Many answers to the questions that Father Gallagher poses about why so many students died at the schools, and what they died of, can be found in the above suggested material.

The final insult occurs in the last few paragraphs where Father Gallagher concerns readers with the reputations of residential school staff over the genocidal destruction of Indigenous peoples’ cultures, identities, and families.

Also, I attended the May 27 Into the Deep session on reconciliation and found James Borkowski’s presentation equally apologist and disappointing. Our colonial settler society will never approach anything remotely approaching reconciliation as long as we continue to see all life from a colonial world view.

Penny Oyama
Burnaby

Thank you to Terry O’Neill for his May 23 article about spiritual mothers for priests. We now have about 80 volunteers and are praying for 130 more to adopt all 210 priests in our archdiocese.

The priests who are adopted will be informed that they have someone praying for them (a weekly holy hour and three daily prayers) but they will not know who. The spiritual mothers are to stay a secret … until heaven.

If you are interested in adopting a priest please email us at rcvan002@gmail.com with the names of three priests and we will send you more information. How beautiful this is for our universal Church and what a privilege for us! 

Elizabeth Loch
Maple Ridge