- Feb 5, 2002
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Lord Christopher Patten spoke to the BBC shortly after the Vatican announced it had renewed for a second time its contested agreement with Beijing on the appointment of bishops in the communist country.
VATICAN CITY — Lord Christopher Patten, the last governor of the former British colony Hong Kong, has joined others in criticizing the Vatican for its dealings with the People’s Republic of China, saying the Vatican is guilty of “self-delusion” and should make public its recently renewed provisional agreement with Beijing.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Sundayprogram broadcast Oct. 30, Patten, who is Catholic, said the Vatican has been “guilty of what others have been guilty of in dealing with China, a degree of self-delusion.”
“They imagine that they are getting things out of China when China is getting an awful lot of things out of its interlocutor,” he said, and referred to Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, who is currently standing trial in the China-administered territory for being a trustee of a humanitarian fund that helped pro-democracy protesters pay their legal fees.
Patten said Cardinal Zen, 90, “is a great and outspoken advocate for Christian belief in human rights and human dignity,” but he added that the Vatican “has been incredibly lily-livered in what it said about him.”
Continued below.
Former Governor of Hong Kong Criticizes Vatican-China Agreement
VATICAN CITY — Lord Christopher Patten, the last governor of the former British colony Hong Kong, has joined others in criticizing the Vatican for its dealings with the People’s Republic of China, saying the Vatican is guilty of “self-delusion” and should make public its recently renewed provisional agreement with Beijing.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Sundayprogram broadcast Oct. 30, Patten, who is Catholic, said the Vatican has been “guilty of what others have been guilty of in dealing with China, a degree of self-delusion.”
“They imagine that they are getting things out of China when China is getting an awful lot of things out of its interlocutor,” he said, and referred to Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, who is currently standing trial in the China-administered territory for being a trustee of a humanitarian fund that helped pro-democracy protesters pay their legal fees.
Patten said Cardinal Zen, 90, “is a great and outspoken advocate for Christian belief in human rights and human dignity,” but he added that the Vatican “has been incredibly lily-livered in what it said about him.”
Continued below.
Former Governor of Hong Kong Criticizes Vatican-China Agreement
