Zen was similarly granted permission to fly to Rome in 2023 to attend the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He met with Pope Francis then, but health problems cut the visit short.

Zen retired as archbishop of Hong Kong in 2009, but has remained active in church politics. Although he’s traveling to Rome, he is too old to participate in the conclave for the next pope.

He is known for his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government, even criticizing a provisional deal between the Vatican and China. The specific terms of the deal, which were first agreed to in September 2018 and then renewed in October 2020 and October 2022, remain a secret.

The deal aims to quash the primary source of contention, the appointment of bishops, which is a modern-day form of the Medieval Investiture controversy. The 2018 deal was secretive but involved a joint Beijing-Rome commission to appoint bishops, a provision violated by China in November 2022.

The Catholic Church in China is split between the underground church, recognized by most Catholics as the true church, and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is sponsored by Beijing.

HONG KONG’S CATHOLIC CARDINAL ZEN PROSECUTED BY CHINA

Zen denounced the deal with Beijing in 2018 as a “catastrophe,” slamming Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the head of negotiations with Beijing, as a “man of little faith” who didn’t understand the “true suffering” of Chinese Catholics. Parolin is viewed as one of the top contenders to be the next pope.

“Mainland brothers and sisters fear not losing all they have, the prison cell or shedding their blood,” Zen wrote. “Their greatest suffering is being sold out by their ‘loved ones.’”