Cardinal Joseph Zen, 92, has just written a new book, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic: From the Church of the Apostles to the “Synodal” Church (for the moment the book is only available in Italian at link)
Letter #60, 2024, Monday, November 25: Cardinal Zen
The courageous Chinese Cardinal Joseph Zen, 92, of Hong Kong, with the assistance of Aurelio Porfiri, a Roman composer, music scholar and organist, has just published a new book-interview entitled One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic: From the Church of the Apostles to the “Synodal” Church. (link)
For the moment, the book is available only in Italian. Here below is a brief review which describes the book’s contents.—RM
“One, holy, catholic and apostolic”: A new book from Cardinal Zen (link)
By Samuele Pina
November 22, 2024
Cardinal Joseph Zen’s book entitled Una, santa, cattolica e apostolica (One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic). From the Church of the Apostles to the “Synodal” Church, edited by Aurelio Porfiri (Edizioni Ares), has just appeared.
It is a valuable text, filled with interesting insights and quiet reflections, but expressed with precision and firmness.
A few tidbits.
Is Christianity the religion of the book?
“Jesus,” the prelate writes, ” wanted to build his Church on the apostles, not on a book. The Gospel, written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, should be interpreted in the living Sacred Tradition. Sacred Tradition, the Creed, and the Magisterium are indispensable elements of the Church. If I say, “I want Christ only in the Gospel. I don’t want Sacred Tradition. I don’t want the Creed. I don’t want the Magisterium,” I don’t have the slightest chance of finding Christ. It is He who wants to be encountered in Sacred Tradition through the Creed and the Magisterium. It is He who has called some men to be instruments of His grace.”
How should the Synod on synodality be evaluated?
“On the one hand, the Church is presented as being founded by Jesus on the foundation of the apostles and his successors, with a hierarchy of ordained ministers guiding the faithful on their journey to the heavenly Jerusalem. On the other, there is talk of an ill-defined synodality, a “democracy of the baptized.” (Which baptized? Do they even go to church regularly? Do they have a Bible-based faith and a strength that comes from the sacraments?) This second conception, if it is legitimized, can change everything, the doctrine of faith or the discipline of moral life.”
How may we judge the Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans?
“The document immediately caused great surprise and later generated much confusion.”
Should constituted authority always seek the common good?
“It is regrettable that those in government positions often seek their own interest instead of the common good. In order to get ahead and accumulate wealth they silence their conscience. Even religious leaders can be tempted by the pursuit of self-interest, and Judas is an example of this. Church history is full of such experiences, and to be guilty of such crimes is especially serious for a religious leader. The Old Testament describes these people as the shepherds who only know how to feed on milk, clothe themselves with wool and kill the fattest sheep instead of shepherding the flock (cf. Ez 34:3).”
These are just a few passages of a book that contains many riches and is to be savored chapter after chapter, page after page, line after line.
Indeed, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun succeeds in pointing the way for those who want to be witnesses — and, therefore, martyrs — to the Christian proclamation:
“Our Good Shepherd leads all the sheep into one fold. We do not know in what way he will do it, but we are certain that, having decided, he will find a way. We may not know his ways, but he has told us what we are to do. Each of us has been made a ‘light to the nations’ and has the responsibility to be an instrument of salvation ‘to the ends of the earth.’”
I met with the Italian editor of the volume, Aurelio Porfiri, and asked him why it is worth reading this text:
“Because,” I am told, “it expresses the point of view of a great protagonist of contemporary Catholicism on issues of enormous importance. So I believe that those who read it will surely find in it a lot of material for reflection.”
What are the strengths of Cardinal Zen’s work?
“I think they lie in the Cardinal’s very plain speaking and refusal to mince words. He is a very down-to-earth person, like a good Chinese person.”
How did a composer with 60 published books come to know the bishop of Hong Kong?
“I met him more than 20 years ago in Rome, during a Synod of Bishops in which I played as organist. The cardinal is a very nice person and so a friendly relationship developed.”
What it was like to collaborate with him?
“As I said, he is very pleasant but also very demanding, so one has to respect the fact that the cardinal knows very well what he wants.”
Can the cardinal’s message be relevant to the Church today?
“Yes, because today we live in a time of great confusion and crisis of faith at multiple levels, so guides are needed to help us not to fall into error.”
Cardinal Zen states we must continue to hope, and to increase faith, to weather the storms of our time…
“I believe that in the present situation, where so many things have been taken away from us, the one thing that must not be taken away from us is precisely hope.”
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