The Catholic Weekly 12 July 2020

14 12, July, 2020 W orld catholicweekly.com.au Mosque move is likely Zen ready for arrest Vatican report silent on raid and departures Turkey seems set to return basilica to use as an Islamic house of prayer CARDINAL JOSEPH Zen Ze-kiun has said that while he will remain prudent, he is prepared to suffer arrest and trials under Hong Kong’s sweeping new national secu- rity law. “If right and proper words were considered against their law, I will endure all the suing, trials and arrests. Numerous predecessors have endured similarly,” the 88-year-old cardinal said in a video post- ed on his Facebook page. His remarks were reported by ucanews.com. “Perhaps they are truly in- sane. Who knows? Let them be then. Isn’t there a saying, ‘Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad’?” The controversial law was rushed through the Standing Committee of China’s Na- tional People’s Congress on 30 June, the eve of the 23rd IN ITS annual report, made public on July 3, the presi- dent of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF) does not mention the October 1 police raid on the AIF offic- es, nor the abrupt departure of the agency’s top two offi- cials. Carmelo Barbagallo, who took over the AIF last No- vember, shortly after the raid, reports closer cooperation with the financial-oversight THE TURKISH Council of State met on 2 July to discuss the possibility of repurpos- ing the historic Hagia Sophia basilica, currently in use as a museum, as a Mosque open for Muslim prayer. The cause has been strongly supported by political elites in Turkey. The Byzantine basilica of Hagia Sophia - Holy Wisdom - was built in the sixth centu- ry and first transformed into a mosque in the 15th century af- ter the fall of Constantinople. It was later turned into a museum in 1935, at the be- hest of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk the first Turkish President and founder of modern Turkey. Local sources told Italian outlet Agenzia Fides that the council meeting lasted less than 30 minutes. It will take at least 15 days for the publication of the council’s decision and rea- sons, though it was confirmed that during the session, the council confirmed the con- tinuing validity of a 2004 deci- sion, in which the council had rejected an appeal from the “Turkish Union of Historical Monuments” which asked for Hagia Sophia to be opened for gatherings of Muslim prayers. The council acknowledged however, that a direct inter- vention by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the controversial issue through a presidential decree, could change the current situation and legitimise the reuse of the basilica as an Islamic place of worship. At the end of May in recent years, thousands would gather and fill the square outside the church to celebrate the anni- versary of the Ottoman con- A man holds a banner reading “Chinese communist party is shameless, break the promises,” during a protest against the new national security law in Hong Kong. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/TYRONE SIU, REUTERS anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to Beijing. Cardinal Zen’s fears that the new laws could affect re- ligious freedom in the city contradict the view of Hong Kong’s apostolic administra- tor, Cardinal John Tong Hon, who in late June claimed the laws would have no effect on religious freedom. But in a late-June state- ment, International Christian Concern said that under the new law, “vocal Hong Kong agencies of other nations, and boasts of an “intensification of prudential supervision” of Vatican transactions. He says that a review of safeguards against mon- ey-laundering at the Institute for Religious Works found the Vatican bank “broadly com- pliant” and “sufficiently effec- tive.” Barbagallo announced that the AIF would be changing its name, becoming the Su- quest of the city and request its reopening as a mosque. The meeting of the Turkish Council of State was expect- ed to signal whether political pressure and growing atten- tion and support, including support from President Erdo- gan, had been successful. With no judgement re- vealed, many believe the deci- sion will be made by President Erdogan, who it is believed has already given instructions for the status of the ancient ba- silica to be changed for use by Islamic worshippers. The issue has garnered in- ternational attention, with US Secretary of State Mike Pom- peo allegedly having asked Erdogan to leave the monu- ment as a museum, so as not to compromise the historical value of the site. During a homily on June 30, Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, stressed that the possible con- version of the Hagia Sophia into amosque in Istanbul “will push millions of Christians around the world against Is- lam.” - AGENZIA FIDES clergy who have been sup- portive of Hong Kong’s de- mocracy movement, such as Cardinal Joseph Zen and Aux- iliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi- shing, could be extradited to mainland China to be tried, since Beijing considers them to be threats to the regime.” Hong Kong Diocese’s Jus- tice and Peace Commission also signed an open letter with 85 other social justice or- ganizations, decrying the law ahead of its implementation, ucanews.com. International Christian Concern warned that Beijing considers the mass protests that began last June as ter- rorist acts and any calls for Hong Kong’s independence from China as acts of sedi- tion. The group noted that Chi- na’s notorious legal system and its lack of transparen- cy “can easily criminalise anybody and place them in jail,” adding that many Chinese pastors and Chris- tians are now imprisoned on trumped-up charges such as subversion of state power, illegal border crossing and illegal business operation. “Many fear with the pass- ing of this legislation, Hong Kong will forever lose its ‘one country, two systems’ status and merely turn itself into an ordinary coastal city in Chi- na,” it added. - CNS Perhaps they are truly insane. Who knows? Let them be then. Isn’t there a saying, ‘Those whomGod wishes to destroy, he first makes mad’?” Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun The issue has garnered international attention, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo allegedly having asked Erdogan to leave the monument as a muse- um, so as not to com- promise the historical value of the site.“ pervisory and Financial In- formation Authority (SFIA), explaining that the new name “highlights the Authority’s dual nature as intelligence unity and supervisory (and regulatory) authority.” The annual report shows that AIF spotted 64 suspicious cases of suspicious financial activity during the past year, and referred 15 cases to the Vatican prosecutor. But Barbagallo’s report makes no effort to explain why Vatican gendarmes raid- ed the AIF offices, seizing documents and computer re- cords, in an investigation of a suspicious London real-estate deal. In the wake of that raid, Tommaso Di Ruzza, the direc- tor of the AIF, was suspended and eventually terminated. René Bruelhart, the agency’s president, then resigned. - CNS