vigil for Tiananmen Square protesters low-key

[dgriffin]

Hong Kong vigil for Tiananmen Square protesters low-key this year
www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/04/asia/hong.php
International Herald Tribune
June 4, 2008

HONG KONG: A smaller crowd than usual turned out here on Wednesday evening for the annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.

Even Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the highest official of the Roman Catholic Church in China and a vociferous critic of Beijing's human rights record for many years, has moderated his tone in the past several weeks.

Zen, who is also the bishop of Hong Kong, surprised many here on Monday when, in a special Mass for earthquake victims, he praised China for its openness in handling the earthquake rescue effort.
( !!! )
Zen went further on Wednesday evening at a prayer meeting just before the candlelight vigil, although he gently mentioned a continued desire for China to apologize for the Tiananmen Square killings. "We will wholeheartedly support the leaders as they progress along the grand highway of respect for humanity," he said.

Where's my scapular and miraculous medal? I want to mail them back to the Vatican. With a fortune cookie.

[Clipper]

I think the cardinal is simply guarding against being hung with one nail through his scrotum, in Tiananmen Square. I have to agree with you Dave. I have to think that no statement at all would have been better than the condescending crap contained in the one posted. China is becoming a scary place to even visit, much less live in. I am very worried about what may take place during the upcoming olympics. I pray OUR athletes and all the world's athletes will be safe for the duration of their stay there.

[dgriffin]

I suppose I shouldn't pick on a guy with nail through his privates. I suppose he's trying to be diplomatic, but it's a slippery slope. I agree with you: better he said nothing at all.
I wish everyone would boycott the Olympics, personally, but probably everyone will be making too much money on it on both sides of the Pacific.

Again, I can't resist: Two photos that bolster the US Constitution's 2nd Amendment. As that lady said before Congress on the YouTube tape, "It's not criminals our founding fathers wanted my guns to protect me against, gentlemen. It's you."

[clarencebunsen]

Dave,

I haven't kept up but wasn't the Roman Catholic Church in China co-opted by the Chinese Government in 1949 or so, i.e. Mao & successors appointed the bishops & refused to let Vatican appointments take office. Is the Cardinal in question a government appointment or a Vatican appointment or have they worked out some sort of arrangement?

The guy in the white shirt was the single bravest act of my lifetime. I read a rumor that he suffered the normal fate of someone who embarasses the Chinese government, a bullet to the back of the head and his family presented with a bill for the bullet.

[dgriffin]

I think my last post went astray. Anyway, yes, that man's photo should be on my wall. I'm doing some research, but the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church was instituted by China in 1957 as a substitute. Good article on wiki:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Patriotic_Catholic_Association
Interesting blog at:
china-e-lobby.blogspot.com/
relating to Olympics, but earlier archives treat the Catholic church topic.