Analysis:Pope's red hats mostly political

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Analysis:Pope's red hats mostly political

By ROLAND FLAMINI
UPI Chief International Correspondent


WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI's first appointments to the College of Cardinals this week include some strongly political choices reflecting the direction and priorities of his papacy. Three of the 15 new cardinals are in Asia and eight in Europe. The pope has already given indications that improving relations with China is a priority of his pontificate, and the appointment of 74-year-old Bishop Joseph Zen Zekiun of Hong Kong underlines that interest. The fact that Pope Benedict has made him a cardinal, Zen said following his elevation. "shows his priority for China."

The Chinese government can hardly be too pleased with Zen's appointment. He has been an outspoken critic of the regime's poor human rights record and Beijing's harassment of the priests and members of the "underground" Catholic Church which recognizes the authority of the pope, as opposed to the state-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association, which does not. It's different in Hong Kong, where the Catholic Church is allowed to exist without state interference (Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tseng, effectively Beijing's man in the former British colony, is a devout Catholic.) Cardinal-designate Zen will be a highly visible reminder of the church's constraints on the mainland.

According to Vatican estimates, there are about five million Catholics in the state-controlled church, and at least another eight million clandestine worshippers, although their real number is not known. But in the past few years a strong informal connection has developed between the two churches. Recently, the consecration of a bishop in the church that is in communion with Rome was attended by fellow-bishops from the "official" Catholic Church. It is this improved internal atmosphere that has raised hopes in both the Vatican and Beijing that diplomatic relations, broken off in 1951 shortly after the Communists assumed power, can be resumed. However, according to a Vatican source familiar with the situation, the intermittent talks have yet to overcome the main issue of papal authority and Vatican control. The fact that Vatican experts regard Asia as the new frontier for evangelization inevitably put the communist regime on the defensive.

The cardinals will receive their bright red hats, the symbol of their authority, in a ceremony in St Peter's Basilica on March 23. Pope Benedict, who described them this week as "a sort of senate around the pope," also named Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales of Manila a cardinal. The timing of that nomination was not missed in the Philippines: this week happens to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1986 People Power revolution that removed President Ferdinand Marcos from office. Rosales's predecessor, Cardinal Jaime Sin had played a key role in preventing bloodshed in the revolt by marching at the head of the huge demonstrations that confronted the Army tanks. The third Asian cardinal is Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-Suk of Seoul, South Korea.


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