VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV received Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 93-year-old bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, on Wednesday morning, just before the start of the ongoing extraordinary consistory.
The pontiff met with Cardinal Zen on January 7, per the Vatican’s daily bulletin, though it is unknown what was discussed. The cardinal had repeatedly been denied a meeting with Pope Francis after being critical of the Vatican’s secret agreement with the communist Chinese government, which apparently allows the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to appoint bishops.
Pope Leo met with Cardinal Zen this morning before the Consistory of Cardinals. 👀 pic.twitter.com/WhoWRioljX
— Sign of the Cross (@CatholicSOTC) January 7, 2026
Cardinal Zen, who has faced severe travel restrictions since his 2022 arrest under China’s draconian 2020 “National Security Law,” obtained permission from the Hong Kong authorities to travel for the consistory.
Leo’s audience with the cardinal is significant because the Chinese prelate is known for his opposing LGBT ideology and for defending the Traditional Latin Mass.
READ: Cardinal Zen condemns LGBT ‘pilgrimage’ in St. Peter’s Basilica: ‘Offense against God’
It is also significant because he was denied meetings with Francis, most notably in 2020. On this occassion Zen flew to Rome, hoping to hand-deliver a letter to Pope Francis asking the pontiff to appoint a new faithful bishop of Hong Kong who was not backed by the CCP.
The Chinese government had only permitted Cardinal Zen to travel outside Hong Kong for 120 hours, or five days, and Francis was apparently “very busy” and could not find time for the bishop emeritus in that window. The cardinal instead gave his letter to the pope’s secretary and expressed his disappointment to reporters before returning to Hong Kong.
READ: Cardinal Zen responds to criticism by Chinese priest, warns Church could imitate Anglican collapse
“It’s more than one and a half years that we have no bishop,” Cardinal Zen told the National Catholic Register (NCR) at the time.
“And now the whole atmosphere is very much political, so I would like to remind the Holy Father that we really need a bishop who is a good shepherd for the flock.”
Speaking to Italian journalist Aldo Maria Valli, Cardinal Zen compared making a deal with communist China is making a deal with the devil.
“Thinking of making deals with Beijing is crazy,” the cardinal said. “You don’t make deals with the devil. You fight the devil, and that’s it! The Church does not take orders from governments, and this applies everywhere.”
Pope Francis’ refusal to meet with Cardinal Zen was widely seen as political, given the cardinal’s staunch criticism of the Vatican’s deal with Beijing. He had previously accused Francis of “encouraging a schism” and of “selling out the Catholic Church in China,” while also characterizing the deal as “an incredible betrayal.”
The cardinal also suggested that the Vatican’s silence over China’s long record of human rights abuses and persecution of the Church was perhaps an attempt “to establish diplomatic relations with (China).”
READ: China consecrates bishop approved by Pope Leo XIV under Vatican-China deal
In 2023, Zen was finally granted an audience with Francis when he was allowed to travel to Rome for Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral, which was described as being cordial, though the Sino-Vatican deal was not reported to have been discussed.
It had been speculated at the time that the meeting was more about the media optics of giving the cardinal a better reception than in 2020 than genuinely wanting to meet with the persecuted cardinal.
