HONG KONG (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Joseph Zen’s personal secretary has confirmed that the prelate is in good health, saying reports that allege Zen is close to dying are false.
The confirmation of the 91-year-old Zen’s health came over the weekend when The Daily Compass contacted his secretary, Fr. Carlos Cheung, about a rumor on Twitter originating from the Pillar of China account.
On March 16, the Pillar of China profile posted on Twitter, “I was just informed through a friend that Cardinal Zen seems to be toward the end of his days on earth. B16 funeral shows perhaps his last breath of reconciliation with the man who betrayed us. The Church should be prepared to lose one of her last loyal sons.”
The post attracted many wishes of goodwill and assurances of prayers for the cardinal. However, Zen’s secretary firmly maintained the report was false, branding it “fake news.” Cheung said that after the cardinal’s hospitalization for respiratory problems in January after Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral in Rome, Zen has been improving, leaving the hospital a month ago. Zen is currently staying with the Salesian community in Hong Kong, according to Cheung, who affirmed from a visit to the cardinal just a few days ago that he is indeed doing well.
On Sunday, Zen himself appeared to confirm the report of his good health, posting a happy photo of himself and a message for the feast of St. Joseph, the cardinal’s namesake. In his post, written in Chinese and in English, Zen said,
“Happy Feast Day of St. Joseph! Thank you for your warm greetings and prayers! We all knew St. Joseph is the patron of the Church in China, let’s us not forget to pray for his intercession to guard and protect our Church and we also pray for those celebrating their name day, including myself, Msgr. Joseph Ha and the Provincial Fr. Joseph Ng. Thank you and Happy Laetare Sunday. St. Joseph, pray for us all!
祝大家聖若瑟節快樂！
感謝各位的祝賀和關心！
由於遇到「主日」，故禮儀將移至3月20日慶祝。讓我們以若瑟作為本名的兄弟姊妹祈禱，包括是本人、夏主教和省會長吳神父，也祈求聖若瑟的轉禱，繼續保護教會和所有基督徒。
大聖若瑟，為我等祈！ pic.twitter.com/odk2dBfGk7— Joseph Zen (@CardJosephZen) March 19, 2023
LifeSiteNews’ previous coverage on Cardinal Zen can be found here.
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