Pope Benedict XVI slaps the Slave China regime upside the head.

Holy Mother Church battles the remnants of a vile 19th century slave ideology as well as the xenophobia of evil and ignorant men in an effort to save the souls of Her children in China.

Pope's Choice of Cardinal a Challenge for China

(CNSNews.com) - In a decision highlighting his concern for China's persecuted Christians, Pope Benedict XVI has included in his papacy's first selection of cardinals a Hong Kong-based bishop who has been a thorn in Beijing's side.

The pope announced the elevation of 15 new cardinals - the "princes" who comprise the Roman Catholic Church's top hierarchy - including Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the 74-year-old bishop of Hong Kong who was in the late 1990s forbidden to visit the communist-ruled mainland, his country of birth, after telling a Synod of Bishops at the Vatican there was no freedom of belief in China.

There was no immediate reaction from the Chinese government, and online versions of China's English-language media outlets appeared to be ignoring the news on Thursday.

Appointed as head of Hong Kong's 230,000 Catholics in 2002, Zen has been outspoken both about the plight of Catholics in mainland China and about Beijing's conduct towards Hong Kong, specifically its denial of full voting rights to the territory's seven million people.

Bless and protect your faithful servant, Lord.

Zen also took part in a mass protest against an attempt by the Hong Kong government, prodded by Beijing, to implement a highly unpopular anti-subversion law.

The protests were instrumental in the subsequent resignation of Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa.

Zen's elevation to cardinal will focus anew a spotlight on the testy relationship between the government of the world's most populous country and a religious institution with more than one billion adherents worldwide.

China cut ties with the Vatican in the 1950s and established an official "patriotic" denomination that calls itself Catholic and boasts some five million members, but is shunned by Catholics obedient to the pope.

After 1958, the official denomination began to appoint its own bishops, without approval from the Vatican.

Roman Catholicism was driven underground and many priests have been jailed over the decades since, but an estimated eight million Catholics loyal to the Vatican continue to meet in secret.

Many Chinese priests, religious, and laymen have also been killed by those in rebellion against God and His good order.

Because of Hong Kong's special status - the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, under an agreement promising the territory a measure of autonomy - the Catholic Church banned on the mainland is legal there.

China and the Vatican have in recent years felt out the possibility of re-establishing diplomatic relations but the move has been complicated by various factors.

Last April, China reiterated its stance, saying it would only establish ties with the Vatican if the Holy See pledged not to interfere in China's internal affairs, a reference not just to criticism of its policies but also to the church's universal practice of appointing bishops at the Vatican level rather than in individual countries.

Beijing also cited as another prerequisite the severing of ties with Taiwan. China regards the island as a rebellious province, and refuses to have diplomatic ties with any nation that recognizes Taipei.

Taiwan has around 300,000 Catholics and one cardinal, Paul Shan Kuo-his. The Vatican is its only diplomatic ally in Europe.

Zen told reporters in Hong Kong that his elevation showed that China was a "priority" for the pope.

China was also a priority for Pope Benedict's predecessor, who on several occasions expressed the desire to restore diplomatic ties with Beijing.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II named 30 new cardinals, and said a 31st would be a cardinal "in pectore" (in the heart), a term meaning the person would not be identified for his own safety, usually because he is living in a country where the church is oppressed.

The move sparked speculation that Zen may have been the secret cardinal, not named because of the sensitivity of the situation.

With the new pope's decision, however, the question of the unnamed cardinal's identity remains open. A Vatican spokesman said last year that the late pope had not revealed the name to anyone before his death.

As a young man, one of Zen's teachers was himself a cardinal "in pectore," chosen by Pope John Paul II just one year after his pontificate began in 1978, and only identified publicly by the pope 12 years later as Kung Pin-mei of China.

At the time Kung was secretly named cardinal, he was in prison. After 30 years in jail for his faith and a further ten years under house arrest, was allowed to travel to the U.S. for medical treatment in 1987, and died in 2000, aged 98.

I trust that Cardinal Kung's journey toward beatification continues apace.