Hong Kong gives cardinal his passport back for Pope Francis’s funeral after 2022 arrest

Published April 24, 2025 4:49pm ET



China is allowing former Hong Kong Archbishop Joseph Zen to leave the country to attend Pope Francis‘s funeral. The cardinal had his passport confiscated after he was arrested in 2022 for allegedly failing to register the pro-democracy 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund properly.

His secretary told the Associated Press that the 93-year-old retired bishop departed Hong Kong for Rome on Wednesday.

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