All that was missing was a COCK CROWING in the background

… the defendants were arrested for collusion with foreign forces, which can carry a life sentence

… awkward time for the Vatican because its 2018 deal with China is now up for renewal

… “The Holy See has learned with concern the news of Cardinal Zen’s arrest and is following the development of the situation with extreme attention”

… was the Vatican’s only official comment

… Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin: “The most concrete hope is that initiatives such as this one will not complicate the already complex and not simple path of dialogue.”

… a pope who always seems to have time for private audiences with celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio

… refused to meet a cardinal with long firsthand experience of Chinese communism

… no senior Vatican official had offered an expression of solidarity or a prayer initiative for Cardinal Zen at last month’s gathering of cardinals in Rome

… the pope offered not a word of support

… noting only that the cardinal “says what he feels” despite knowing there are “limitations.”

… The pope declined to even say China was undemocratic

… All that was missing was a cock crowing in the background

… By contrast, Joe Biden’s press secretary said the president calls for the immediate release of “those who have been unjustly detained and charged, like Cardinal Joseph Zen.”

… Nancy Pelosi condemned the cardinal’s arrest in a Washington Post op-ed, where she also called him “the embodiment of moral fortitude”

… If ultimately prison were to be his fate, this good shepherd would regard it as a great gift, to suffer right alongside his sheep

… the Communist Party of China and local Hong Kong authorities don’t know what to do with such a man. Sadly, neither does Pope Francis