VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Joseph Zen, the highly respected Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, is cautioning his brother Cardinals to be aware of manipulation through slow-rolling novelties being introduce within the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, according to a letter obtained by The Daily Wire. 

Zen, who was one of five Cardinals who pressed Pope Francis in July for definitive answers on hot button issues such as the blessing of gay marriage and ordination of women, writes in his letter that he, as one of the most elder Cardinals, feels “duty-bound” to speak out. 

“I am your confrere Joseph Zen from the far-off island of Hong Kong, a 91-year old man, ordained bishop more than 26 years ago,” Zen writes. “I write this letter because, conscious of being still in possession of my mental faculties, I feel duty-bound to safeguard … the sacred traditions of Catholic faith.”

Cardinal Zen closes his letter encouraging his brothers to raise their concerns with the Pope, and to be “courageous” in their participation in what he believes is a “Synod without precedents.” 

The Pope responded to the questions Zen issued in July, but the Cardinals said his responses needed clearer answers, and reformed their questions in August so that they might receive “yes or no” in return. Cardinal “Tucho” Fernandez, the new Prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and close confidant of the Pope, told ABC that his answers were more than sufficient, and signaled that there would be no further clarification.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, a member of the Salesian Order of missionaries, has long advocated for the Chinese people, often placing him at odds with the Vatican Secretariat of State and even receiving a snubbing by Pope Francis —in 2020, Zen traveled to the Vatican in an unsuccessful attempt to meet with the Pope to discuss the Chinese Communist Party. 

Cardinal Zen closes his letter, encouraging his brothers to raise their concerns with the Pope, and to be “courageous” in their participation in what he believes is a “Synod without precedents.” 

The Synod, a summit on the direction of the Catholic Church in the 21st century, was opened by Pope Francis on Wednesday, and more than 400 have descended on the Vatican to participate. The Pope said its purpose is “to refocus our gaze on God, to be a church that looks mercifully at humanity.”

Zen, due to his old age, has said he will likely not travel to the Vatican again.

In his letter, he voices concerns that rhetoric propagated that the voice of the Faithful (voce popoli) somehow supersedes that of the Successors of the Apostles (Bishops), in almost a democratic way, contrary to the history and foundation of the Catholic Church. 

He also warns against a “novelty” for the modern century.

The letter, on letterhead and signed by the Cardinal on September 21st, is provided in full below, exclusively by The Daily Wire:

Zen to Cardinals and Bishops Members Synod by bscher on Scribd

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Former President Donald Trump blasted the Biden administration Wednesday after it echoed one of Trump’s signature policies and stressed an “immediate need” to construct a wall along the southern border.

On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there is an “acute and immediate need” to waive dozens of federal laws and build a border wall in Texas. Trump told Fox News that the Biden administration’s flip on the issue came because the president is seeing the reality of the crisis at the border. 

“Biden sees our country is being invaded,” the former president said. “What is he going to do about the 15 million people from prisons, from mental institutions, insane asylums, and terrorists that have already come into our country?”

Trump added that the U.S. needs to return to his policies to mitigate the border crisis. 

“He has to reinstate Remain in Mexico and Title 42,” Trump said. “He has to do all of the other things that we were doing.”

To fight the “high illegal entry” of migrants in recent months, Mayorkas said he is waiving 26 federal laws through his power granted by Congress to construct a border wall in Starr County, Texas, which is the Rio Grande Valley Sector where there have been over 245,000 migrant encounters in this fiscal year alone, according to the federal government, Fox News reported. 

In his announcement, the DHS secretary said it is “necessary to waive certain laws, regulations, and other legal requirements” to ensure the expeditious construction of “physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States.”

Shortly after his inauguration in January of 2021, Biden stopped construction of the border wall after promising as a candidate there would “not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.” Biden condemned Trump’s construction of a wall along the southern border as a “misplaced priority” and a “failure to manage migration in a safe, orderly, and humane way.”

The president is facing pressure, including from within his party” to address the border crisis and curb the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. Daily illegal border crossings have neared record highs as border facilities are slammed with migrants and officials are mass releasing illegal immigrants into the U.S. interior while thousands more stream into the country. The strain at the U.S. border is felt by communities from small border towns to major American cities.

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Under the Trump administration, the federal government built 85 miles of new border wall “in locations where no barriers previously existed” and 373 miles of border wall “in place of dilapidated and/or outdated designs.” 

Trump’s campaign ran a victory lap following Mayorkas’ announcement, saying that “President Trump is always right.” 

“That’s why he built close to 500 miles of powerful new wall on the border and it would have been finished by now,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said. “Instead, Crooked Joe Biden turned our country into one giant sanctuary for dangerous criminal aliens.”