How Museums in Central and Eastern Europe Tell the Complicated Story of Life Behind the Iron Curtain
Apr 24
Cardinal Zen To Receive Truman-Reagan Medal Of Freedom
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) announced today that it will award its highest honor–the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom–to Cardinal Joseph Zen on January 28th, 2019. “Cardinal Zen has given voice to those denied religious liberty in China and has opposed the collusion of the Vatican and CCP on the matter of ecclesiastical appointments” announced VOC Executive Director Marion Smith, adding that the Foundation “stands in solidarity with all those suffering for their faith and acts of conscience in the People’s Republic of China.”
Joseph Zen is a retired cardinal of the Catholic Church and a vocal proponent of human rights in Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China. Called the “New Conscience of Hong Kong,” he has criticized the Communist Party’s crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and the brutal treatment of the Falun Gong spiritualist movement. Zen remains an influential voice for freedom in China and has led pro-democracy protests and demonstrations in Hong Kong since 2002. He received his licentiate of theology and doctorate of philosophy at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome.
The Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom is awarded to those individuals and institutions who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to freedom and democracy and opposition to communism and all other forms of tyranny.
