Creative Minority Report links to a story about Cardinal Joseph Zen being on a hunger strike to defend the right to freedom of education.
The use of the words hunger strike rang alarm bells for me and I thought surely there is some miscommunication about this.
It comes as a response to the decision by the Supreme Court of Hong Kong to introduce a government committee in the management of a school. Now in addition to parents and students, government officials will have a say on the school governance.
With this hunger strike, the cardinal denounces what he calls “the danger of destroying Catholic education in the territory.”
The protest will last at least three days, during which the 79 year old cardinal will take only water and communion.
So he is not really going on a hunger strike he is fasting for three days. Words matter and describing this as a hunger strike is totally wrong. An actual hunger strike would be a form of suicide and would be expressly forbidden.
In fact a couple of years back a bishop went on an actual hunger strike and the Vatican intervened.
The Holy See, through the Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil, has asked Bishop Luiz Flavio Cappio of the Diocese of Barra to end “as soon as possible” the hunger strike he has been carrying out for 18 days.
