The Cardinal Kung Foundation is a not-for-profit

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

organization based in Stamford, Connecticut. Founded in 1994 by Joseph Kung, nephew of the late Cardinal

Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei (; 2 August 1901 – 12 March 2000) was the Catholic Bishop of Shanghai, China, from 1950 until his death in 2000. He spent 30 years in Chinese prisons for defying attempts by China's Communist government to control ...

, the foundation monitors the treatment of Catholics in China and that portion of the Catholic Church in China that remains loyal to the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. The foundation's primarily tool is to supply news reports to

news agencies A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, ...

about various activities in China and has been instrumental in protecting and aiding many notable Catholics in China.

History

One of the first successful efforts by Cardinal Kung Foundation to notify the media about an issue regarding China came in January 1994. In January 1994, the Cardinal Kung Foundation notified the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

that Bishop Su Zhi-Ming had recently been arrested after meeting with U.S. Congressman Chris Smith in early January 1994.

(January 28, 1994) ''Chinese Bishop Arrested After Meeting Congressman.'' Su has previously spent up to 15 years in prison for his participation in the underground Catholic church. The Wichita Eagle picked up the story the following day and presented it to the readers in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

.Calovich, Anne. (January 29, 1994) The Wichita Eagle ''Bishop arrested in China.'' Section: Main News; Page 12A.

References

* Rosenthal, Elisabeth. (October 6, 2002) ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
In China, Catholic Churches Flourish, but Under Controls.
' Section: 1; Page 11. * Agence France-Presse (January 11, 1997) ''China in full-scale campaign to wipe out secret Catholics: report BEIJING, Jan 11 (AFP) - China has launched a hard-hitting campaign to wipe out all trace of its unauthorized Catholic church, the US-based Cardinal Kung Foundation said Saturday.'' Section: International. * Agence France-Presse (November 7, 1997) ''Chinese Roman Catholic bishop remains in detention in northern China BEIJING, Nov 7 (AFP) - Roman Catholic bishop Su Zhimin, arrested in China early last month, was being detained in the northern city of Baoding, despite Vatican reports of his release, the US-based Cardinal Kung Foundation said Friday.'' Section: International. *

(March 12, 2000) ''Cardinal Kung , long imprisoned Catholic crusader in China, dies at 98.''

External links

Cardinal Kung Foundation
Catholicism in China {{RC-society-stub