Hong Kong Cardinal Retires To Focus On China

China`s 8-12 million Catholics are split between a state-sanctioned church and an underground church that rejects government.

The outspoken leader of Hong Kong's Roman Catholic Church who clashed often with Beijing said on Wednesday he will step down from his high-profile post to focus on studying China's burgeoning church groups.

In a long-expected announcement, Cardinal Joseph Zen, 77, told reporters Pope Benedict XVI had agreed to his retirement after years of pleas from the Vatican to remain in his post.

China's 8-12 million Catholics are split between a state-sanctioned church and an underground church that rejects government ties and answers only to Rome.

Beijing and the Vatican have no formal diplomatic relations, giving Catholic leaders in Hong Kong, a former British colony and now a "special administrative region" of China with wide-ranging autonomy, an important liaison role.

Associate bishop John Tong Hon, named by the Vatican earlier this year as successor to Zen, will convene a news conference once Zen's retirement date had fixed, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Catholic Church said.

"I retire not because I want to rest. I want to concentrate on taking care of the church in China because it is big and complicated," he told reporters without elaborating.

"The Pope sometimes would like to ask my opinion (on China) and that takes time to study. There's a lot of work to do."

Part of the complication is China's avowed wish to normalise ties with the Vatican, but only if it abandons its ties with Taiwan, a self-ruled island China considers sovereign territory.

Zen, who was elevated to the cardinalate in 2006, is famous for his outspoken views on democratic and religious freedoms, drawing criticism from Communist Party-ruled Beijing.

His successor Tong has reportedly hinted he would not be as outspoken as Zen and would take a more flexible approach in bridging Vatican and China ties.