In advance of the show trial of Hong Kong’s Joseph Cardinal Zen, The Wall Street Journal’s Bill McGurn asks: “Will Pope Francis go ahead” with renewal of the Vatican’s 2018 deal with Beijing on Church-China relations “even as China puts his cardinal on trial on a patently ridiculous charge?”

After “no senior Vatican official had offered an expression of solidarity or a prayer initiative for Cardinal Zen at last month’s gathering of cardinals in Rome,” “the pope offered not a word of support” when a reporter asked about Zen. Francis only noted “that the cardinal ‘says what he feels’ despite knowing there are ‘limitations.’ The pope declined to even say China was undemocratic. All that was missing was a cock crowing in the background.”