Fr John Baptist Zen was born on 11 May 1931 in Tong Ka Hong, China, and attended the Hong Kong novitiate between 1948 and 1949. He made his first profession on 16 August 1949, his perpetual profession on 16 August 1955, also in Hong Kong, and was ordained a priest on 11 February 1960 in Turin.
Due to his human and professional qualities, he was entrusted with the leadership of several communities from a young age. He was Rector of several houses in Hong Kong: Cheug Chau (1966-72), Salesian School (1972-75), Tang Kong Po School (1980-86) and the Salesian Missionary House (1987-89), also serving as Novice Master in the latter two years.
Subsequently he also worked in the Salesian presence in Taiwan, as Rector (1996-97) and Parish Priest (1996-2000) in Taipei, and Rector and Economer (2000-03) in Tainan - a house where he was Vice-Rector from 2005.
For the Hong Kong-based Mary Help of Christians Province (CIN) he was Vice-Provincial (1969-75), Provincial Councillor (1975-89) and finally Provincial (1989-95).
“A great Chinese salesian, Fr John Baptist Zen has gone to the Salesian garden. Thanks for your passionate life witness, love for the Congregation, Don Bosco and Mary Help of Christians! Rest in peace!” said Fr Václav Klement, currently Superior of the Southern African Vice-Province (AFM) and former Regional Councillor for East Asia-Oceania.
For his part, Fr Lanfranco Fedrigotti, an Italian missionary who has been active in the CIN Province for over 55 years, wrote a moving remembrance of Fr Zen. Besides recalling their first meeting on the Cheung Chau pier - where Fr Fedrigotti mistook him for a mere novice, as Fr Zen appeared much younger than his age - the missionary reported: “For three years you were the first Rector of my missionary life. You shared with me and my companions your enthusiasm for Don Bosco and for youth, especially marginalised youth. After that, you were my Rector on two other occasions (in Tang King Po School and in Salesian Missionary House), and for six years you were my Provincial (1989-1995), encouraging and supervising my first forays into the mainland.
Throughout these 57 years, you have been a father and brother to me and, I am sure, to many other young confreres. You affectionately answered all my emails. You never missed any occasion to encourage me to be more faithful to Don Bosco and to my vocation. Now I love to think that you are already in the Salesian Garden. There you are in the company of your beloved Don Bosco, of our CIN martyrs and confessors of the faith, and of my missionary companion Fr Aldo Cipriani. Continue, please, to care for us who are still on the way! Then we can hope we will meet again.”
