About 200 lay Christians and clergy --- including Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun --- attended a prayer rally before joining thousands protesting the central government's decision not to allow direct elections for Hong Kong officials in 2012.

Cardinal Zen told the Jan. 13 prayer rally he "regretted and was angry" that the Chinese government in Beijing ignored the aspirations of Hong Kong residents, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News.

"Don't we have the right to express our pain after being slapped in the face?" he asked.

The cardinal also said he doubted that the elections for chief executive in 2017 and all members of the Legislative Council in 2020 would be conducted in a truly democratic manner.

"We hope for respect and dialogue. We will hold on to our stance (for universal suffrage in 2012) right to the end and believe in the power of prayer," he added.

The Civil Human Rights Front and pro-democracy legislators called the rally to protest a Dec. 29 decision by the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress ruling out universal suffrage in the 2012 elections for Hong Kong's chief executive and legislators. However, the standing committee said the election of the fifth chief executive in 2017 might be under universal suffrage.

Universal suffrage is contained in the Basic Law, the miniconstitution governing Hong Kong from 1997 until 2047. Chinese officials ruled out direct elections of the Hong Kong chief executive in 2007 and the special administrative region's legislature this year.

The Hong Kong diocesan justice and peace commission, the Hong Kong Catholic Commission for Labor Affairs and five Protestant social-concern groups hosted the prayer session at Victoria Park, the starting point of the mass rally. Both Catholic commissions are members of the Civil Human Rights Front.

The Rev. Ralph Lee Ting-sun, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Christian Council, told the prayer gathering he hoped a more democratic election could produce a more responsible government.

Christians will not give up and keep silent, because Hong Kong citizens have been striving for universal suffrage for 20 years and "we can no longer wait for another 10 years," said Rev. Lee, president of the Hong Kong Methodist Church.

Cardinal Zen, Rev. Lee and several others led the march to government headquarters in Hong Kong's central district. Cardinal Zen, whose knees have given him pain recently, marched for about 1.5 hours before leaving to preside at an evening Mass.

Organizers said 22,000 people took part, while police said 6,800 gathered at the starting point.

---CNS