Pope Francis is wrapping up a four-day trip to Mongolia
Pope Francis has told Catholics in China to be “good Christians and good citizens”, reaching out to Beijing during his visit to neighbouring Mongolia. Relations between the Vatican and Beijing, which have not had official diplomatic relations for more than 70 years, have been tense over the governance of China’s Catholics despite an agreement on the issue in 2018. Following a mass in Mongolia’s capital of Ulaanbaatar on Sunday, Francis turned his attention to officially-atheist China, some of whose citizens had flown in for the papal visit. Flanked by the Hong Kong bishop, Stephen Chow, and its bishop emeritus, Cardinal John Tong Hon, the 86-year-old pope said they joined him to send “a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people”. Chow visited Beijing in April – the first visit by a Hong Kong bishop in more than 30 years. “To the people, I wish the best,” said the pope. “To Chinese Catholics, I ask you to be good Christians and good citizens.” In the crowd at the mass was a Chinese woma