Pope Leo would like to visit China, Hong Kong cardinal says (Fides)

Cardinal Stephen Chow, SJ, of Hong Kong said in a recent homily that Pope Leo XIV “told me he would like to make a pastoral visit to China.”

“I ask you to pray for him, so that he may realize the unfulfilled dream of Pope Francis,” the prelate continued. “He also told me that he was the first Pope to visit mainland China” [i.e., before his election]. “I believe he is not foreign to Chinese culture.”

In a subsequently homily, Cardinal Chow added:

Now Pope Francis is in heaven, praying for us and for our Church in China. He always longed to visit China and meet our brothers and sisters there ... We now pray that his successor, as the successor of St. Peter, may one day set foot on Chinese soil as Pope.