Pope Francis has given a positive assessment of relations between the Vatican and China. At the press conference on the return flight from Singapore to Rome on Friday, he expressed his satisfaction with the dialogue with the People’s Republic.
He also sees a good result in the appointments of bishops in the People’s Republic of China. Since 2018, these have been regulated by a provisional secret agreement between the Holy See and the government in Beijing. “We are working with good will,” said the Pope on the plane from Singapore, where around three quarters of all residents are of Chinese descent.
“China is a promise”
The 87-year-old, who finished an extensive Asia-Pacific tour on Friday, wants to visit the Middle Kingdom. “It is a great country – I admire China, I respect China,” said the head of the church.
It is a country with a millennia-old culture, with the capacity for dialogue and mutual understanding that goes beyond different democratic systems. “China is a promise and a hope for the Church,” Francis concluded.
The giant country of China, which is governed by communists, is multi-religious. According to the China Center in Sankt Augustin near Bonn, its five officially recognized religious communities are Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism. Of the 1.4 billion Chinese, around 185 million are Buddhists, around 23 million are Muslims, around 38 to 60 million are Protestants, and around 10 million are Catholics. The number of followers of Daoism cannot be determined.
