Hong Kong’s Catholic Church recalls ‘inspirational leader’ Pope Francis

Hong Kong paid tribute to Pope Francis after his death on Monday at age 88, with religious and political figures worldwide praising him as a champion of peace and an “inspirational leader” who pushed to reform the church. The first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia earlier this year, raising fears over his long-term health, but he appeared to have recovered and greeted cheering crowds in St Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Easter Sunday. “Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness [that] I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel. “At 7.35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.” Farrell will preside over a rite at 8pm on Monday at the Vatican, when the pope’s body will be placed into a casket. A funeral will be held at a later date. The Catholic diocese of Hong Kong told its 400,000 worshippers it would arrange a service and a liturgy so they could bid farewell to Francis, with details to be announced later. “On behalf of the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong and the faithful, Cardinal Stephen Chow [Sau-yan] … expresses his deepest condolences on the death of His Holiness Pope Francis who returned to our Lord peacefully on 21 April, 2025,” the diocese said. Archbishop Andrew Chan Au-ming, the head of the local Anglican Church, also praised Francis. “We have lost not just the beloved Holy Father of the Catholics, but also a Holy Father dear to us Anglicans as well: a faithful servant to God, an inspirational leader to Christians worldwide and a true ecumenical friend to all,” Chan was quoted as saying in a social media post from the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, as the Anglican Church is known locally. The social media post also quoted Chan as saying that he would always remember the pontiff’s “loving words to the people of Hong Kong and Macau, when he told the Archbishop that we are always in his thoughts and prayers”. The local diocese highlighted Francis’ visit to Mongolia in September 2023, which it said had brought attention to relations between the Vatican and Beijing. “Pope Francis … [was] committed in promoting inter-religious dialogue and world peace, and he was determined to reform the Holy See, such as [through] the participation of women at the decision-making level. He was respected and loved by the members of the Church during his pontificate,” it said. Francis inherited a church under attack over a child sex abuse scandal and torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy. He was elected with a clear mandate to restore order following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI at the age of 76 in 2013. In 2019, Francis held an unprecedented summit that heard testimony from victims, promising an “all-out battle” against clerical abuse and later making reporting of allegations compulsory. Leaders from around the world praised the pontiff’s efforts to implement reforms and offered condolences to the 1.4 billion Catholics around the globe. Britain’s King Charles said he was “most deeply saddened” about the death of Francis, sending his “most heartfelt condolences and profound sympathy to the Church he served with such resolve”. Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Francis as a “defender” of “humanism and justice”, and praised his efforts to promote dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also mourned the death of Francis, saying the Catholic leader had “prayed for peace in Ukraine and for Ukrainians”. “He knew how to give hope, ease suffering through prayer and foster unity. He prayed for peace in Ukraine and for Ukrainians,” Zelensky wrote on social media. A photograph of Francis, who was also celebrated for his role as a voice for the poor and the persecuted, was displayed inside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Central in Hong Kong at a regular mass on Monday evening. Among the followers was former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who remembered Francis as a pontiff “full of compassion, kindness, humility, and courage”. “He was also full of love and hope for China and improved Sino-Vatican relations,” Tsang said. The Vatican City is the only European state that has official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a part of China, to be reunited by force if necessary. While both sides have not set up formal diplomatic ties, relations have improved greatly in recent years. The Vatican and Beijing reached an agreement on the appointment of Chinese bishops in 2018, ending a 60-year tug of war that began when mainland Chinese authorities ordained two bishops in 1958 without papal approval. The agreement allows the pope to be recognised for the first time by Beijing as the universal head of the Catholic Church, including in China. It was extended for a third-time last year. The Vatican has not given details about the pope’s cause of death. During his time in hospital, Francis suffered severe breathing crises, which his doctors later said had nearly killed him. Since returning from hospital, Francis had been receiving 24-hour care from a nurse, the Vatican said previously. The pope had been receiving oxygen via a small hose under his nose overnight, and during the day as needed. During his stay in hospital, he had also been using non-invasive mechanical ventilation, involving the placement of a mask over his face to help push air into his lungs. He was no longer using ventilation after leaving hospital, the Vatican said. In his last public appearance on Sunday, Francis said only a few words, wishing a happy Easter in a raspy voice to about 35,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square. In a traditional Easter message, read by an aide, Francis reiterated his frequent call for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the enclave “deplorable”. Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

Hong Kong’s Catholic Church recalls ‘inspirational leader’ Pope Francis

Tributes flow for late pontiff who always kept ‘the people of Hong Kong and Macau’ in his ‘thoughts and prayers’

nproxy.org