Francis called for reflection on the encyclical in which he “sought to draw attention to the cry of the earth and of the poor.”

The mass protests that had roiled Hong Kong since June 2019, now largely subsided because of the Covid-19 pandemic, are likely to return, many warn, because of recent gestures by Beijing to tighten control over the former British colony.

The Trump administration is moving toward a new nuclear arms race with Russia, warns David Cortright of the University of Notre Dame, but there is still a chance to turn back.

Chinese Catholics have donated significant medical supplies to the Vatican to assist in the fight against Covid-19.

The Chinese government has temporarily closed all of the country's places of worship in an effort to contain the COVID-19 respiratory coronavirus that has now killed almost 3,000 people, with more than 80,000 around the world verified with infections.

The meeting “renewed the will to pursue the institutional dialogue at a bilateral level to foster the life of the Catholic Church and the good of the Chinese people.”