Pope Francis to Include Mandarin Chinese in Weekly General Audiences
Exciting news from the Vatican! Starting December 4, Pope Francis will include a greeting and summary in Mandarin Chinese during his weekly General Audiences. This announcement was made by the Pope himself during Wednesday’s General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.
This addition to the languages already included in the General Audiences shows the Pope’s care and attention towards the Chinese people. In a message from September 2018, he praised China as a land of great opportunities and expressed admiration for the Chinese people’s cultural heritage and wisdom.
During his Apostolic Journey to Mongolia in 2023, Pope Francis extended a warm greeting to the Chinese people and urged Chinese Catholics to be both good Christians and good citizens. He has also expressed his desire to visit China in the future, calling the Chinese nation a promise and hope for the Church.
Pope Francis’ Historical Connection with China
The Vatican has a long history of reaching out to Chinese-speaking audiences. The Vatican News website currently offers information in both traditional and simplified Chinese. Chinese characters first appeared in L’Osservatore Romano in 1981 when Pope St. John Paul II delivered part of his speech in Chinese in Hiroshima.
In 2009, Chinese became one of the languages available on the official Vatican website, vatican.va. The Vatican’s Fides News Agency has also been publishing a newsletter in simplified Chinese since 1998.
This new addition of Mandarin Chinese to the Pope’s General Audiences further strengthens the bond between the Vatican and the Chinese-speaking community. It is a testament to Pope Francis’ dedication to reaching out to people from all corners of the world.
