Pope Francis gestures during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday. REUTERS
Pope Francis announced on Wednesday that his teachings at the Vatican's weekly general audience will be translated into Mandarin starting next week. During these Wednesday gatherings, Pope Francis speaks in Italian, and his teachings are translated and read out in English, French, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic. "Next week, with the Advent period beginning, the Chinese translation will also be available at the audience," he said, likely referring to Mandarin, China's official language. The historical relationship between the Vatican and communist China has been strained, but Pope Francis has prioritized efforts to normalize these ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an agreement on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four more years, indicating a new level of trust between the two entities. The Vatican stated that the 2018 agreement resolved a decades-long division between an underground church loyal to the pope and the China-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association, which operates independently of the Holy See. It is estimated that there are between 10 to 12 million Catholics in China.
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