"Governments Have Nothing To Fear From Church": Pope's Message For China

The unscripted comments were Pope Francis's latest attempt to reassure China's Communist government, which is wary of the Church's presence in its country.

Pope Francis on Sunday told Catholics in China to be "good Christians and good citizens", using his visit to Mongolia to help ease tensions between the Vatican and Beijing.

Following a mass before the scant Catholic population in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar, Francis turned his attention to officially-atheist China, some of whose citizens had flown in for the Pope's visit.

Flanked by Hong Kong's current bishop, Stephen Chow, and its bishop emeritus, Cardinal John Tong Hon, the 86-year-old pope said they joined him to send "a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people".