Hong Kong’s Catholic Church leaders paid tribute on Monday to Pope Francis who died at age 88, remembering him as an “inspirational leader” and a champion of world peace who always kept the city and Macau in his prayers.
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The Catholic diocese of Hong Kong also told worshippers it would arrange a service and a liturgy to allow them the chance to 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 spoke highly of Francis and noted he had been seen on television giving his blessing to the world on Easter Sunday.
“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.
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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”.