Pope Francis will celebrate Mass tomorrow morning on the
Day of Prayer for the Church China and the feast of Our Lady of Sheshan. Priests and young people from China will attend the service, which will take place in St Martha Chapel.
Mgr Savio Hon Tai-Fai, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, will also be present. He is the only Chinese member of the Vatican curia.
Pope Francis invited "all Catholics in the world" to join Chinese believers in prayer on 24 May, to Our Lady of Sheshan. "I urge all Catholics around the world to join in prayer with our brothers and sisters who are in China, to implore from God the grace to proclaim with humility and joy Christ, who died and rose again; to be faithful to His Church and the Successor of Peter and to live everyday life in service to their country and their fellow citizens in a way that is consistent with the faith they profess."
"Making our own a few words of prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan, together with you, I would like to invoke Mary, Our Lady of Sheshan, to sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, hope, and love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus. Mary, most faithful Virgin, support Chinese Catholics, make their commitments, which are not easy, more and more precious in the eyes of the Lord, and nurture the affection and the participation of the Church in China to the journey of the Universal Church".