Pope Leo XIV stated this week that he is unable to offer a comment regarding the sentence handed down to a pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong.
“I cannot comment,” the American-born pontiff told EWTN News, an outlet that reports on global Catholic affairs, during an interaction with journalists in Italy.
“Let us pray for a reduction in hatred and an increase in peace, and strive for genuine dialogue. May God bless you all.”
Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong publisher and democracy advocate who converted to Catholicism, received a 20-year prison term from Beijing last month for breaching the 2020 national security law—a move U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as “unjust and tragic.”
“This conviction demonstrates the lengths to which the authorities will go to suppress those advocating for basic freedoms in Hong Kong,” Rubio remarked in a statement. “The United States calls on the authorities to provide Mr. Lai with humanitarian parole.”
The 78-year-old established the now-defunct Apple Daily in Hong Kong in 1995, during the period of British administration.
Lai’s sentencing marked the conclusion of one of the most significant national security trials since Beijing enacted the broad legislation in 2020, following months of anti-Chinese Communist Party demonstrations in 2019 triggered by concerns that Beijing was undermining Hong Kong’s guaranteed autonomy.
Those protests were met with a comprehensive security crackdown that outlawed dissent and fundamentally altered the city’s judicial framework.
Lai faced multiple arrests during the 2019 demonstrations and was taken into custody at his residence in 2020. His newspaper was also subjected to raids and subsequently shut down.
In December, he was convicted of attempting to subvert national security.
President Donald Trump stated in December that he had personally requested that Chinese President Xi Jinping release Lai.
“I discussed the matter with President Xi and requested that he consider his release,” Trump said. “He is not in good health. He is an elderly man and is unwell, so I did make that request. We shall see what the outcome is.”