Pope Francis is expected to send a historic greeting to Chinese leaders when his plane flies over China next week en route to South Korea. Per Vatican policy, the pope reaches out to the leaders of every country over which his plane passes. 

Rev. Federico Lombardi, second in command to the pope, confirmed the papal envoy would fly through Chinese airspace but did not divulge what Francis would communicate. On a similar 1989 mission to Seoul, Pope John Paul II was barred from entering Chinese territory and was instead routed over the Soviet Union. Following tradition, John Paul reached out to then-leader Mikhail Gorbachev, itself a first.  

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Even indirect contact between the Holy See and Beijing would herald a warming of the often frosty relations between the two. Vatican City is one of the few nations still to recognize the government in Taiwan as representative of "China;" China continues to appoint priests and bishops without papal approval through the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA). The communist government in Beijing is officially atheist, and CPA clergy are seen as false by St. Peter's and China's laity.

An estimated 8 to 12 million Catholics are believed to practice their faith in China. While religious repression by Chinese authorities snapped into focus in 1999 following the persecution of the Falun Gong sect, faithful Chinese Catholics often resort to underground services for fear of government reprisal.

According to AsiaNews, over the past 20 years at least 20 Catholic priests were tortured and were put under tremendous pressure join the CPA. Reports surfaced last year that two friars and 10 lay-folk were arrested near the city of Hebei, a Catholic stronghold, last year for establishing catechism classes. It is believed 10 Catholic officials are currently held by Chinese authorities.

Pope Francis I is attending a five-day Catholic youth festival in South Korea, home to a sizable Catholic population. It is expected that Chinese Catholics will be present, and the pope is expected to address China as well as North Korean during his visit.

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