For China’s Catholics, New Pope Brings Hope
William Wan of The Washington Post examines the conflict between “two of the world’s most hierarchical and authority-driven powers,” the Vatican and the Chinese government. Ren Yanli, an expert on Catholicism at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, sees an optimistic future with the incoming of a new pope. “It’s an opportunity for the two sides to restart,” he says, “Both sides are new they can move forward without historical burdens on their shoulders.”