Pope Francis greeted a group of pilgrims from the Chinese diocese of Wenzhou on Wednesday who attended his weekly general audience.
During his customary tour of the square, Francis decided to stop his Popemobile to speak to the group, who toted a placard from their home diocese, Vatican Radio reported.
Wenzhou, a sprawling city on the east coast of the Chinese mainland of over 9 million inhabitants, has a large Christian community. As many as 90 percent of Chinese immigrants to Italy come from the city.
In May last year, Chinese government officials allegedly unleashed demolishing teams on statues depicting Biblical scenes at a site of Catholic pilgrimage in Wenzhou.
Hundreds of Protestant churches have suffered partial or total destruction because of the campaign.
There are an estimated 12 million Catholics in China, many of whom refuse to worship within the Communist Party controlled official church, the Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) which does not recognise the Vatican's authority.
