Vatican City, Sep 18, 2025 / 10:08 am

Pope Leo XIV, in his first interview since his election, signaled he may be open to future changes to the Vatican’s controversial deal with China, saying that he is in dialogue with persecuted Chinese Catholics as he weighs the future of Vatican policy toward Beijing.

The interview, conducted in English in July and published Thursday in a new Spanish-language biography, provides the clearest view yet of the 70-year-old American pope’s priorities in global politics and Vatican diplomacy, including how he sees the Church engaging with the Trump administration, the war in Gaza, and the defense of human dignity.

On China, Pope Leo said he is listening to “a significant group of Chinese Catholics who for many years have lived some kind of oppression or d

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