In an interview with the Catholic magazine America, Chow praised Pope Francis for having “changed the face of the church”, making it “a lot more human” and “inclusive” during his 12-year pontificate.
“I think Francis’ impact was universal, and not just in Hong Kong or in China, where there is now a provisional agreement on the nomination of bishops,” Chow, bishop of the Hong Kong diocese, said in the interview published online on Friday.
The 2018 provisional deal between the two sides – renewed in 2020, 2022 and most recently in October last year – is intended to regulate the appointment of bishops on the mainland through a joint process.

The Holy See believes the agreement resolves a decades-long split between the underground church, which swears loyalty to the Vatican, and the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.