Pope Francis on Sunday told Chinese Catholics to be "good Christians and good citizens" in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the Vatican and Beijing. 

The 86-year-old pontiff made the unscripted remarks after a mass in an ice hockey arena the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, where small groups of Chinese Catholics were among those who went to see Francis. 

Francis said the retired and current bishops of Hong Kong joined with him to send "a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people." 

"To all the [Chinese] people I wish the best and to always go forward, always progress," he said. 

According to media reports, China did not permit any bishops from the mainland to attend the papal visit. 

Pope visiting Mongolia with eye toward China

Although Sunday's remarks were Francis' first pubic mention of China during his four-day Mongolia trip, Beijing has cast a shadow over the visit. 

The pope did, however, send a telegram of greeting to President Xi Jinping as his aircraft flew early Friday through Chinese airspace, as per Vatican tradition. The message was to offer "divine blessings of unity and peace."

China said the gesture signaled "friendliness and goodwill."

In 2018, the Vatican and China had reached a deal about Catholic bishop nominations, but tensions have risen since Beijing violated the agreement by making appointments unilaterally.

Pope stresses importance of diversity

Ahead of Sunday's mass, Francis met with leaders of different religions, including Mongolian shamans, Buddhist monks, Muslim, Jewish, Shinto leaders and a Russian Orthodox priest.

"Religious traditions, for all their distinctiveness and diversity, have impressive potential for the benefit of society as a whole," Francis told the group. 

Natsagdorj Damdinsuren, a head monk at a Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, said afterward that Francis' visit "proves the solidarity of the human race declaring peace together." 

Francis has praised Mongolia's tradition of religious freedom, in remarks that were seen as indirectly highlighting the lack thereof in neighboring China. 

The Chinese ruling Communist Party has long cracked down on religion, especially Christianity and Islam that Beijing views as foreign imports.

China has been accused of particularly targeting Uyghurs in the northwestern Xinjiang province.

fb/msh (AFP, Reuters)