{
    "id": 3536,
    "date": "2026-03-04T12:16:57",
    "date_gmt": "2026-03-04T12:16:57",
    "guid": {
        "rendered": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/ro\/2026\/03\/04\/pope-leo-xiv-cannot-comment-on-jimmy-lai-case\/"
    },
    "modified": "2026-03-04T12:16:57",
    "modified_gmt": "2026-03-04T12:16:57",
    "slug": "pope-leo-xiv-cannot-comment-on-jimmy-lai-case",
    "status": "publish",
    "type": "post",
    "link": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/2026\/03\/04\/pope-leo-xiv-cannot-comment-on-jimmy-lai-case\/",
    "title": {
        "rendered": "Pope Leo XIV \u2018Cannot Comment\u2019 on Jimmy Lai Case"
    },
    "content": {
        "rendered": "<p>The pontiff spoke to reporters for the first time since Dec. 23.<\/p>\n<p>CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy \u2014 Pope Leo XIV told EWTN News he \u201ccannot comment\u201d on Jimmy Lai, the Catholic founder and publisher of the outspoken pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, who was sentenced Feb. 9 on charges Chinese authorities say violate national security laws. <\/p>\n<p>The sentence to 20 years in prison came after his conviction in December, a case his supporters have denounced as a politically driven show trial.<\/p>\n<p>Pope Leo XIV met with Lai\u2019s wife and daughter in October 2025. The pope has not talked about Lai directly but has spoken about imprisoned journalists and the importance of press freedom. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Church recognizes in these witnesses \u2014 I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives \u2014 the courage of those who defend dignity, justice, and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices,\u201d he said. \u201cThe suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Vatican maintains a delicate relationship with the government of the People\u2019s Republic of China including a provisional agreement regarding the appointment of bishops. <\/p>\n<p>Jimmy Lai. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Bradley Foundation<\/p>\n<p>Last year U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to do \u201ceverything\u201d to \u201csave\u201d Lai.<\/p>\n<p>The pope also renewed a call for peace and disarmament in remarks Tuesday outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo, 15 miles southeast of Rome, before returning to the Vatican.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s pray for less hatred and more peace. And work for authentic dialogue,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>The pope did not take any questions other than the one regarding Lai\u02bcs imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>Leo has made it his custom to spend Tuesdays at the country residence and has occasionally taken questions from reporters at the end of his stay. This was the Leo\u2019s first such exchange with the press since Dec. 23, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>This article was originally published by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n<p><em>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/ewtnvatican.com\/articles\/pope-leo-xiv-jimmy-lai-imprisonment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/ewtnvatican.com\/articles\/pope-leo-xiv-jimmy-lai-imprisonment<\/a><\/em><\/p>",
        "protected": false
    },
    "excerpt": {
        "rendered": "<p>The pontiff spoke to reporters for the first time since Dec. 23. CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy \u2014 Pope Leo XIV told EWTN News he \u201ccannot comment\u201d on Jimmy Lai, the Catholic founder and publisher of the outspoken pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, who was sentenced Feb. 9 on charges Chinese authorities say violate national security laws. The [&hellip;]<\/p>",
        "protected": false
    },
    "author": 26,
    "featured_media": 3535,
    "comment_status": "open",
    "ping_status": "open",
    "sticky": false,
    "template": "",
    "format": "standard",
    "meta": {
        "footnotes": ""
    },
    "categories": [
        12
    ],
    "tags": [],
    "class_list": [
        "post-3536",
        "post",
        "type-post",
        "status-publish",
        "format-standard",
        "has-post-thumbnail",
        "hentry",
        "category-vatican"
    ],
    "_links": {
        "self": [
            {
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3536",
                "targetHints": {
                    "allow": [
                        "GET"
                    ]
                }
            }
        ],
        "collection": [
            {
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"
            }
        ],
        "about": [
            {
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"
            }
        ],
        "author": [
            {
                "embeddable": true,
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"
            }
        ],
        "replies": [
            {
                "embeddable": true,
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3536"
            }
        ],
        "version-history": [
            {
                "count": 0,
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3536\/revisions"
            }
        ],
        "wp:featuredmedia": [
            {
                "embeddable": true,
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3535"
            }
        ],
        "wp:attachment": [
            {
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3536"
            }
        ],
        "wp:term": [
            {
                "taxonomy": "category",
                "embeddable": true,
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3536"
            },
            {
                "taxonomy": "post_tag",
                "embeddable": true,
                "href": "https:\/\/ewtnromania.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3536"
            }
        ],
        "curies": [
            {
                "name": "wp",
                "href": "https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}",
                "templated": true
            }
        ]
    }
}