Pope Paul celebrated Mass on Friday (4 December) on the door--step of the People's Republic of China, and said that Christ's message of love applied no less to its 700 million people than to the rest of mankind.

He spoke before 40,000 people at a Hong Kong sports stadium during his three-hour visit to this British colony, a commercial hub of Asia.

The Pope steered away from any political references in his sermon, apparently in consideration of the sensitive political situation in Hong Kong.

Speaking from a six-foot-high (two-metre-high), red-carpeted podium decorated with white and yellow flowers, the Pope said:
Before leaving the altar, the Pope gave his crozier, chalice and vestments to Bishop Francis Hsu to be kept in Hong Kong in remembrance of his visit.

Bishop Hsu and the Pope's Secretary held on to His Holiness to prevent him from falling as he left in an open car, transferring later to a limousine.

The Pope had flown to Hong Kong from Djakarta, Indonesia, and has now returned to Rome.