Q&A: Pope, Chinese leader Xi to cross paths in Kazakhstan

FILE - A parishioner walks past the altar during an impromptu prayer vigil as members of Lower Dafei Catholic Church wait for Chinese police, security guards, and government workers to arrive and cut down their church's cross in Lower Dafei Village in Lower Dafei Village in Yongjia County in eastern China's Zhejiang Province on July 30, 2015. Chinese President Xi Jinping's first trip overseas since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic will overlap with a visit by Pope Francis to Kazakhstan, although the Vatican says there are no plans for them to meet. Under Xi, China has launched a crackdown on Christianity in recent years, part of an overall tightening on religious freedoms which has affected worshippers of Islam, Christianity, and to a lesser extent, Buddhism and Daoism. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Q&A: Pope, Chinese leader Xi to cross paths in Kazakhstan