Update | 'If I could, I'd go to China tomorrow': Pope makes fresh overtures to end 63-year impasse

The Pope said he wanted to visit China as soon as possible, expressing his wish to mend ties that were cut off more than half a century ago.

“Do I want to go to China? Of course, even tomorrow,” Pope Francis on Monday told a group of reporters who travelled with him to South Korea and were flying back with him to Europe.

“I have prayed a lot for the beautiful and noble Chinese people,” he said. “I think about […] the history of science and wisdom; even we Jesuits have a history there.”

The pope told reporters the church “only asks to have freedom to do its work. No other conditions”.

The 77-year-old is the first Jesuit to rise to the papacy. Members of the religious congregation, most prominently Matteo Ricci in the 17th century, have for centuries played a crucial role in proselytising the Catholic faith in China.

China broke diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1951. Although Catholicism is one of five recognised religions in China, its Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association acts independently from the Holy See and ordains bishops without the Vatican’s consent.