<p class="speakable">Pope Leo XIV this week said he "can’t" comment on the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubio-blasts-china-over-unjust-tragic-20-year-sentence-hong-kong-democracy-activist-jimmy-lai" rel="noopener" target="_blank">20-year sentence</a> imposed on a democracy activist in Hong Kong. </p><p class="speakable">"I can’t comment," the American-born <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/pope-leo-xiv" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Leo told</a> EWTN News, which covers Catholic news globally, while speaking to reporters in Italy. </p><p>He added, "Let’s pray for less hatred and more peace and work for authentic dialogue. God bless you all." </p><p>Hong Kong publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai, who is a converted Catholic, was sentenced to 20 years by Beijing last month for violating their 2020 national security law, which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called "unjust and tragic."</p><p>"The conviction shows the world <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/world-regions/china" rel="noopener" target="_blank">that Beijing</a> will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong," Rubio said in a statement. "The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole."</p><p>The 78-year-old founded the now-closed Hong Kong-based Apple Daily in 1995, while the island was still under British rule. </p><p>Lai’s sentence closed one of the country’s most consequential national security cases since Beijing imposed the sweeping new law in 2020 in the wake of months-long anti-Chinese Communist Party protests in 2019, which were sparked by fears Beijing was eroding Hong Kong’s promised autonomy. </p><p>They were followed by a sweeping security crackdown that criminalized dissent and reshaped the city’s legal system.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/chinas-phony-conviction-jimmy-lai-warning" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>CHINA PHONY CONVICTION OF JIMMY LAI IS A WARNING</strong></a></p><p>Lai had been arrested several times during the 2019 protests, and he was detained at his home in 2020. His newspaper was also raided at the time and closed. </p><p>He was found guilty in December of attempting to undermine national security. </p><p>President Donald Trump said in December that he had personally urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to release Lai. </p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/download" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP</strong></a></p><p>"I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release," Trump said. "He’s not well, he’s an older man, and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens."</p>