Pope Francis calls for dialogue and peace in Latin America, Hong Kong

Pope Francis on Tuesday called for dialogue and peace in Latin America and Hong Kong, which have been rocked by recent large-scale protests. Speaking to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from his trip to Asia, Francis blamed weak governments for not managing to maintain peace and order in their countries.

Hong Kong and several Latin American countries have seen a wave of at times violent anti-government protests and unrest. Francis said that Venezuela had asked for international mediation after a month of unrest left at least 23 dead, 7,000 detained, over 2,000 demonstrators hospitalized and more than 1,700 police officers injured, according to authorities and rights groups.