Francis is the first Pope to travel to Mongolia

This is the Pope’s forty-third trip abroad. Catholics represent a very small minority in the East Asian country: only 1,500 people are Catholics.

Pope Francis is scheduled to travel to Mongolia on August 31. He will exchange information with representatives of other religions and sects, according to Cathepress. A particular form of Tibetan Buddhism and shamanism is particularly prevalent in the East Asian country. Of the approximately 3.3 million inhabitants, fewer than 1,500 are Catholics, accompanied by approximately 30 priests and a similar number of nuns.

Francis will be the first pope to visit the landlocked country wedged between Russia and China. This is his forty-third trip abroad and the fourth this year. Since taking office in 2013, including Italy and Mongolia, the Pope has visited 63 countries around the world.

The leader of the Catholic Church will arrive at Genghis Khan Airport in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, on September 1. Meetings are scheduled for the next day with President Ochnagen Çorluçoc, Prime Minister Lovsanmsray Uyun Erden and other representatives of politics and society. This will be followed by a meeting with bishops, priests, missionaries and ministers at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedral in the capital.

The Pope wants to honor the dialogue the local Catholic minority has with other faiths with an interfaith meeting on September 3rd. On the last day of his visit, Francis plans to open a Catholic community centre. Then he returns to Rome.

The motto is: “Hope Together”

“We know that followers and representatives of other religious traditions also have great respect and admiration for the Holy Father,” says Cardinal Giorgio Marengo. The Italian is the youngest cardinal in the universal church, and has been a bishop of the local church in Mongolia since 2020 as head of the Apostolic State of Ulaanbaatar. The interfaith encounters that the Pope will hold during his visit to Mongolia can encourage and strengthen missionaries and the Mongolian Catholic community on a journey of fraternity and closeness to believers of other faiths, Marengo hopes in a photo report published today by the Vatican Mission Press. Fedes service.

The pope’s trip bore the official motto “Hope Together”. Hope is a Christian virtue and is generally recognized as a value even among non-Christians; The Vatican said in a statement that the Pope’s visit is also a sign of great hope and encouragement for local Catholics. “On the contrary, the Church in Mongolia, despite its smallness and marginalization, can be a sign of hope for the universal Church.” Logo explanation.

The visit to Mongolia is one of a total of three papal trips in two months. In early August, Francis attended World Youth Day in Lisbon. At the end of September, the 86-year-old wants to travel to the southern French port city of Marseille for two days. (appa)