Pope arrives in Mongolia for the country's first papal visit

Pope Francis arrived in Mongolia on Friday, marking his first papal visit to this vast country in Central Asia, situated between two global powers, China and Russia.

The papal plane landed in Ulaanbaatar shortly before 10:00 AM (02:00 GMT), where the Mongolian honor guard greeted the Pope dressed in traditional blue, red, and yellow attire, as shown in footage broadcast by AFP.

The Vatican announced that on Friday, while his plane was flying over China en route to Mongolia, Pope Francis sent a message expressing his "best wishes" to Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people.

In the message, the Pope wrote, "I assure you of my prayers for the well-being of the nation," following the tradition of sending greetings to leaders of countries over which his plane flies.

The 86-year-old Pope's visit to Mongolia will continue until Monday. This country is predominantly Buddhist, and it comes as a show of support for the Catholic minority, which comprises around 1,400 individuals out of a total population of four million.

This journey, the Pope's second to the region after visiting Kazakhstan in September 2022, holds strategic significance on the geopolitical front.

This visit, the Pope's forty-third since his papacy began ten years ago, is pivotal in the context of efforts to improve relations between the Vatican and Beijing and Moscow, both of which Pope Francis has not yet visited.

The Papal program includes meetings with the Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa and the Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, as well as his first speech before authorities, diplomats, and members of civil society.

On Saturday, he will meet with the Catholic community, which comprises only 25 priests and 33 nuns, including only a few Mongolians, at the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral.

On Sunday, the Pope will deliver a speech during a multi-religious gathering, attended by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ulaanbaatar. Following that, he will celebrate a mass at an ice hockey rink recently constructed.

The Vatican expects the participation of believers from neighboring countries in the mass, particularly from Russia, China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan.


AFP