Pope Francis Travels To Mongolia. First Pope In This Land Between Russia And China
Pope Francis will fly to Mongolia on August 31 by plane departing at 18:30 from Fiumicino and fly over Georgia, Azerbaijan, and China in a 9.5-hour flight. The Pontiff will land in the capital Ulaanbaatar, at the international Genghis Khan airport, where he will be met by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and offered a cup of dry yogurt, a typical gift as the country’s sign of welcome. The first day will be devoted to meetings with officials: in the morning, with political leaders, including President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and the Prime Minister, and in the afternoon, with bishops, priests, and missionaries.
The director of the press service of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, presented the 43rd apostolic journey of Pope Francis who will travel to Mongolia from August 31 to September 4. He will be the first Pope to visit these lands between Russia and China. The program of the apostolic visit includes a series of meetings with representatives of institutions and the Catholic Church. The centerpiece of the program will be the Mass that the Pontiff will celebrate on Sunday, September 3, at the Stepnaya Arena stadium in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The mass, which will be an interreligious event, is expected to be attended by 1,500 Mongolian believers, as well as a thousand Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims from neighboring countries, including Russia, China, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Vietnam.
As Matteo Bruni emphasized, “this will be a trip through the great steppes and small gers, typical yurts with wooden poles and felt walls, a symbol of the nomadic life of the population, passionate, peaceful, and with a vocation for versatility and care for the environment after a dangerous landslide.” In Mongolia, only 0.02% of the population is Catholic and is part of the “little herd” that was resurrected after the collapse of communism in 1992. This will be a journey with a single stop in the capital Ulaanbaatar (“red warrior” in Mongolian).
Vatican News Agency recalls that “this will be the 43rd apostolic journey of the Pontiff of Argentine origin, the 61st during his pontificate, the first of any Pope to this Asian link between Russia and China, which Jorge Mario Bergoglio will cross on his way there and back, whereas he is expected to telegram the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to Bruni, the heart of Pope Francis’s journey will be his meeting with the small Catholic community. “The Pope is going to Mongolia to talk mainly with them; he will address the words of support and hope to these wonderful people who make an important contribution to the life of mankind,” said Bruni. He recalled the origins of this Church, which, in fact, is only being born today, although contacts with the Latin world happened as early as in 1200, and there was also an exchange of letters between the son of Genghis Khan and Pope Innocent IV. The appointment of the first Catholic bishop dates back to the beginning of the 4th century, when a part of China was in the Mongol Empire; then, over the course of centuries, the presence of Christians in this area declined significantly. It completely disappeared during the years of communist rule. Since 1992, the Church has been “restored” and “invited to the presence,” renewed over the past 30 years by the tremendous work of missionaries, primarily those of Consolata (“Comforter”), a congregation joined by the first and only Cardinal of Mongolia, Giorgio Marengo, Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, who received the purple robe at last year’s consistory.
On Sunday, September 3, the Pope will host an ecumenical and interreligious event at the Hun Theatre, which will bring together representatives of shamanism, Shinto, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and other confessions. “This is a sign of a call to peaceful coexistence that has characterized the Mongolian people for decades,” Matteo Bruni emphasized. The same meeting will also be attended by government observers and representatives of the university world, a Vatican spokesman said.