ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — Pope Francis arrived in Mongolia on Friday morning on a visit to encourage one of the world’s smallest and newest Catholic communities.
It's the first time a pope has visited the landlocked Asian country and comes at a time when the Vatican’s relations with Mongolia’s two powerful neighbors, Russia and China, are once again strained.
On tap are official meetings with the Mongolian president and prime minister and a speech before Mongolian government, cultural and business leaders, followed by Francis’ first encounter with the bishops, priests and nuns who form the backbone of a tiny Catholic community of 1,450 that has only been in existence for a generation.
Sister Jeanne Francoise said it was an honor that Francis was coming to Mongolia, saying she had seen him once before when she was living in Rome but that it was never as “close” as it would be in Mongolia. “His heart burns with love for the universal church, and especially the church where she lives in a minority context,” Marengo told journalists during a recent visit to Rome. “And that is the wonderful meaning of his coming all the way to Mongolia.”
Days before his visit, he sparked outrage in Ukraine over his praise of Russia’s imperial past, comments that the Vatican insisted were by no means an endorsement of Moscow’s current war of aggression in Ukraine.
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Pope makes first visit to Mongolia as Vatican relations with Russia and China are again strainedPope Francis is travelling to Mongolia to encourage one of the world's smallest and newest Catholic communities, the first papal visit to the Asian country at a time when the Vatican's relations with Mongolia's two powerful neighbours Russia and China are once again strained.
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