Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Reuters
Pope Francis arrived in Mongolia on Friday to greet its tiny Catholic contingent, having earlier sent a blessing of “unity and peace” from his plane to China, with which the Vatican has had difficult relations.
Pope Francis tastes dried yoghurt as part of a welcome tradition as he arrives at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport during his Apostolic Journey in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on 1st September, 2023. PICTURE: Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters
The 86-year-old pontiff, whose health has become more frail in recent years, arrived at Ulaanbaatar airport on a chartered ITA Airways plane with his large entourage and accompanying reporters.
Sitting in a wheelchair, Francis was pushed past rows of Mongolian guardsmen wearing ornate blue and red uniforms and holding rifles after he left the plane. He then exchanged some handshakes before entering a car and being whisked away.
His first event in Mongolia, a predominantly Buddhist country with just 1,450 Catholics, is on Saturday, when he addresses government leaders and the diplomatic corps.
Visiting places where Catholics are a minority is part of Francis’s policy of drawing attention to people and problems in what he has called the peripheries of society and of the world. He has not visited most of the capitals of Western Europe.
As is customary, Francis issued greetings to every country he flew over on his way to Mongolia including China, with which the Vatican has had difficult relations.
“I send greetings of good wishes to your excellency and the People of China,” the Pope said in the telegram addressed to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Assuring you of my prayers for the wellbeing of the nation, I invoke upon all of you the divine blessings of unity and peace.”
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Relations between China’s officially atheist Communist Party leadership and the Vatican have been fraught for decades.
Pope Francis greets a child during a welcome ceremony at the bishop’s house during his Apostolic Journey, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on 1st September, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
The Holy See has full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, while China’s Catholics have long been split between a state-backed official church and an underground flock loyal to the Pope.
Mongolia was part of China until 1921 and has political and economic ties with Beijing.
