As the Republic of Mongolia prepares to welcome Pope Francis early in September, the Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, says the visit is an historic event that the young Mongolian Church will treasure.
The Pope is expected to travel to Mongolia marking his 43th Apostolic Journey abroad from 31 August (date of departure from Rome) to 4 September.
He was invited to visit the country on August 24, 2022, when a delegation from the Mongolian government visited the Vatican and handed him an official invitation from the Mongolian President, Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.
Presenting the official programme, motto and logo of the papal journey on Friday, the Italian Consolata missionary said the visit would have been “unthinkable” only a few months ago.
Pope Francis will be the first-ever Pope to visit the Buddhist nation where the Church started from nothing in 1992, following the fall the Communist regime.
In that year the first Catholic missionaries of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM), also known as Scheut Missionaries, returned to rebuild the Church after nearly seventy years of religious repression.
Source : Vatican News
