Pope Francis will meet Mongolia’s small but vibrant Catholic community on Saturday as part of his unprecedented visit to the Buddhist-majority country wedged between Russia and China.
In the morning, the 86-year-old Pope was received in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, with an official ceremony with the participation of a guard of honor in Sukhbaatar Square, named after a Mongolian revolutionary hero.
The Pope will later meet with the President and Prime Minister of Mongolia, and will also address the authorities, diplomats and members of civil society.
The Pope’s visit is eagerly awaited by a large number of pilgrims who came to Mongolia from other Asian countries in an attempt to meet the head of the Catholic Church, which includes 1.3 billion believers.
The visit of the Supreme Pontiff continues until Monday to this country, which condemns the majority of its population to Buddhism, and comes in support of the Catholic minority, which includes about 1,400 people out of the total population of the country of 4 million.
This trip, which is the Pope’s second in the region after his visit to Kazakhstan in September 2022, has a geopolitical strategic dimension.