The visit by the Argentine Jesuit will provide a boost to local Catholics, one of the smallest and youngest communities in the global reach of the Church at only about 1,400 members – including just 25 priests, two of them Mongolian, and 33 nuns.
The trip represents his desire to bring the Church’s message to remote, largely ignored areas far from Rome, but it also has the undeniably geopolitical aim of helping the Vatican keep the door open to the greater region.
CHINA’S DOORSTEP
Pope Francis’ trip to the doorstep of China, which has never extended an invitation for the pope to visit, drew some Chinese Catholics, with about a dozen waving the country’s flag during the welcome ceremony.
AFP heard one visitor advising another not to speak with reporters, for fear of “trouble” upon their return to China.
But one Chinese woman in attendance told AFP that seeing the pope will “basically be like seeing Jesus”.
“There are a lot of Catholics in China who wanted to come, but they couldn’t make it. So we feel quite blessed,” she said.
The Holy See renewed a deal last year with Beijing that allows both sides a say in appointing bishops in China, a move critics have called a dangerous Vatican concession in exchange for a presence in the country.
Beijing’s Communist Party is officially atheist and exercises strict control over all recognised religious institutions, including vetting sermons and choosing bishops.
In a comment that appeared directed at China, the pope told a gathering of the faithful at Ulaanbaatar’s Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral that governments have “nothing to fear” from the Church.
“She has no political agenda to advance, but is sustained by the quiet power of God’s grace and a message of mercy and truth, which is meant to promote the good of all,” he said.
The pope, who underwent a hernia operation in June, appeared to have difficulty walking Saturday, gingerly taking steps with a cane when not in a wheelchair.
On Sunday, Francis will lead an interreligious meeting and conduct mass inside a newly built ice hockey arena.
Source: CNA
