On Saturday, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis will make an official apostolic visit to Mongolia at the end of the summer, reports the dpa news agency.
The head of the Catholic Church plans to visit the Asian country from August 31 to September 4. at the invitation of President Uchnaagijn Churelsuch and Church leaders in the country.
The official Vatican news portal “Vatican News” has announced that Francis will become the first pope to visit Mongolia, where out of 3 million only 1,300 of the population are Catholic.
It is recalled that in 2020 the Pope appointed Italian Giorgio Marengo as Apostolic Prefect in Ulaanbaatar, and in 2022 he became the youngest cardinal in the world.
The Holy See also announced that the program of the visit will be announced in more detail in the coming weeks.
This year, the pope has already visited Hungary, South Sudan and the Congo. However, traveling is becoming increasingly difficult for him due to health issues in his knees. During his visits to Africa, the pope spent most of his meetings seated, moving from place to place using a wheelchair.
Source: The Delfi