Pope Francis travels this Thursday to Mongolia, a destination that may seem surprising considering its tiny Catholic community, but strategic due to its location between Russia and China, two powers.
The 86-year-old Argentine Supreme Pontiff will fly this Thursday afternoon from Rome to the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, where he will arrive on Friday morning after a nine-hour flight that will put his health to the test, after the abdominal operation under general anesthesia she had in June.
With his choice to visit this immense Buddhist country of just 3.3 million inhabitants, where he will remain until Monday, September 4, Francis undoubtedly aspires to bring its two great neighbors closer.
The Pope, who has difficulty walking, said on Sunday that he was “happy” to meet “a noble and wise people” provided with a “Church small in number but dynamic in faith.”
A former satellite of the Soviet Union that became a democracy in 1992, Mongolia boasts one of the smallest Catholic communities in the world, estimated at about 1,400 members.
The country has 25 priests (just two of them Mongolian) and 33 nuns, according to the Vatican, and boasts the youngest cardinal in the Catholic Church.
Francis’ trip reveals his desire to take his message to the other side of the planet, far from Rome, while promoting interreligious dialogue.
political interest
The geopolitical dimension is undeniable. The long-term vision of the Vatican is to have “a presence in countries where it is not necessarily obvious,” estimates Paul Elie, of the Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University in Washington, in an interview with the AFP.
“If going to Mongolia allows you to keep the door open with all that region, it is a worthwhile visit and has relatively few drawbacks,” he judges.
Part of the empire founded by legendary conqueror Genghis Khan in the 13th century, Mongolia is landlocked and It depends on Russia for its energy supply and on China to place its mining resources.essentially coal.
This country seeks to maintain neutrality between its two powerful neighbors and at the same time develop its relations with other nations such as the United States, Japan and South Korea.
This position may be useful for the Holy See, which renewed in 2022 a historic agreement signed with China in 2018 on the delicate issue of the appointment of bishops in the Asian giant, in a context of tensions over the situation of Catholics under the communist regime. .
On the Russian side, since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Pope has sought to open paths for a peaceful solution to the conflict, so far without success.
Mongolia maintains bilateral relations with North Korea and “has no disputes with its neighbors, which is quite rare in Asia,” Julian Dierkes, an expert on the country who teaches at the University of British Columbia, Canada, told AFP.
historical visit
The first pope to visit Mongolia, Francis will have a 24-hour break on Friday upon arrival and will begin his official meetings on Saturday, with meetings with Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, members of civil society, diplomats and missionaries.
On Sunday, he will speak at an interfaith gathering (one of his five public appearances) and preside at mass in a closed ice hockey arena.
The Pope could take advantage of this trip to refer again to the climate change impact which together with mining activity and excessive grazing accelerates the country’s desertification.
Extreme weather events, from floods to sandstorms to droughts, have decimated cattle herds on the vast grasslands, forcing nomads – who make up a third of the population – to migrate to slums around From the capital.
In December, protests broke out in the wake of a corruption scandal in the coal industry, exacerbated by discontent fueled by inflation and an economy troubled by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Jorge Bergoglio’s visit is part of an unusual diplomatic move for Mongolia in recent months: French President Emmanuel Macron visited the country in June and Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai was received in Washington this month.
Last year, a delegation of Buddhist monks and Catholic priests was received at the Vatican to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Mongolia.
The delegation was headed by the Italian Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, appointed in 2022 by Francis and who, at 49, is the youngest cardinal of the Catholic Church.
This missionary, present for 20 years in Mongolia, is also the most important Catholic leader in the country.