The Synod of Bishops is not a television show or a parliamentary debate, and its discussions will not be open to the public or to reporters, Pope Francis said. "We must safeguard the synodal climate," the pope responded Sept. 4 when asked
The 86-year-old Pope Francis and other religious elders gathered in a ger-shaped theater to speak of the earth and the divine, harmony and beauty, peace and the human family. In Mongolia, where all religion was brutally repressed for seven decades under communist
Like the land struck by a "zud," the human heart has a thirst and longing that can be alleviated only by the God of love, Pope Francis told Mongolians gathered for Mass in Ulaanbaatar's Steppe Arena. Countless generations of Mongolians have feared
While China allowed Pope Francis' plane to cross its airspace on the way to Mongolia, an office of the Chinese Communist Party prevented any Catholic bishops or priests in the mainland from traveling there to see the pope. But a retired cardinal
Greeted with "aaruul," a dried yogurt cheese, which he tried, Pope Francis arrived in Ulaanbaatar for a four-day visit.
After the nine-hour, overnight flight from Rome, the pope's arrival Sept. 1 was low key. Battsetseg Batmunkh, Mongolia's foreign minister, met him at Chinggis
Pope Francis' upcoming trip to Mongolia will draw the Catholic Church's attention to the "joy" and "simplicity" with which Mongolians live their faith as missionary disciples, the cardinal responsible for the country's 1,450 Catholics said.
Pope Francis confirmed he will travel to Mongolia in September, becoming the first pope to visit the Asian nation, which is home to a cardinal and some 1,300 Catholics.
In an audience April 14 with executives and staff of ITA Airways, the airline