Valentina di Giorgio
(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 06.04.2023).- On Saturday, June 3, the spokesman of the Holy See Press Office confirmed that Pope Francis will visit Mongolia from August 31 to September 4, 2023, accepting the invitation of the country’s President and of the Ecclesiastical Authorities in that Asian country.
Some “Particularities” About the Church in Mongolia
Mongolia is the world’s 18th largest country by geographic extension, but it barely has a population of 3.2 million inhabitants. By way of comparison, Berlin, Germany’s capital, has a population of 3.6 million inhabitants.
There is no diocese in Mongolia. The whole ecclesiastical territory is framed in the Ulan Bator Apostolic Prefecture, which encompasses the country’s whole territory. There are barely 1,500 Catholics in Mongolia.
To the north it shares a border with Russia and, to the south, with China. It’s highly probable that these geographic borders influenced the Holy Father’s decision to visit a country where there are so few Catholics but a great opportunity to have a message resonate to two important countries: because of the conflict in Ukraine with one and because of the relationship with the Catholic Church in the other.
Mongolia also has the particularity of having a Cardinal who is among the youngest in the College of Cardinals: Giorgio Marengo, who is 48.
