The chartered ITA Airways plane carrying the Pope was due to fly over China for about an hour before crossing into Mongolia
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis heads to Mongolia on Thursday, August 31, a predominantly Buddhist country with just 1,450 Catholics, which the Vatican hopes can act as a facilitator to improve difficult relations with China.
While the messages are pro-forma, usually invoking God’s blessings on a country and its people, the one to Xi could be significant because of the Vatican’s difficult relations with Beijing. “The Pope’s visit shows the world that contemporary Mongolia is continuing to accept the freedom of religion and coexistence, peacefully, of religion in Mongolia,” its ambassador to the Vatican Gerelmaa Davaasuren, who is based in Geneva, told Reuters in Ulaanbaatar.One of the topics he is expected to address during the trip is protection of the environment.
Ecological problems have been aggravated by overgrazing, with around 80 million animals now trying to survive on land that can sustain only half that number, according to government figures.
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