Pope Francis landed in Mongolian
capital Ulan Bator on Friday to begin his 43rd Apostolic Journey
abroad.
He attended a brief welcome ceremony at the airport and is set
to rest for the remains of the day after the long flight from
Rome.
His official engagements for the four-day visit start on
Saturday.
"To go to Mongolia is to go to a [numerically] small people in a
vast land," the Argentine pontiff told reporters on the papal
flight.
"Mongolia seems to have no end, and its inhabitants are few, a
people few in number of a great culture. I think it will do us
good to understand this silence, so vast, so big.
"It will help us understand what it means: not intellectually
but with the senses. Mongolia is to be understood with the
senses".
The pope sent a telegram to Chinese President Xi Jinping as the
papal flight went through Chinese air space.
"I send greetings of good wishes to your excellency and the
people of China as I pass through your country's airspace en
route to Mongolia," the pope said. "Assuring you of my prayers
for the well-being of the nation, I invoke upon all of you the
divine blessings of unity and peace."
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that
Beijing wants to "strengthen reciprocal trust" after the pope
sent the greeting.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
