The Church’s synodal process will culminate in two global assemblies at the Vatican. The first will take place Oct. 4–28 and the second in October 2024.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed on Tuesday that the cardinal will be in the Chinese capital as the pope’s peace envoy from Sept. 13–15.
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said Sept. 10 that he wanted to express gratitude to the pope and Catholics everywhere for not abandoning Ukraine.
Vietnam is home to millions of Catholics, yet no pope has ever visited the southeast Asian country.
“In the synod, there is no place for ideology,” Pope Francis told journalists on the flight from Mongolia to Rome.
The pope said that there is a joint commission between the Chinese government and the Holy See on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China.
Pope Francis blessed a new charity called the “House of Mercy” on his last day in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
While papal Masses on the pope’s other trips can draw hundreds of thousands of people, the Mass in Ulaanbaatar only had an estimated 2,000 in attendance.
Pope Francis said Sunday that interreligious dialogue is “not antithetical to proclamation” but helps religious traditions to understand one another.
Pope Francis called Mongolia a “symbol of religious freedom” in his first speech in the Asian country sandwiched between China and Russia.
Pope Francis received an enthusiastic welcome to Mongolia on Friday morning after a nearly 10-hour flight on the papal plane.
The pope told journalists aboard the papal plane that to visit Mongolia is to encounter “a small people, but a big culture.”
Pope Francis made the comment while speaking off the cuff during a live video conference with Russian youth Aug. 25.
Pope Francis is likely to make “care for our common home” a key theme of his Mongolian trip this week from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4.
The pope’s upcoming trip could have geopolitical implications beyond the country’s small population of Catholics.
The pope spoke about the significance of the synod nearly one month ahead of the first Synod on Synodality assembly taking place Oct. 4–28.
In the 45-minute meeting on Aug. 25, the pope and Novák spoke about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and efforts to end the conflict.
The pope said in the eyes of the world it might appear “absurd” to confront societal problems by praying on one’s knees but that it is always effective.
In his catechesis on evangelization on Aug. 23, the pope spoke about how the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 helped to spread the Gospel.
The presidential candidate had been an outspoken critic of the violence caused by drug trafficking.