Pope Francis on Tuesday undertook a trip to Kazakhstan, where he will remain until September 15, to participate in the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in the capital Of Nursultan, ancient Astana, from where a message of peace will be sent at a time of international tension over the war in Ukraine.
The pope, who doctors advised against travel to Ukraine in the immediate future, took off from Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 7:35 a.m. on an ITA Airways plane. Francisco, 85, who travels in a wheelchair due to knee pains, has admitted that he has to reduce the pace of travel or consider leaving office. On Sunday, he said the 38th trip since his election in 2013 would be “an opportunity” to have “a dialogue as brothers, animated by the common desire for peace, a peace for which our world is thirsty.”
Patriarch Kirill, the great absentee
Initially, the presence at the summit of Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, close to President Vladimir Putin, was expected, but the Russian religious canceled his participation without giving reasons, sweeping Away Francis’ hopes of talking to him about the war in Ukraine. The visions of both religious leaders clash on this issue: the pope has called for peace and denounces “a cruel and senseless war,” while Kirill defended the “military operation” and the fight against “the internal and external enemies” of Russia.
A hundred delegations from some 50 countries will participate on September 14 and 15 in this event in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic that became independent in 1991. “Dialogue, rapprochement, the search for peace between different religions and cultural worlds are at the heart of this journey,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Monday. The pope is due to land around 6:00 p.m. (local time, 2:00 p.m. CET) in Nur-Sultan, where he will be received by President Kassym Jomart Tokayev and deliver a first address to authorities and diplomatic staff from the presidential palace.
The Chinese president is also in the country
On Wednesday, Francis will lead the opening of the plenary session of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and will officiate a Mass in the afternoon. On Thursday, he will close his visit by meeting with Catholic leaders. Chinese President Xi Jinping will be in the Central Asian country at the same time as Francis, but no meeting is expected despite the Vatican’s hopes of renewing a historic agreement to appoint its bishops in the Asian giant.
Asked about Xi’s presence on the plane, Francis replied: “I have no news of that, but I am always willing to travel to China.” The pope has on several occasions expressed his desire to visit this country with which relations broke off in 1951. On Thursday, he will hold a meeting with the country’s bishops and clergy and conclude his participation in the congress with a speech after the reading of the Final Declaration, before returning to the Vatican.
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