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ULAANBAATAR: Pope Francis praised the “knowledge” of the Mongolian folks on Saturday, in concord with nature and embracing spirituality, whereas warning the younger democracy of dangers reminiscent of corruption and environmental smash.
The 86-year-old Francis, on the primary papal go to to the Asian nation sandwiched between China and Russia, was feted with an official welcome ceremony that included a phalanx of Mongolian horsemen in metallic armour parading previous the State Palace.
The pope, who waved to the gang in entrance of a large bronze statue of Genghis Khan as a gaggle of younger Mongolian Catholics yelled ‘Viva il Papa!’, is searching for a impartial ally within the delicate area as he seeks to enhance Vatican relations with each of Mongolia’s neighbours.
Welcomed by President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Pope Francis referred to as himself a “pilgrim of friendship” and extolled the virtues of the nation, together with its “ranchers and planters respectful of the fragile balances of the ecosystem”.
Mongolia’s Shamanist and Buddhist traditions of dwelling in concord with nature and its creatures “can contribute considerably to the pressing and not deferrable efforts to guard and protect planet Earth”, he stated.
Francis additionally praised Mongolia for its non secular tolerance and nuclear-free coverage, however warned that corruption was “the fruit of a utilitarian and unscrupulous mentality that has impoverished complete nations”.
Religions can “symbolize a safeguard towards the insidious risk of corruption, which successfully represents a severe menace to the event of any human group”, he stated.
Within the huge Sukhbaatar Plaza, named for a Mongol revolutionary hero, greater than 1,000 pilgrims and others hoped to catch a glimpse of the chief of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.
Within the crowd was Mongolian Enkhtur Dagvadorj, who stated Francis “appears an important particular person. He’s certainly a worldwide determine.”
“Though Mongolians are Buddhists, it’s pretty to obtain a Pope from Rome in our nation. Additionally, his go to could be very helpful to our nation in lots of features, from popularity to the financial system,” he stated.
The go to by the Argentine Jesuit will present a lift to native Catholics.
The journey represents his need to carry the Church’s message to distant, largely ignored areas removed from Rome, but it surely additionally has the undeniably geopolitical intention of serving to the Vatican preserve the door open to the larger area.
On Sunday, Francis will lead an interreligious assembly and conduct mass inside a newly constructed ice hockey area. — AFP
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