Pope Francis, despite problems with transport, will leave next Tuesday for the capital of Kazakhstan for a three-day visit under the slogan of dialogue.
According to Agence France-Presse, the 85-year-old Pope, confined to a wheelchair due to knee pain, will attend an interfaith summit in Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) from 13 to 15 September, which will be attended by about a hundred delegations from about fifty countries.
The Ukrainian crisis will be the main topic of the Pope’s 38th trip abroad.
For his part, Archbishop Monsignor Thomas Beta of Nur-Sultan told the Vatican’s official publication, Vatican News, that “in light of the dangerous international situation, the visit brings hope for peace and reconciliation throughout the world.”
AFP reported that one of the topics that will dominate the Pope’s visit will also be the issue of China, with which the Vatican is seeking to renew a historic agreement it signed in 2018 that would see Chinese President Xi Jinping stay in Nur-Sultan. Sultan during the visit of the Pope, but he did not name the date, there is no meeting between them.
In the program of the visit:
– On Tuesday, until 18:00 (12:00 Moscow time), the Pope will arrive in Nur-Sultan, where he will meet with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev at the presidential palace and make his first address to the authorities and the diplomatic corps.
– He will deliver a speech on Wednesday at the opening of the Seventh Conference of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions before mass in the afternoon.
– Pope Francis will dedicate the third and final day of his visit to meeting Catholic officials and delivering a closing speech at the conference.
Source: AFP