Pope Francis defended the power of religion to resolve conflicts and promote peace on Sunday during his visit to Mongolia, where he sought to establish ties with neighboring China.
In a meeting in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, with ten leaders of different religions, the 86-year-old Pontiff called on political leaders to be inspired by religion and choose “the path of meeting and dialogue.”
“The fact that we are together in the same place is already a message: religious traditions, in their originality and diversity, represent a tremendous potential for good at the service of society,” he said, quoted by the French agency AFP.
“If the leaders of nations chose the path of meeting and dialogue with others, they would contribute decisively to putting an end to the conflicts that continue to make so many peoples suffer,” he defended.
Along with Buddhist monks, Mongolian shamans, Muslims, Jews and a Russian Orthodox priest, the Argentine Pope quoted quotes from Buddha and Gandhi at an inter-religious ceremony held on the eve of the end of the four-day trip.
Francis became the first head of the Church of Rome to visit Mongolia, a country of 3.3 million people that has one of the smallest Catholic communities in the world, with around 1,400 faithful.
Mongolia is 53% Buddhist, 39% atheist, 3% Muslim, 3% shaman and 2% Christian, according to data from the non-profit Catholic organization Aid to the Church in Need, cited by the US agency AP.
Several pilgrims from China crossed the border to see the pope, and on Saturday, a small group waved a Chinese flag as Francis walked by singing “All Chinese love you.”
“We have always hoped for that. We really hope that gradually our government and our leaders will accept him and invite him to visit our country,” Yan Zhiyong, a Chinese Catholic businessman in Mongolia, told the AP.
The Vatican’s difficult relations with China and Beijing’s crackdown on religious minorities such as Xinjiang’s Uyghur Muslims have been a constant backdrop during the trip.
No bishops from mainland China were reportedly allowed to travel to Mongolia, unlike at least two dozen bishops from other Asian countries who accompanied the pilgrims to Ulan Bator.
Hong Kong Cardinal-elect Stephen Chow, who paid a historic visit to Beijing earlier this year, was present and accompanied 40 pilgrims to Mongolia.
Chow refused to discuss the absence of his mainland Chinese counterparts, focusing instead on Francis and the importance of the visit to Mongolia for the Asian Church.
“The Asian church is also a growing church…it also has a very important role to play now in the universal church,” he told reporters.
China does not recognize the pope’s authority over the country’s Catholics, who are subservient to the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, a state body founded in 1957.
Despite the clashes, the Vatican and China last year renewed an agreement on the issue of appointing Chinese bishops.
Most Mongolians follow the dominant Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism and revere their leader, the Dalai Lama.
Many Mongolians are concerned about the Chinese Communist Party’s opposition to the Dalai Lama, but since China is Mongolia’s main trading partner, the country’s leaders have been silent on Tibet.
In the 10 years of his pontificate, Francis received Buddhist representatives from Taiwan, Mongolia and Thailand, but never met Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.
Source: TSF
