ULAANBAATAR – A couple of Chinese Catholics got here to sneak a peek at Pope Francis throughout an official welcome ceremony in the principle sq. of Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar on Saturday, enthusiastically waving their nation’s flag.
The Vatican doesn’t have diplomatic relations with China, as a substitute recognizing Chinese-claimed Taiwan, whereas China’s Catholics have lengthy been break up between a state-backed official church and an underground flock loyal to the pope.
Brandishing pink, five-starred Chinese flags, two dozen Chinese nationals who recognized themselves as Catholic devotees crowded round a police barrier to catch a glimpse of Francis on Saturday morning.
Yang Guang, a 37-year-old Catholic from Shanghai, mentioned he got here to Mongolia for a vacation however was glad to catch a glimpse of the pope at Sukhbaatar Square.
“I’m just extremely happy because this is the first time I’ve seen him. It’s not as if I have this kind of opportunity all the time. I’m just very happy. Passion,” Yang instructed Reuters.
A couple of different Chinese nationals might be seen receiving blessings from a cardinal on the sidelines of ceremony.
Suzanne Willis, a Christian pilgrim from Hong Kong, mentioned she was moved to tears seeing Francis in individual.
“I was just so overwhelmed. I see this very, very nice person that I’ve admired for a long, long time,” mentioned Willis, including that her group occurred upon the ceremony after their flight again to Hong Kong was delayed attributable to a hurricane.
Mongolia, with its inhabitants of about 3.3 million individuals, is strategically important for the Roman Catholic Church due to its proximity to China, the place the Vatican is attempting to enhance the state of affairs of Catholics.
Francis, 86, arrived in Mongolia on Friday to go to the nation’s tiny Catholic neighborhood, which at 1,450 members is without doubt one of the smallest on this planet.
As is customary, Francis, who in addition to being the chief of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics can also be a head of state, wired greetings to the leaders of every nation he flew over, together with China.
In his message to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Francis mentioned he had good needs for all of the individuals of China and warranted the president of his prayers for the “wellbeing of the nation”. —Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
