ROME – Pope Francis will travel to Kazakhstan from September 13-15 to attend the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, the Vatican confirmed on August 1.
For months, Francis has expressed his intention to participate in the congress, which is being held by the Kazakh government in its capital, Nur-Sultan. There, he will too is likely to have his second ever meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a key supporter of Russia’s war against Ukraine, who will also attend the congress.
Francis and Kirill met in Havana in 2016 in the first such meeting between a Roman Catholic pope and the Russian patriarch.
The trip to Kazakhstan will mark Francis’ 38th international papacy and comes after a grueling six-day July 24-30 tour of Canada, where the pope apologized for the abuse suffered by indigenous children in run residential schools from Catholics. , as well as for the church’s endorsement of policies that stripped indigenous culture.
On the flight back to Rome, Francis told reporters that the trip had been “pretty intense” and admitted that future travel times would have to be scaled back.
At the same time, the 85-year-old pope, who suffers from mobility problems due to a fractured knee, said he intended to make a trip to Central Asia to attend the Kazakhstan congress, as well as a trip to possible in Ukraine in the coming months.
This October, the Vatican will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations with the Muslim-majority country of Kazakhstan.
The September 14-15 gathering will mark the seventh iteration of the congress, which brings together religious leaders from around the world. This year’s theme is “The role of world and traditional faith leaders in the socio-spiritual development of humanity after the pandemic”.
A full schedule of the Pope’s itinerary has not yet been released.
