Pope Francis in Mongolia

 chinese catholics 

                                                    Chinese Christians Greet Pope Francis in Mongolia

This past weekend the aged, physically frail Pope Francis visited Mongolia, a largely secular Asian country with fewer 1,500 or so Roman Catholics. It seems to be a baffling choice by the pontiff but the word is that Mongolia's proximity to both Russia and China has resulted in this strategic visit. Apparently pope's have geo-political endgames as well. 

Mongolia is landlocked and permission had to be granted for Francis' plane to fly over Chinese airspace to get there. There are Roman Catholics in China but the bishops were forbidden from travelling to Mongolia for the papal events, and while some Chinese Christians did go, they wore masks and sunglasses to obscure their identity. Suppression and persecution of citizens practicing varous religions, including Christians and mostly-Muslim Uyghers is a widespread reality in China. 

 Maybe journeying 8,000 kilometres to support a handful of Christians in a country where most don't know who the pope is makes some sense I don't comprehend. Religious suppression is a global reality which seems to be on the rise, so we'll give Pope Francis the benefit of the doubt, although what about those carbon emissions?