POPE FRANCIS: I REMEMBER AZERBAIJAN AND PRAY FOR PEACE

Pope Francis made an apostolic journey to Mongolia. The visit, held under the motto “Hoping Together”, lasted from August 31st to September 4th.

As part of the trip, Pope Francis met with the President of Mongolia, leaders and representatives of the country’s civil society and religious communities and representatives of the diplomatic corps.

The central moment of the 43rd apostolic trip of the Holy Father was the Sunday Eucharist, which Pope Francis celebrated at the “Steppe Arena” Ice Palace in the capital of Mongolia. Together with hierarchs from different countries, the Holy Father was co-served by Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, and Monsignor Jose Luis Mumbiela Sierra, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Central Asia, Ordinary of the Diocese of the Holy Trinity in Almaty, as well as Bishop Vladimir Fekete, Apostolic Prefect of Azerbaijan.

Pope Francis began his sermon addressed to more than 2,000 pilgrims with the Responsorial Psalm, which sounded in the Liturgy: “God! .. I earnestly search for You, my soul thirsts for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water” (Ps 63:2). “This marvelous proclamation,” explained the Pope, “accompanies our journey through the deserts that we must cross, and it is on this parched land that the Good News of Gospel catches up with us: we are not alone on our journey.”

“Many of you,” the Pope addressed the faithful, “are accustomed to the beauty and heaviness of walking, an act that recalls an essential aspect of biblical spirituality, represented in the image of Abraham and, more broadly, the people of Israel, as well as in every disciple of the Lord: in fact, we are all “God’s nomads”, pilgrims in search of happiness, wanderers thirsting for love.”

September 2, the Holy Father met with the bishops of Central Asia, the clergy, monastics and faithful of the Church in Mongolia in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Ulaanbaatar. On behalf of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Central Asia, the Supreme Pontiff was greeted by the President of the Conference, Archbishop José Luis Mumbiela Sierra.

Addressing the audience, the Holy Father dwelled in a special way on understanding the role of the bishop in the Church:

“The Church cannot be understood on the basis of a purely functional criterion, according to which the bishop is a kind of moderator of various components. The Church is to be understood on the basis of the spiritual principle that Jesus Himself is present in the person of the bishop to ensure the communion of His Mystical Body. In other words, the unity of the Church is not a matter of order and respect, and not even a “good strategy” of teamwork: it is a matter of faith and love for the Lord, faithfulness to Him. Therefore, it is important that all church components rally around the bishop, who represents the living Christ in the midst of His people,” the Holy Father noted among other things.

The meeting with the Pope was also attended by the Apostolic Prefect of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan, Bishop Vladimir Fekete. During a short meeting with the Pontiff, the Most Reverend Vladimir conveyed to the Holy Father the greetings of the Azerbaijani Catholics. Pope Francis noted that he always remembers with love his visit to our country, conveyed the apostolic blessing to the Church in Azerbaijan and assured of his prayers for the soonest establishment of a just peace in the South Caucasus.