Pope Francis on the Plane to Mongolia Sends a Message to China and Greets Journalists - VIDEO



Pope Francis on the flight to Mongolia, spoke briefly with the journalists. He explained that to understand Mongolia one must listen to it—to the silence of its vast steppe region: "Mongolia can be understood through the senses," he said. The Pope recommended listening to the music of Aleksandr Porfir'evič Borodin, the 19th century Russian composer, well known for his works such as "On the Steppes of Central Asia" and his opera, "Prince Igor."
Pope Francis wired greetings to the leaders of each country he flew over, including President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China.
In his message, the Pope said: "I send greetings of good wishes to Your Excellency and the people of China as I pass through your country's airspace en route to Mongolia.

Assuring you of my prayers for the wellbeing of the nation, I invoke upon all of you the divine blessings of unity and peace."
On Friday, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, Wang Wenbin, said the Pope's blessing reflected “friendliness and goodwill”, noting that China and the Holy See had maintained contacts in recent years.
"China is willing to continue to walk in the same direction with the Vatican, conduct constructive dialogues, enhance understanding, accumulate mutual trust, and promote the process of improving the relationship of the two sides," Mr. Wang said.
WORDS OF POPE FRANCIS ON THE FLIGHT TO MONGOLIA
Matthew Bruni:

Good morning everyone, good morning Your Holiness. We are about 70 journalists on this occasion, ready to travel with you. We also heard the words at last Sunday's Angelus in which you expressed your happiness for this upcoming journey, for the encounter with Mongolia, this country, your people and the Christians who live there. We are ready to listen to his words in the meetings that will take place in the coming days and in the meantime to begin this meeting with you on the plane.

Pope Francesco:

Thank you. Good afternoon, good evening. Thank you for this meeting, thank you that you have come for this journey: I am happy. And thank you for all the work you do. Now I would like to greet you. Thank you.

A comment one of you made inspired me to tell you these things: To go to Mongolia is to go to a small people in a large land. Mongolia seems endless and the inhabitants are few, a small people of great culture. I think it will do us good to understand this silence, so long, so great. It will help us understand what it means, but not intellectually: understand it with the senses. Mongolia is understood with the senses. I take the liberty of saying that perhaps it would be good to listen to some of Borodin's music, which was able to express what this length and greatness of Mongolia means. Thank you.

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