Pope Francis arrived on Friday (September 1) in Mongolia, a predominantly Buddhist country with just 1,450 Catholics that the Vatican hopes can act as a facilitator to improve difficult relations with China, Reuters reports.
Sitting in a wheelchair, Francis was pushed past rows of Mongolian guardsmen wearing blue and red uniforms and holding rifles after he left the plane. He exchanged handshakes with officials and Catholic leaders before entering a car and being driven away.
The 86-year-old pontiff arrived at Ulaanbaatar airport on a chartered ITA Airways plane also carrying his entourage and accompanying reporters.
Visiting places where Catholics are a minority is part of Francis' policy of drawing attention to people and problems in what he has called the peripheries of society and of the world.
The first event for Francis is on Saturday (September 2), when he addresses government leaders and the diplomatic corps while on Sunday (September 4) he is due to attend an inter-religious meeting.
One of the topics Francis is expected to address during the trip is protection of the environment after he announced on Wednesday that he will release a new document on the protection of nature to update his landmark 2015 encyclical.
Mongolia is one of the countries most affected by climate change, with average temperatures rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius since 1940.
