Archbishop Tomasz Peta of Astana hopes the papal visit to Kazakhstan will be a great help for peace.
In an interview, the archbishop told Vatican News, "We believe that the visit of the Holy Father Francis will strongly contribute to the end of the war in Ukraine and to the obtainment of the long-awaited peace."
Taking into consideration the dramatic international situation, the current visit bears the hope for peace and reconciliation on a global scale.
The upcoming Papal Visit will be from September 13 to 15, and it will mark his 38th foreign Apostolic Visit.
During his visit, the pope will attend the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions as a sign that God is the origin of peace.
The archbishop said, "The participation of the Holy Father Francis in the Congress raises the level of this event and points to the care of the Church for peace and the welfare of all humankind."
Archbishop Peta called the papal visit to Kazakhstan "a great blessing" for Catholics and the whole nation and an expression of the pope’s closeness to the minority Catholics in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan has one percent Catholics among its nineteen million people, seventy percent Muslims, and twenty-five percent Christians, primarily Russian Orthodox.
During his stay in the Central Asian country, the pope will bless the new triptych of the "Mother of the Great Steppe" at the Nur-Sultan Cathedral.
This icon will be a monument of the Papal Visit to Kazakhstan and will be placed at the National Marian Shrine of the Queen of Peace in Ozyornoye.
Archbishop Peta was ordained as a priest by the late Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski in 1976 and as a bishop by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
The archbishop arrived in Kazakhstan in 1990, during the time of the Soviet Union.
At that time, 15 local priests were ministering to the faithful in cities and villages.
They maintained their faith and sense of belongingness to the Church by praying the Rosary in a special manner.
As a result, they could establish parishes and build churches and chapels as a sign of religious freedom and conscience after the independence of Kazakhstan in 1991. - With input from Vatican News
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