Starting his Apostolic Journey to Kazakhstan on September 13, Pope Francis landed at the Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev International Airport at 1:27 PM local time.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a delegation of civil and religious leaders welcomed Pope Francis to the Central Asian country.
The pope’s first visit at Kazakhstan will be a courtesy visit to meet with the country’s authorities, civil servants, and diplomatic corps at the presidential palace.
The Papal visit to Kazakhstan is mainly to participate in the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
Pope Francis is to take part in the opening session of the Congress on September 13 morning and will greet its participants from about 100 nations.
As Secretary General of Religions for Peace, Prof. Azza Karam remarked, "Pope Francis’ presence will raise the profile of this 7th interreligious congress."
Prof. Karam added that the pope is a religious leader who articulates moral responsibilities and even clarifies the need to heal communities and prevent conflict.
"So, his role will continue to be to map out the how and why of resolving and avoiding conflicts, including those of living more peacefully with ourselves as people of faith," Prof. Karam continued.
The Pope will end the two-day Congress on September 14 afternoon with a speech following the reading of the final declaration.
The pope offers his closeness and encouragement to the Catholics of Kazakhstan.
He will celebrate Holy Mass at the "Expo Grounds" in Nur-Sultan for the small Catholic community on Wednesday.
Catholics make up around 1 percent of Kazakhstan’s population of 19 million, 70 percent of which is Muslim and 25 percent Christian, mostly Russian Orthodox.
On September 15, Pope Francis is to meet with the bishops, clergy, seminarians, and men and women religious of the country at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
The rector of the Catholic seminary in Karaganda, Father Ruslan Rakhimberlinov, told Vatican News that the local community feels blessed to host the Pope in their homeland.
"For us, the visit of Pope Francis to Kazakhstan is an opportunity for our small Catholic community here, our 'small flock' in Kazakhstan, to gain some momentum," the priest said.
Pope Francis will return to Rome on Thursday evening at around 8:00 P.M. Rome time. - With input from Vatican News
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