Pope Francis to visit Kazakhstan in September
Pope Francis will visit Kazakhstan as planned in September to attend an interfaith conference in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, the Vatican confirmed on Monday.
The announcement of the trip comes two days after the pontiff revealed he would ease his international schedule, as the 85-year-old has been suffering from knee pain. It forced Pope Francis to cancel a string of events in recent months, including a trip to Africa, Al Jazeera reported.
“Accepting the invitation of the civil and ecclesial authorities, Pope Francis will make the announced Apostolic Journey to Kazakhstan from September 13 to 15,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni wrote in a statement.
Pope Francis could meet with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, as he has said he would attend.
He returned Saturday from a six-day visit to Canada, where he called the treatment of Indigenous people in Canadian residential schools “genocide”.
Pope Francis admitted it was time to slow his pace of international travel and said he may have to think about retiring – but not yet.