Pope Francis is heading to Thailand to encourage members of a minority Catholic community in a Buddhist nation and highlight his admiration for their missionary ancestors who brought the faith centuries ago and endured bouts of persecution more recently.
After an overnight flight, Francis arrives in Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon and will rest for the remainder of the day before his first full day of public appearances Thursday.
Francis’ three-day visit, followed by three days in Japan, will be a welcome break for the 82-year-old pope. He is enduring fresh opposition from Catholic conservatives in the U.S. over his just-concluded meeting on the Amazon as well as a new financial scandal at home.
Pope Francis sits in an airplane at the Leonardo da Vinci airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, Italy, 19 November 2019. Pope Francis’ begins his three-day visit to Thailand to mark mark the 350th anniversary of the founding of ‘Mission de Siam’. EPA-EFE/TELENEWS
Thirty-five years after St. John Paul II became the first pope to visit Thailand, Francis is marking the 350th anniversary of the creation of a stable apostolic vicariate in Thailand, then known as Siam, after Dominican missionaries first brought the faith in 1567, followed by members of Francis’ own Jesuit order.
From Thailand, he will fly to Japan for a visit from Nov. 23-26, which will also include Hiroshima, is only the second papal visit to Japan and the first since John Paul II 38 years ago.
