Pope Francis Will Visit Kazakhstan For Interfaith Conference

The Vatican confirmed on Monday that Pope Francis will visit Kazakhstan as planned in September to attend an interfaith conference in the Kazakhstan capital Nur-Sultan.

The announcement of the trip came two days after the pontiff revealed he would ease his international schedule, as the 85-year-old is suffering from knee pain. This has forced Pope Francis to cancel several events in recent months, including a trip to Africa.

“Accepting the invitation of civil and church officials, Pope Francis will make an announced apostolic visit to Kazakhstan from 13 to 15 September,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni wrote in a statement.

Pope Francis may meet with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, as he has said he will attend.

Patriarch Kirill justified Moscow’s war in Ukraine on spiritual and ideological grounds, calling it a “spiritual” fight with the West.

Francis canceled a planned encounter with Kirill in Jerusalem in June because it could lead to diplomatic repercussions.

Kirill blessed Russian soldiers to go to war and invoked the idea that Russians and Ukrainians are one person.

Francis and Kirill, who had their first historical meeting In Havana, Cuba, in 2016, have spoken by video call at least once since the invasion of Ukraine began.

Pope Francis returned Saturday from a six-day visit to Canada, where he called the treatment of Indigenous people in residential schools in Canada a “genocide.”

He acknowledged that it is time to slow down the pace of his international travel and said he may have to think about retiring – but not yet.

Francis was elected in 2013 when Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff to retire after the Middle Ages, citing his declining physical and mental health.