His Holiness Pope Francis will visit Thailand from November 20th to 23rd at the invitation of the Thai government and the Catholic Church in Thailand before heading to Japan, Archbishop Paul Tschang in-Nam, the Vatican’s diplomatic representative in Thailand announced today (Friday).
The Holy See Press Office in the Vatican separately announced the Pope’s first visit to Thailand. The last papal visit to the Kingdom was by Pope John Paul II in 1984.
During his four-day official visit, Pope Francis will preside at religious ceremonies and make pastoral visits to Catholic communities.
Mr. Wissanu Tunya-anan, deputy secretary-general of the Catholic Church in Thailand, said that His Holiness’s trip is to visit Catholic communities and promote peace, with an emphasis on the building of a “peace bridge” to promote unity, dialogue, and cooperation between people of different faiths.
While in Thailand, he said that the Pope will conduct two masses, one for Catholics in Thailand and the other for the younger generation.
More details about the Pope’s itinerary will be announced at a later date.
This will be Pope Francis’s fourth trip to Asia, where he has already visited South Korea, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.
There are about 400,000 Catholics in Thailand.
