Later this summer, Pope Francis will travel on an apostolic mission to Mongolia. In a statement released on Saturday, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, made the official announcement.

According to Mr. Bruni, Pope Francis will make an apostolic journey to Mongolia this year from August 31 to September 4 after receiving an invitation from the President of Mongolia and the country's ecclesiastical leadership. With this journey, Pope Francis will make history as the first pope to travel to East Asia.

The head of the press office noted that more information, including the visit's schedule, would be made public in the upcoming weeks.

Prior to visiting Mongolia, a country with less than 1,500 Catholics, the Pope will return to Portugal for World Youth Day from August 1 to 6, when he will spend time in the country's capital, Lisbon, and make a second visit to Fatima.

Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, the Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, as the nation's first-ever Cardinal during the most recent consistory for the election of new cardinals, which took place in August 2022.