(19 Nov 2019) Pope Francis set off for his tour of Asia on Tuesday night, where he will visit Thailand and Japan, both predominantly Buddhist countries with tiny Christian minorities.
His visit, his fourth to Asia since taking office, is largely a morale-boosting exercise for the small Catholic communities in both countries, though Francis is certain to address some of the major social concerns he often highlights.
The pope will speak publicly at two Masses in Thailand, one of them at a stadium before a projected crowd of 50,000 where he will talk about human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women and children, both of which are longstanding issues in the region.
Refugees are another relevant concern he may tackle.
Francis will then travel to Japan, start his first official visit to the country in Nagasaki, the city where Christianity first took hold in the country and where nearly 500 years later it remains steeped in blood-soaked symbolism, both religious and political.
It was here that a small group of beleaguered Catholic converts went deep underground during centuries of violent persecution.
And it was here that a US atom bomb brought death and destruction to the cathedral that community was finally able to build.
As Francis makes the first papal visit to Japan in 38 years, he will likely look to the past by honouring the doggedness of those so-called Hidden Christians, while also laying out his vision for a future free from the threat of nuclear weapons.
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