Pope to visit Thailand

Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience at the Vatican on June 19, 2019. (Reuters photo)
Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience at the Vatican on June 19, 2019. (Reuters photo)

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis is expected to make an official trip to Thailand in November ahead of an already announced visit to Japan, Vatican sources say.

He would be the first pontiff in nearly four decades to go to either country.

The three sources said the trip would be announced soon.

The late Pope John Paul visited Japan in 1981 and Thailand in 1984.

Francis' trip to Japan, which he announced himself in January, will take him to Tokyo as well as the two cities hit by US atomic bombs at the end of World War Two - Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The trip to the two countries where Catholics are a tiny minority accounting for less than half of 1% of the population, is expected to last about seven days and start around Nov 20.

Thailand is predominantly Buddhist and Japan is mostly Buddhist and Shinto.

The trip is part of Francis' push to increase dialogue with other religions in order to promote world peace.

The stop in Thailand will coincide with the 350th anniversary of the founding of the "Mission de Siam" by Pope Clement IX to oversee missions in Siam, the former name of Thailand.

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Vocabulary

  • coincide with: to happen at the same time as something else - เกิดขึ้นพร้อมกับ
  • dialogue: formal discussion between two groups or countries, especially when they are trying to solve a problem, end a disagreement, etc - การสนทนา
  • late: dead - ที่ล่วงลับไปแล้ว
  • minority: involving less than half of a group - เสียงส่วนน้อย
  • mission (noun): a group of people doing such an official job, especially when they are sent to another country; the place where they work - คณะทูต, สถานทูต
  • pontiff (noun): the Pope (= the leader of the Roman Catholic Church) - สันตะปาปา
  • Pope (also pontiff): the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, who is also the Bishop of Rome - สันตะปาปา, โป๊ป, สังฆราช
  • predominantly: mostly or mainly - มีอิทธิพลเหนือ, มีมากกว่า
  • Vatican (noun): the centre of government of the Roman Catholic Church - สำนักวาติกันอันเป็นที่ประดับขององค์สันตะปาปาในกรุงโรม

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