Pope heads to Mongolia to complete centuries-old mission
A Mongolian man walks past a banner promoting the visit of Pope Francis near a church in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Aug. 28. Pope Francis' visit to Mongolia will, in some ways, be completing a mission begun by the 13th century Pope Innocent IV.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Francis travels to Mongolia this week, he will in some ways be completing a mission begun by the 13th-century Pope Innocent IV, who dispatched emissaries east to ascertain the intentions of the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire and beseech its leaders to halt the bloodshed and convert.
Those medieval exchanges between Roman pope and Mongolian khan were full of bellicose demands for submission and conversion, with each side claiming to be acting in the name of God, according to texts of the letters that survive...
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