Pope Francis to visit Mongolia at end of August

Pope Francis will make an August 31-September 4 trip to Mongolia, one of the most far-flung places he has ever visited and which has fewer than 1,500 Catholics but is strategically significant for the Roman Catholic Church because of its long border with China.

The Vatican announced the trip in a brief statement on Saturday, saying it was being made at the invitation of the country's president and Catholic leaders. Details would be announced in the next few weeks, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

Last August, Francis named Archbishop Giorgio Marengo, an Italian, the first cardinal to be based in Mongolia, where he is the Catholic Church's administrator.

Marengo was in Rome last month and met with the pope to discuss the trip.

Francis first spoke of the possibility of going to Mongolia in a conversation with reporters aboard the papal plane returning from a trip to Africa in February.