On the aircraft carrying him to Mongolia, the Holy Father Francis greeted the media workers who accompanied him on the flight.

Introduced by a greeting from the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, the Pope addressed the following words to the journalists:

Words of the Holy Father

Matteo Bruni:

Good morning, everyone; good morning, Your Holiness. There are about seventy journalists on this occasion, ready to travel with You. We also listened to your words at the Angelus last Sunday in which you expressed your happiness for this journey to come, for the encounter with Mongolia, this country, its people and the Christians who live there. We are ready to listen to your words in the meetings that will take place in the coming days, and in the meantime to begin this meeting with You on the aeroplane.

Pope Francis

Thank you. Good afternoon, good evening. Thank you for this meeting, thank you for coming on this journey, I am glad. And thank you for all the work you will do. Now I would like to greet you.

Thank you.

A comment that one of you made has inspired me to say these things to you: going to Mongolia means going to a small population in a vast land. Mongolia seems never-ending, and the inhabitants are few, a small population of great culture. I think it will be good for us to understand this silence, so long, so great. It will help us to understand what it means, but not intellectually: to understand with the senses. Mongolia is understood with the senses. I dare say it will do us good perhaps to listen a little to Borodin's music, which was able to express what this length and breadth of Mongolia means. Thank you.