Pope Francis Visits Thailand and Japan
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, Pope Francis touched down in Thailand just a short time ago for the first papal visit to the country since 1984. While there he is meeting with the Thai king and the supreme Buddhist patriarch. Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher joins me now from Rome with more on all of this. Good to see you, Delia. So why did the pope choose Thailand and Japan for his seven-day official visit, two countries with Catholic minorities?</s>DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Rosemary. This is really one of the hallmarks of Pope Francis' papacy. He says he likes to go to the peripheries, the religious peripheries where there are these minority communities. According to the Vatican, there is only about 1 percent of Christians in Thailand, and of them there are about 400,000 Catholics, so the pope is going there to support that tiny Catholic communities. But also, it's his opportunity to meet with Buddhist leaders there and to encourage dialogue amongst the world's great religions. And interestingly, it will be a sort of family reunion, Rosemary, for Pope Francis because he has a cousin in Thailand who has been a nun there, a missionary nun for the past 50 years, and she will be acting as his official translator for the trip. Now, Japan, where he goes on Saturday is really a place that holds a special place in Pope Francis' heart. When he was a young priest in Argentina, he actually requested to be sent as a missionary priest to Japan. That request was denied, but he has a chance to go there now as pope. And one of the most important visits he will make probably in Japan will be to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. He will visit with survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings there and give a speech on Sunday where he will likely condemn the continued arms race and threat of nuclear war. Rosemary?</s>CHURCH: All right. We'll continue to follow his trip. Delia Gallagher joining us there from Rome, many thanks. And thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me any time on Twitter. I love to hear to from you. And I'll be back with a check of the headlines in just a moment. Do stick around.