The Pope leaves this morning for Kazakhstan, the 38th journey of his pontificate which will bring 57 countries visited.
Take off by plane from Rome-Fiumicino at 7.15 am to arrive in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, the former Astana, at 5.45 pm local time when here it will be 1.45 pm.
The pontiff is making a "pilgrimage of dialogue and peace" in the immense former Soviet republic of Central Asia, where tomorrow and Thursday he will participate in the seventh congress of the leaders of world and traditional religions, at the invitation of the president of the republic Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
After the official welcome at the international airport, the actual welcome ceremony will take place at the presidential palace at 6.30 pm (Italian time).
Immediately after, the pope will pay a courtesy visit to President Tokayev, while at 19.30 local time (15.30 in Italy), at the Qazaq Concert Hall, the meeting with the authorities, with civil society and with the diplomatic corps is scheduled: occasion on which the pontiff will deliver the first of the five speeches scheduled for his three days in Kazakhstan, as John Paul II did in 2001 after the attack on the Twin Towers on 11 September.