The Pope's pivot to Asia

In a December 30 interview, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio that Pope Francis’s increased attention to Asia reflected the region’s status “one of the great frontiers” of the Catholic Church.

“Very important is the frontier of Asia. [T]hese great trips of Pope Francis reflect the Church’s renewed attention to this predominant portion of humanity of today and tomorrow,” Lombardi said, referring to the Pope Francis’s past visit to South Korea and upcoming ones to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.