ULAANBAATAR – Pope Francis wrapped up the first-ever papal visit to Mongolia on Monday through inaugurating a church-run homeless clinic and refuge, insisting that such tasks aren’t aimed toward profitable converts however are merely workouts in Christian charity.
Francis toured the House of Mercy, a three-story construction housed in an old-fashioned, which the native church has opened as an expression of the roots that it has taken within the 3 many years that the Catholic Church has had an authentic presence in Mongolia. It used to be the overall match of an ancient four-day visit to a area the place the Holy See has long sought to make inroads.
Several of the foreign-staffed Catholic non secular orders in Mongolia run shelters, orphanages and nursing houses to handle a inhabitants of three.3 million the place one in 3 other people lives in poverty. But the brand new clinic for homeless other people, other people with disabilities and sufferers of home violence is aimed toward appearing the outreach of the Mongolian Catholic Church as an entire to its local people.
“The true progress of a nation is not gauged by economic wealth, much less by investment in the illusory power of armaments, but by its ability to provide for the health, education and integral development of its people,” Francis mentioned on the refuge, urging Mongolians wealthy and deficient to volunteer to assist their fellow voters.
Currently, some 77 missionaries minister to Mongolia’s Catholics, who with round 1,450 other people represent probably the most tiniest Catholic flocks on this planet. But best two Mongolian males had been ordained clergymen, and no Mongolian ladies have determined to sign up for non secular congregations as nuns.
These overseas missionaries say the most important problem going through them is to domesticate a in reality native Mongolian church, with educated lay people who find themselves neatly inserted into the material of society. That, they hope, will in the end lead to extra non secular vocations in order that overseas missionaries grow to be much less and not more essential.
“We have to make this a church of Mongolia, one that has the flavor of this land, of its steppes, of its sheep, goats, of its ger,” mentioned the Rev. Ernesto Viscardi, an Italian priest of the Consolata missionary order who has been based totally in Mongolia for 19 years.
“There are 77 of us missionaries. We’re all great, all saints, everyone works well,” he said laughing. “But we have to think about making the local church grow, so that the (Mongolian) people take their church in hand. Otherwise we colonize Mongolia anew, and that makes no sense.”
In urging everyday Mongolians to volunteer to help the poor, Francis said charity work wasn’t just for the idle rich but for everyone. And he denied that Catholic charity was about winning new converts.
“Another myth needing to be dispelled is that the Catholic Church, distinguished throughout the world for its great commitment to works of social promotion, does all this to proselytize, as if caring for others were a way of enticing people to ‘join up,’” Francis said. “No! Christians do whatever they can to alleviate the suffering of the needy, because in the person of the poor they acknowledge Jesus, the Son of God, and in him the dignity of each person.”
Francis’ comment was a tacit acknowledgement of the competition for souls in places like Mongolia, which banned religious observation during decades of Soviet-allied communist government. Now, religious freedom is enshrined in the Mongolian constitution, and a variety of Christian and evangelical churches have taken root here.
Some, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, boast a much bigger presence in Mongolia and claim far more members than the Catholic Church. But in a sign that Catholics weren’t competing with the Mormons or other Christian churches, Francis invited their leaders to an interfaith meeting on Saturday in Ulaanbaatar to show their common concern for promoting a more peaceful and harmonious world.
In seeking to encourage Mongolia’s tiny Catholic flock, Francis has insisted that their small size doesn’t matter and that their success shouldn’t be measured in numbers. “God loves littleness, and through it he loves to accomplish great things,” Francis told priests, nuns and bishops from around the region during a Saturday encounter in the cathedral.
Francis came to Mongolia to give a word of hope to the young church, but also to make a geopolitically important foray into a troubled region for the Holy See, particularly given neighboring China’s crackdown on religious observance.
On Sunday, Francis gave a special shout-out to Chinese Catholics, issuing a warm word of greeting from the altar of Mass at the Steppe Arena.
On Monday, Oyunchimeg Tserendolgo, a social worker at a public school, brought a group of her students to see Francis outside the shelter. She said she felt she had to come see the pope even though she herself isn’t Catholic.
“I wish for Roman pope to live a long life and to bring more goodness not only to Mongolia, but to the rest of the world,” she said as she held a photo of the pontiff. “When I heard that pope is leaving today, I had to come here to pay my respects. I am so glad I got a glimpse of him. Just so happy.”
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