‘Inhabiting the Earthly Home and Embracing Heaven’

Francis’ Apostolic Journey to Mongolia 

On Thursday, August 31, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. Pope Francis with his retinue and accredited journalists took off from Fiumicino Airport for Chinggis Khan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar, where he landed at 10 a.m. the next day. The pope was welcomed by the foreign minister, and a young woman offered him a cup with Mongolia’s typical dry yoghurt. After reviewing the Guard of Honor and greeting their respective delegations, the pope and the president, in two separate cars, entered the VIP Lounge for a short conversation. Then Francis went to the apostolic prefecture, which is located south of the city. Thus began Francis’ 43rd apostolic journey.

Present-day Mongolia

Mongolia is the modern-day heir to the Mongol Empire, the largest land empire in human history, founded in 1206 by its famous leader, Chinggis Khan, who had unified the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the Asian steppes between China and Russia. Today it comprises the territory of Outer Mongolia, while Inner Mongolia is an Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. The country was a Chinese province between the 17th century and 1921, when it finally won independence with the help of the Soviet Union. In 1924 a Soviet-inspired constitution was adopted, founding the Mongolian People’s Republic. In 1928, the new government abolished the feudal social structure, dominated until then by Lamaist monks – the Tibetan version of Buddhism – initiating an anti-religious campaign and a plan for radical collectivization.

In the second half of the 1980s, a process of liberalization was initiated along the lines of the reforms introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union. In the changed international scenario following the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989, this process laid the groundwork for the country’s transition to democracy, the turning point of which was a number of mass demonstrations in the winter of 1990. In that year, opposition parties were legalized, a permanent legislative body was created, and the office of president established.

The country maintains close ties with China, based on the 1994 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. In addition Russia and Mongolia signed the Ulaanbaatar Declaration in 2000, reviving cooperation. However, Mongolia began to assume an autonomous foreign policy, joining the Non-Aligned Movement, with greater participation in the United Nations’ programs and multilateral cooperation forums. By this route, Ulaanbaatar has established significant relations with other Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, as well as with the United States and the European Union.

The Church in Mongolia

Christianity in Mongolia has deep roots dating back to at least the 10th century, thanks to the spread of Nestorian communities of the Syriac tradition into Asia, although over the centuries its presence in the territory has been intermittent.

From the accounts of the Franciscan friar Giovanni di Pian del Carpine, who was sent by Pope Innocent IV as ambassador to the Khan’s court in 1245, we know that the ancient imperial capital Karakorum, founded in 1235 by Ögedei Khan, was cosmopolitan and multireligious, including a Nestorian presence. The first Western Christian missionary allowed into the country was the French Dominican, Barthélémy de Crèmone, who arrived in Karakorum in 1253 on a diplomatic mission on behalf of the King of France.

In 1922 Pope Pius XI erected the Mission sui iuris of Outer Mongolia, corresponding to the present-day Republic of Mongolia, with its territory taken from the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Mongolia in China – now the Diocese of Xiwanzi-Chongli – renamed the Mission sui iuris of Urga in 1924.

After the birth that same year of the pro-Soviet Mongolian People’s Republic, any Christian presence in the territory was illegal until 1992, when the new Republic of Mongolia, born out of the 1990 Democratic Revolution, established diplomatic relations with the Holy See and a missio sui iuris was erected in Ulaanbaatar and entrusted to the Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[1] When the first three missionaries arrived in the Mongolian capital in 1992, there was not a single Catholic in Mongolia and the work of establishing the Church had to start from scratch, amid language and cultural difficulties. Their apostolic work and that of the other religious congregations that have since arrived in Mongolia, supported by the Korean Church, has borne fruit. In 1995 there were just 14 Mongolian Catholics, whereas today there are about 1,400, which is 0.04 percent of the population. There are 8 parishes and 4 other pastoral centers active in the country. There are 6 diocesan priests and 19 religious. There are 33 women religious and 5 non-priest religious men. There are 6 seminarians.

The history of the Church in Mongolia over the past three decades can be roughly divided into three phases. The first, from 1992 to 2002, when the Mission was elevated by St. John Paul II to the status of Apostolic Vicariate, was marked by small but significant progress, especially in the field of social issues. The second decade saw the birth and establishment of the first local Christian communities, while the third decade has been marked by the ordination of the first Mongolian priest, Father Joseph Enkhee-Baatar, in 2016.

The prevailing activity in missionary work continues to be social, educational and health care. In 2020, there was a technical institute, two elementary schools and two kindergartens, a medical clinic offering care and medicine to the most destitute, a center for the disabled, and two institutions to take in abandoned and poor elderly people. Each parish has also initiated charitable projects in addition to those of Caritas Mongolia.

This social emphasis is appreciated by local authorities and has helped consolidate good relations between Ulaanbaatar and the Holy See, as confirmed in January 2020 during the meeting between Mongolia’s ambassador to the United Nations and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Holy See. The meeting focused on collaboration in the cultural sphere, including the opening of the Vatican Secret Archives to Mongolian researchers. Good relations also exist with other religions, particularly with Buddhist religious authorities, confirmed by the first official visit to the Vatican on May 28, 2022, of a delegation accompanied by Cardinal Giorgio Marengo.

Against this positive backdrop, the challenge remains to continue to boldly proclaim the Gospel to Mongolian society, where, as a result of the long decades of state atheism during the communist regime, 39 percent of the population still declares itself to be non-religious.

The ger tent, a symbol of a land and a view of the world

After landing on Mongolian soil on September 1, Francis had no official engagements on that day. His retinue and the journalists attended the Besreg Naadam, a traditional cultural festival that, through art and sports competitions, helps to celebrate the roots of the country’s culture, involving ancient masks, dancers, musicians, wrestlers, camels and horses, all set against an impressive natural backdrop of green valleys near a river about 40 km from the capital.

The Holy Father’s official engagements began on September 2 at 9 a.m., when a welcoming ceremony took place in Sükhbaatar Square, the most important square in Ulaanbaatar, which was where Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian revolutionary hero, declared Mongolia’s independence from China in 1921. Here Francis was welcomed by President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh. They then drove in two different cars to the State Palace, which houses the offices of the president and the prime minister and is home to the Great State Hural, Mongolia’s unicameral parliament.[2] They headed outside for a ceremony at the statue of Chinggis Khan, and then went to the fifth floor for the private meeting in the Grand Ger. Then they went to the Ikh Mongol Hall, where political and religious authorities, members of the diplomatic corps, men and women of business, and representatives of civil society and culture were present, about 700 people in all. Here the president gave a speech, and then the pope spoke. He called Mongolia a “remarkable and vast land,” inhabited by a people “fully conscious of the meaning and importance of what it is to ‘journey’.” He introduced himself as a “pilgrim of friendship,” coming “quietly with a joyful heart.”

The symbolic element Francis chose for his first speech – and which accompanied him throughout the trip – was the ger (yurt), a typical dwelling of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia that is circular in shape, has an opening in the roof and is covered with felt. These dwellings are versatile, multifunctional and have virtually no impact on the environment. “The holistic vision of the Mongolian shamanic tradition, combined with the respect for all living being inherited from Buddhist philosophy,” the pope commented, “can contribute significantly to the urgent and no longer deferrable efforts to protect and preserve planet Earth.”

But these dwellings also have an important symbolic value. The pope recalled that at the door of the ger, early in the morning, country children stretch out their gaze to the distant horizon to count the livestock and report the number to their parents. Beginning with this image, he said, “we too benefit from gazing toward the vast horizons everywhere around us, abandoning short-sighted perspectives for a broader, global vision.” He then continued his imagined path into the dwelling: “Upon entering a traditional ger, our gaze is directed upward to the highest central point, where there is a round window open to the sky. I would like to emphasize the importance of this fundamental attitude that your tradition helps us to appreciate, the ability to keep our eyes fixed on high.”

There was poignancy to the pontiff’s contemplative gaze rising from the landscape to the values of the spirit: “The solemn grandeur of the countless natural phenomena that surround you gives rise to a sense of wonder, which instills simplicity and frugality, a preference for the essential and a capacity for detachment from what is not so.”

The pope also recalled the country’s great figures, first and foremost Chinggis Khan, whose 860th birth anniversary occurs at this time. The Mongolian Empire embraced distant and very diverse lands, and this highlights “the remarkable ability of your ancestors to acknowledge the outstanding qualities of the peoples present in its immense territory and to put those qualities at the service of a common development.” He thus hoped that on Earth, plagued by too many tensions, “the conditions of what was once the pax mongolica, namely, the absence of conflicts will prevail again today. In the words of one of your proverbs, ‘the clouds pass away, but the sky remains’.” The ancient leaders demonstrated “uncommon ability to integrate different voices and experiences, including those from a religious standpoint. A respectful and conciliatory attitude was shown to the variety of sacred traditions, as is witnessed by the different places of worship – including one Christian site – preserved in the ancient capital, Karakorum. As a result, it was almost natural that you arrived at the freedom of thought and of religion now enshrined in your Constitution.”

What is the role of the Mongolian Catholic community in this context? As always in his travels, Francis hoped for its full integration in the service of the common good: “However small and discreet, it shares with enthusiasm and commitment in the country’s process of growth by spreading the culture of solidarity, the culture of universal respect and the culture of interreligious dialogue, and by working for justice, peace and social harmony.” Local Catholics are therefore called to “continue to offer readily their proper contribution,” making this contribution to a “prosperous and secure society, in dialogue and cooperation with all others who dwell in this great land kissed by the sky.”

At the end, the president took his leave, and the pope met with Chairman Gombojav Zandanshatar of the Great State Hural, and then, together with some of his retinue, with Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene. Eventually Francis returned to the apostolic prefecture.

A Church that rests on the unarmed and disarming power of the Risen One

At 3:45 p.m. the pontiff went to the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, the seat of the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar, located in the eastern part of the city. Construction of the modern Cathedral began shortly after the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar was established in 2002. It was designed by Serbian architect Predak Stupar. The church was consecrated on August 30, 2003. The structure of the building resembles the traditional ger. Thirty-six semicircular stained-glass windows were added to the dome in 2005, designed by Brother Mark, a member of the Taizé Community, and in four of them South Korean artist Cho painted a snow leopard, an eagle, an angel and a yak, for him symbols of the four evangelists. The church can accommodate about 500 people and has three wings, which house, among other administrative offices of the Apostolic Prefecture and a library.

The pope arrived at the Cathedral’s inner entrance and, before boarding a golf car, was greeted by a Mongolian woman at the threshold of a ger, who offered him a cup of milk wrapped in a blue scarf. Accompanied by the Apostolic Prefect, Cardinal Marengo,[3] he entered the ger, where he met Mrs. Tsetsege. In a garbage dump, about ten years ago, she found a beautifully carved wooden statue with the features of a beautiful lady wrapped in a cloth. It was the Immaculate Virgin. It is hard to account for how that statue ended up in a garbage dump, since, especially in that part of the country, there are very few Catholics. On December 8, 2022, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Cardinal Marengo decided to consecrate the whole of Mongolia to Mary. This took place in Ulaanbaatar Cathedral, in front of the statue the woman had found, enthroned for the occasion, called “Mother of Heaven,” and covered with a special mantle, sewn together from many small pieces of cloth sent to the apostolic prefecture by many of the Mongolian faithful and missionaries.

The pope, after briefly resting in the ger, boarded the golf car for a ride among the faithful. Along the way he blessed representatives of the eight parishes and one chapel in the country.

At 4:20 p.m. he reached the main entrance to the Cathedral. Here he heard testimonies from a missionary nun, a Mongolian priest and a pastoral worker. He watched a performance with accompanying singing. He then delivered his speech, first recalling the roots of faith in Mongolia, the experiences of the first millennium, marked by the evangelizing movement of Syriac tradition, spread along the Silk Road, which was followed by considerable missionary efforts.

He encouraged priests, consecrated men and women and pastoral workers to continue the wide variety of charitable initiatives, which absorb energy and “reflect the merciful face of Christ the Good Samaritan.” But he also invited them “to taste and see the Lord, to keep returning to that original ‘gaze’ from which everything began.” The Christian is able to worship in silence. It is from this worship that activity then flows. Instead, “we have somewhat lost the meaning of adoration in this pragmatic century.”

The Lord’s disciples are not called to spread political thought: “The Church that is born of this mandate is a poor Church, sustained only by genuine faith and by the unarmed and disarming power of the Risen Lord, and capable of alleviating the sufferings of wounded humanity.” That is why, Francis specified, governments and secular institutions “have nothing to fear from the Church’s work of evangelization, for she has no political agenda to advance, but is sustained by the quiet power of God’s grace and a message of mercy and truth, which is meant to promote the good of all.” The Church is called to proclaim Jesus’ good news, to “embody in her life and ‘whisper’ to the heart of every individual and culture.” And “very often, it is a slow whisper, taking its time; this is the way God speaks.”

Francis then urged, “Do not be concerned about small numbers, or limited success or apparent irrelevance. This is not how God works.” Instead, “always be close to the people, personally caring for them, learning their language, respecting and loving their culture, not allowing yourselves to be tempted by worldly forms of security, but remaining steadfast in the Gospel through exemplary moral and spiritual lives.”

After praying the Hail Mary, Francis blessed the statue of Our Lady. In his speech he said that Mary, “undefiled by sin, wanted to draw so close to us as to descend to the dregs of society, so that from the filth of a rubbish heap the purity of the holy Mother of God, our heavenly Mother, could shine forth.” From the altar he then greeted the bishops present and the missionary men and women. Before getting into the car, he stopped for a few moments in an alcove of the Cathedral to greet some of the faithful. Finally, a group photo was taken. From here the pope returned to the Apostolic Prefecture.

‘Spreading harmony’

On Sunday, September 3, at 10 a.m. the pontiff was welcomed at the Hun Theatre, built in the shape of a ger, where Mongolian traditional folk performances are staged. An ecumenical and interfaith meeting was held here, where the leaders present read their short speeches. This was followed by the pope’s wide-ranging talk, which cited the “Dharma Path” from the Buddhist Canon, St. Francis, Gandhi and Kierkegaard.

The pontiff began by stating that, “In terms of the religious quest, humanity can be compared to a band of wayfarers treading the earth with eyes lifted to heaven.” It is significant what a Flemish friar, William of Rubruk, said about Mongolia, writing that he traveled there “seeing nothing but heaven and earth.” Indeed, the sky, so clear and blue, embraces these vast and imposing lands, as if to remind us of the two essential aspects of human life: the earthly, made up of our relationships with others, and the heavenly, consisting in our quest for the transcendent Other. Mongolia thus reminds all of us, as pilgrims and wayfarers, to lift our gaze on high in order to discern which path to follow on our journey here below.”

Now religious leaders, “humble heirs of ancient schools of wisdom,”[4] are meeting together in the same place, and this “is already a message,” the pope said. He recalled “it is impressive to think of Karakorum, the ancient imperial capital, which admirably housed within its walls places of worship belonging to different creeds, thus exemplifying a commendable harmony.” For Francis, the word “harmony” is fundamental. It describes “that special relationship born of the creative interplay of differing realities, without imposition or amalgamation, but with complete respect for their differences, in view of a serene life in common.” Religious commitment is called to have a social value, which is measured by the “extent to which we are capable of living in harmony with other pilgrims on this earth and can foster that harmony in the places where we live.” In contrast, “narrowness, unilateral imposition, fundamentalism and ideological constraint destroy fraternity, fuel tensions and compromise peace.” The Church, in this context, offers “the treasure she has received in every person and culture, in a spirit of openness and in respectful consideration to what the other religious traditions have to offer.”

Once again the pope recalled the ger, which evokes “the essential openness to the divine. This spiritual dimension is represented by its overhead opening, which admits a beam of light that makes the interior, as it were, a great sundial, marking, through an interplay of light and shadow, the hours of day and night. There is a beautiful lesson in this: the sense of the passage of time comes from above, not simply from the flux of earthly activity. At certain times of the year, the ray that penetrates from on high lights up the domestic altar of the ger, reminding us of the primacy of the spiritual life. In this way, the sense of human togetherness experienced in this circular space is constantly referred back to its vertical vocation, to its transcendent and spiritual calling.”

‘The thirst that dwells in us and the love that quenches our thirst’  

At 3 p.m. the pontiff went to the Steppe Arena, Mongolia’s first multifunctional, indoor ice palace. After moving among the faithful – about 2,000 – Francis celebrated Mass with readings in Mongolian and English. The prayers of the faithful were in Mongolian, English, Korean, Russian and Chinese. The pope delivered his homily, recalling the words of Psalm 63: “You God, […] I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land.” He dwelt on two aspects: “the thirst that dwells in us and the love that quenches our thirst.”

The image of the desert has a particular resonance in Mongolia, whose territory is marked by the arid steppe: “The desert of which the Psalmist speaks, then, is our life. We are that dry land thirsting for fresh water, water that can slake our deepest thirst.” And “Christian faith is the answer to this thirst; it takes it seriously, without dismissing it or trying to replace it with tranquilizers or surrogates. For in this thirst lies the great mystery of our humanity; it opens our hearts to the living God, the God of love, who comes to meet us and to make us his children, brothers and sisters to one another.”

The love that quenches our thirst – the second theme of his homily – is the content of the Christian faith: “It is true that, at times, we feel like a ‘dry and weary land without water,’ yet it is equally true that God cares for us and offers us clear, refreshing water, the living water of the Spirit, springing up within us to renew us and free us from the risk of drought. As St. Augustine wrote, God sprinkles us with the dew of his Word and makes us feel thirst, but then comes to quench it.”

At the end, Cardinal Marengo delivered an address of greeting to the Holy Father. Then Francis greeted and thanked the bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, and “all the friends who have come here from different countries, particularly from various regions of the immense continent of Asia.”

Before his final greeting, Francis took the hands of the Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, Cardinal Tong, and the current bishop, Monsignor Chow, and spoke the following words, “in the presence of these two brother bishops, the Emeritus of Hong Kong and the current Bishop – I send a heartfelt greeting to the noble Chinese people. I send my good wishes to them all. Always move forward, always advance! And to Chinese Catholics: I ask you to be good Christians and good citizens. To all of you, my thanks.”

The ‘Mass on the World’

Francis took this opportunity to recall the figure of the Jesuit, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who in the nearby Ordos Desert exactly 100 years ago prayed his famous “Mass on the World.” Francis repeated the words of this prayer: “My God, I prostrate myself before your presence in the universe that has now become living flame: beneath the lineaments of all that I shall encounter this day, all that happens to me, all that I achieve, it is you I desire, you I await.”

“Father Teilhard,” he continued, “was engaged in geological research. He fervently desired to celebrate Holy Mass but lacked bread and wine. So he composed his ‘Mass on the World,’ expressing his offering in these words: ‘Receive, O Lord, this all-embracing host, which your whole creation, moved by your magnetism, offers you at the dawn of this new day.’ A similar prayer had already taken shape in him when he served as a stretcher-bearer on the front lines during the First World War. This priest, often misunderstood, had intuited that ‘the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world’ and is ‘the living center of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life’ (Laudato Si’, no. 236), even in times like our own, marked by conflicts and wars. Let us pray this day, then, in the words of Father Teilhard de Chardin: ‘Radiant Word, blazing Power, you who mold the manifold so as to breathe life into it, I pray you, lay on us those your hands – powerful, considerate, omnipresent’.” In this way Francis wished to commemorate and enhance the reputation of this Christian thinker, on whom a Monitum was imposed in 1962 by the then Holy Office, but who has been cited over time by various pontiffs.[5] After the celebration Francis went back to the apostolic prefecture.

The call to charity

On Monday, September 4, at 9 a.m., after bidding farewell to the apostolic prefecture, Francis moved to the House of Mercy, located in a disused school complex in the central part of the city. The building has been transformed into a shelter for the poor and has been equipped with a clinic, which meets the needs of homeless people and victims of domestic violence. The House was also designed as a temporary shelter for migrants who arrive in the city without any other initial support.

Here Francis met with charity workers and formally opened the House. After a greeting from the director of the facility, testimonies and a dance by the children followed. The pope gave a speech, recalling that “From the time of their arrival in Ulaanbaatar in the 1990s, the first missionaries immediately sensed a summons to works of charity, which led them to care for abandoned children, our homeless brothers and sisters, the sick, the disabled, prisoners and all those who, amid suffering, sought their care.” Works of charity, in fact, establish the Church’s identity. On the other hand, he added that the true progress of nations “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.”

After a prayer Francis blessed the plaque naming the House. From here he went to Chinggis Khan International Airport, where a farewell ceremony was held with the foreign minister. The papal plane took off at 12 noon and landed at Fiumicino Airport around 5:20 p.m.

* * *

Francis’ apostolic journey to Mongolia unfolded on an ideal axis that connects the land –wide and fading into the horizon – to the sky. The pope often referred to the typical tent of the nomadic people, who are always on the move, who know the aridity of the desert, always seeking the freshness of water. It is the ger, which is wide and has a round window in the center of the roof, letting in light from heaven. The Cathedral is shaped like a ger, which reminds us that the Church can once again recognize itself as newly born, even in cities of ancient Christian tradition, where stupendous thousand-year-old cathedrals, perhaps under-attended today, stand out against the sky. Thus, those cathedrals will not become merely grandiose relics of the past.

In this land the Church is sprouting like a small seed. The pope is very fond of small but dynamic Churches involved in charity and their active presence for the common good. They are like enzymes for the universal Church as well. That is why he visits them: they are places of prophecy. His words in Mongolia are reminiscent of those he spoke, for example, in Morocco,[6] where he described a “leavening Church.” There he had said, “Jesus did not choose us and send us so that we would become the most numerous! He called us for a mission. He put us in society as that small amount of leaven, the leaven of the beatitudes and fraternal love in which as Christians we can all find ourselves able to make his Kingdom present.” The problem, then, is not that of being “few in number,” as he repeated in Ulaanbaatar, but that of being an “insignificant,” that is, dull and casting no light. Mongolia is a land where the Church is salt and light. And one has no trouble recognizing in the ger tent the flexible architecture of the Church as a “field hospital.”

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32009/22072446.1023.4

[1].      Leading the mission from its beginnings was Filipino missionary Wenceslao Padilla appointed by St. John Paul II in 2002 as apostolic vicar, and then apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar in 2003. He died in 2018..

[2].      At one time, the land occupied by the present Government Palace and Sükhbaatar Square housed the Ikh Khüree Monastery, the city’s central temple until the early 20th century. Famous for its monastic education, it was completely destroyed by the country’s communist regime in the 1930s.

[3].      Born in Cuneo on June 7, 1974, Giorgio Marengo entered the Consolata Missions Institute and was ordained on May 26, 2001, elected to the titular church of Castra Severiana on April 2, 2020, and consecrated on August 8, 2020. He was created cardinal by Francis in the Consistory of August 27, 2022.

[4].      Francis mentioned 10 aspects of this spiritual heritage peculiar to Mongolia: “The good relationship with tradition, despite the temptations of consumerism; respect for elders and ancestors – how much need we have today for a generational alliance between them and the younger ones! And then, care for the environment, our common home, another tremendous current need. And again: the value of silence and inner life, a spiritual antidote to so many ills of today’s world. Then, a healthy sense of frugality; the value of welcoming; the ability to resist attachment to things; solidarity, which comes from the culture of bonds between people; an appreciation for simplicity. And, finally, a certain existential pragmatism, which tends to tenaciously seek the good of the individual and of the community.”

[5].      Cf. A. Spadaro, “The Priest and the Maturity of All Things”, in Civ. Catt. English Edition, May 2017.

[6].      Cf. Id., “La Chiesa si fa colloquio. Il viaggio apostolico di papa Francesco in Marocco”, in Civ. Catt. 2019 II 159-169.