ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia—Pope Francis wrapped up the first-ever papal visit to Mongolia on Monday by inaugurating a church-run homeless clinic and shelter, insisting that such initiatives aren’t aimed at winning converts but are simply exercises in Christian charity. Francis toured the House of Mercy, a three-story structure housed in an old…
Pope Francis arrives to preside over a mass at the Steppe Arena in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar on Sunday, September 3, 2023. Francis is in Mongolia to minister to one of the world’s smallest and newest Catholic communities. Neighboring China’s crackdown on religious minorities has been a constant backdrop to the trip, even as the Vatican hopes to focus attention instead on Mongolia and its 1,450 Catholics.
“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 said at the shelter, urging Mongolians rich and poor to volunteer to help their fellow citizens.
“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,” said the Rev. Ernesto Viscardi, an Italian priest of the Consolata missionary order who has been based in Mongolia for 19 years. “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.
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.
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