Pope Francis celebrated a Holy Mass in the capital Ulan Bator at the end of his Mongolia trip. Numerous believers also came from China – despite the government’s ban. Surprisingly, the pope turned to her.
Pope Francis celebrated a Holy Mass at the end of his visit to Mongolia. According to the authorities, more than 2,000 people came to the steppe arena in the capital Ulan Bator. Among them were around 100 Catholics from neighboring China, although the communist government had forbidden them to come.
In order to evade the surveillance system using facial recognition at home, many Chinese people who came wore face masks and sunglasses.
Surprisingly and deviating from the script, he sent a message to them in particular: He wanted to greet the “noble Chinese people” warmly. For this he brought two bishops from Hong Kong to the altar. He asked Chinese Catholics to “be good Christians and good citizens”.
China had apparently banned Catholic bishops from mainland China from traveling to Ulan Bator.
Beijing reacts positively to Pope’s message
Beijing responded benevolently. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said: “China would like to continue constructive dialogue with the Vatican, improve understanding, build mutual trust and advance the process of improving relations between the two sides.”
People also came from Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. To them the Pope said: “Let us continue to grow together in fraternity, as seeds of peace in a world ravaged by too many wars and conflicts.”
Believers from Hong Kong had also traveled to Mongolia for Pope Francis – they made themselves visible with flags.
Pope encourages Catholics in the country to believe
In his final mass, the 86-year-old emphasized that “God’s people” in Mongolia are very dear to him. He assured “the closeness and support of the whole church”.
Since Friday, Francis has been the first head of the Catholic Church to be in the East Asian country. During his trip, the pontiff called for harmony and peace between faiths. The main religions in the country are Buddhism and shamanism – the Catholic community is a minority with 1,500 followers.