By Lavoisier Fernandes
Mongolia!! Yes, I know. I literally had to go on google maps to find out where in the world was this country that marked Pope Francis’ 43rd Apostolic Journey abroad and his 61st country visited as Pope. Two weeks prior to this trip to Mongolia the Holy Father had returned from World Youth Day- Portugal with its grand finale of 1.5 million youth.
But here again was the “Pope of the Peripheries”- at the age of 86 with mobility issues altered between using a wheelchair and walking with a cane, making this 9-hour first ever papal trip to encourage a tiny Catholic community fewer than 1500 that are largely served by foreign missionaries, who reestablished a presence there just 30 years ago after the fall of Soviet Communism in 1992.
So, what message could Mongolia offer the universal Catholic Church and why did Pope Francis embark on this Papal trip to this tiny 1,500 Catholic community in a country with a population of 3.3 million, of whom 60 percent identify as religious, the vast majority made up of Buddhists, a country sandwiched geographically and, in a way, politically unheard between the dominating superpowers of Russia and China.
Prior to the pope’s apostolic visit Italian Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, who at 49 years old is one of the youngest cardinals(appointed in the same 2022 papal consistory with our own Cardinal Filipe Neri) and who has served Mongolia as a missionary for two decades said “Catholic missionaries “whisper” the Gospel in an effort to spread the faith via one-on-one relationships. When you whisper, you whisper to an individual or a few people, you cannot whisper to many people at the same time because they simply will not hear you, And I think this visit will also somehow manifest the attention that the (pope) has for every individual, every person who embarks in this journey of faith and this visit will serve as balm to a people who suffered ‘70 years of harsh communist rule’ until the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.”
Here are 3 key take-ways from this papal trip which has a message from the Holy Father for all of us in the Church:
- Christian faith is the answer to the thirst of mankind : It is important to note that 30 percent of Mongolian territory is made up of deserts, including the vast Gobi Desert shared by Mongolia and China. The Holy Father whilst addressing roughly 2,000 people attending his mass Ulaanbaatar’s Steppe Arena and reflecting on the day’s Psalm, which read, “O God… my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” the Holy Father said “this plea from the psalmist, accompanies our journey through life, amid all the deserts we are called to traverse.” The Holy Father went on it add “It is precisely in those deserts that we hear the good news that we are not alone in our journey; those times of dryness cannot render our lives barren forever; our cry of thirst does not go unheard. Whilst pointing out to the traditionally Mongolian nomadic culture he said, “all of us are ‘God’s nomads’, pilgrims in search of happiness, wayfarers thirsting for love.” And “We are that dry land thirsting for fresh water, water that can slake our deepest thirst. Our hearts long to discover the secret of true joy, a joy that even in the midst of existential aridity, can accompany and sustain us”. Pope Francis said the Christian faith is the answer to the thirst of mankind, as it takes the search to satisfy this thirst “seriously, without dismissing it or trying to replace it with tranquilizers or surrogates.” Adding that “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.”
- Mongolian Church is like the “first-generation Christians,far from the spotlight” and “although small” is in the heart of God: The Holy Father on his return from Mongolia and on his recent Wednesday general audience catechesis said the Mongolian people are “a humble and wise people” and shared some of his reasons to visit a small flock, the Holy Father said “Because it is precisely there, far from the spotlight, that we often find the signs of the presence of God, who does not look at appearances, but at the heart”. The Lord” continued Pope Francis “does not look for the centre-stage, but the simple heart of those who desire him and love him without ostentation, without wanting to tower above others”. Referring to the “touching history” of the small Catholic community present in Mongolia, the Pope recalled that it “came about, by the grace of God, from the apostolic zeal – on which we are reflecting at the moment – of a few missionaries who, impassioned by the Gospel, went about thirty years ago to that country they did not know. They learned the language – which is not easy – and, despite coming from different nations, gave life to a united and truly Catholic community. “
- The missionaries serving in Mongolia did not go to proselytize: The Holy Father said the meaning of the word “catholic”, which means “universal”. But it is not a universality that homogenizes, but rather a universality that inculturates, it is a universality that is inculturated. This is catholicity: an embodied universality, “inculturate”, which embraces the good where it is found and serves the people with whom it lives. The Holy Father when on to add that “in Mongolia there are missionaries from various countries who feel at one with the people, happy to serve them and to discover the beauty already there. Because these missionaries “did not go to proselytize; this is not evangelical, they went to live there like the Mongolian people, to speak their language, the language of that people, to take on the values of that people and to preach the Gospel in the Mongolian style, with Mongolian words. They went and they were “inculturated”: they took on the Mongolian culture to proclaim the Gospel in that culture”.
Lavoisier Fernandes, born and raised in Goa, is currently based in West London. His faith is “work in progress”- and a lifelong journey. He has always been fascinated by the Catholic faith, thanks to his Salesian schooling. He’s passionate about podcasting, theology, the papacy, and volunteering. He has hosted ‘Talking Faith’ series for Heavens Road FM, Catholic Radio, connecting with ordinary men and women within the Catholic faith, other faiths and examining issues affecting both the Church and society. He has also been a host on Shalom World Catholic TV for two episodes of the ‘Heart Talk’ series. He presently contributes for the Goa Diocesan magazine Renevacao.