Roman Catholic Church in Mongolia

Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Ulan Bator

The Roman Catholic Church in Mongolia is a small minority church in Asia.

history

Seeing their beginning in the missions of the early 20th century, the territory of Mongolia , 1,566,500 km², became a mission sui juris in its own right on March 14, 1922 . Pope John Paul II elevated the Mission of Urga, so its name, to the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator) on July 8, 2002 . At that time it counted only 114 believers who were cared for by 2 diocesan and 7 religious priests as well as 17 religious sisters. At the beginning of 2011 the number of Catholics in Mongolia was already 760 people. By the end of 2014 the number of believers had risen to around 1,000. In the summer of 2016, Bishop Wenceslao Selga Padillaordained the first native priest .

The Holy See and Mongolia have enjoyed full diplomatic relations since 1992. Apostolic Nuncio has been the former personal secretary of Popes Benedict XVI since February 26, 2018. and Francis, Archbishop Alfred Xuereb .

structure

The Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in the capital Ulaanbaatar was inaugurated on August 30, 2003, the building is designed in the style of a traditional yurt . Other churches exist

In Ulaanbaatar (St. Maris in the Chan-Uul district , Good Shepherd in the Bajandsürch district since 2003, St. Sophia in the Songinochairchan district since 2012) and
In Darchan , the third largest city in Mongolia (Mary Help of Christians, since 2007).

In addition, the prefecture has a few small mission stations .