Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Ulanbaatar (Agenzia Fides) - Although December 25 is a working day in Mongolia, the small local Catholic community will celebrate Christmas with intense prayer and joy and missionary initiatives. Bishop Wenceslao Padilla, Prefect Apostolic of Ulaanbaatar, told Fides with regard to the atmosphere among Catholics in Mongolia in preparation for Christmas.
Bishop Padilla told Fides: “There will be Masses on the 24 and on the 25, in the 4 parishes and 5 mission stations. These are usually well attended also by many non Christians. In some parishes young people will perform Christmas plays. For us it is an opportunity to tell people the story of Christmas and the mystery of the Incarnation. Although the 25th of December is a working day here, we Christians try to create an atmosphere of celebration and joy and midnight Mass draws a good attendance. Christmas is an opportunity to evangelise non believers”.
In the Cathedral of St Peter and Saint Paul Ulaanbataar there will be a special event : “On Christmas day- said Bishop Padilla - celebrate we will celebrate the weddings of two Catholic couples who have completed the course in preparation for marriage. This will be a splendid occasion for witness and mission when we can explain to the faithful and friends in the church the significance of Catholic marriage and the plan of the family founded on the rock, Jesus Christ”.
The Apostolic Prefect spoke of other initiatives: “in the following days we have invited our volunteers and local Mongol pastoral workers about 200 people who work with us, to join in a meeting of catechesis and festivity. Then we will have a meeting with 65 missionaries working in Mongolia, to reflect on our pastoral and missionary activity in the past 12 months. We still use the Catechism and prayers in Mongolian ad experimentum, but they are fundamental for pastoral work in our communities”.
There are 415 Catholics in Mongolia and the number of baptisms is growing steadily. Most adult baptisms are celebrated on Easter night: “We have just received the encouragement and blessing of Pope Benedict XVI whom I met recently in Rome of the occasion of my ad limina visit. This year we will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the re-birth of the Church in Mongolia (the missio sui iuris was created in 1992) and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Mongolia. These anniversaries fill us with joy. We see what has been achieved and we look to the future with hope”, Bishop Padilla concludes. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 20/12/2007 righe 32 parole 329)
