Editor’s note: Bishop Wenceslao Padilla, CICM, bishop of Mongolia, is currently in the United States speaking at parishes as part of the Missionhurst Mission Appeal. He was in San Antonio in July, attending a weeklong workshop, “Pastoring in Today’s Parish” at Oblate School of Theology. While in Texas, he spoke at Sacred Heart Church in Del Rio.

    SAN ANTONIO • “There was nothing. There was no church structure. There was no Catholic — no Mongolian Catholic. We really started from zero,” said Bishop Wenceslao Padilla, CICM, bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Mongolia. He was recalling his 1992 arrival as leader of a team of the first three missionary priests in that far-off country, slightly smaller than Alaska and encircled by China and Russia.
    In this land of harsh winters, searing summers, towering mountains and the Gobi Desert, the church, with Bishop Padilla at the helm, nonetheless found fertile ground for evangelization. From a Christian population of zero, he has seen Catholicism in Mongolia take root and blossom, growing to approximately 300 persons in a predominantly Buddhist country. One hundred more Mongolians are presently preparing for baptism this coming Easter. “The church is very new,” said Bishop Padilla. “I call it an infant church, a baby church.”

    He explained that the Russians, who originally helped the Mongolians drive out their Chinese rulers, stayed on then to control what became the state of Outer Mongolia for another 70 years. “It was only in 1989 that it was liberated from these Communist regimes,” said the bishop, noting that the newly independent Mongolia immediately began initiating diplomatic relations with other countries, including Vatican City.
    “They are very wise, the Mongolians,” he noted. “They knew that even though it is a very small city-state, the influence of the Vatican worldwide is very strong.” As part of these new diplomatic relations, the Vatican established an embassy and sent in missionaries, drawing on the Missionhurst (Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) priests.

    At that time, Philippine-born Bishop Padilla was completing the end of his second term as provincial superior of the Missionhurst Chinese Province in Taiwan and a total of 15 years in all spent there. It was at this time that the call for missionaries to Mongolia went out.
    “Since at the time I was finishing my term,” said Bishop Padilla, “I said, ‘I am also available — let the Spirit blow where it wills.’”
    “We really had to start from scratch, from zero,” he said. “When we arrived, there was no church, no convent, to welcome us.” The trio stayed first in a hotel in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, before finding an apartment to use as their headquarters for the next three years until the first church building could be erected.
    “It’s a long process to convert people,” he said. First, they held Masses for just the three of them. Then, as the expatriate community became aware of their presence, these Catholics in a foreign land began attending the priests’ Masses. Eventually they brought along their Mongolian friends and personnel.

    During this time, the three missionary priests began studying the Mongolian language and assessing the needs of the people. They immediately noticed the growing numbers of street children. “It has been a legacy of the Missionhurst missionaries in China to take care of orphans,” said Bishop Padilla, “to take care of these young marginalized children.”
    As a result, the missionaries began visiting the street children in the places where they congregated, giving them food and drink and finding places for them to live.
    At the same time, more and more Mongolians were seeking to learn about the Church, leading to the establishment of a catechumenate. Soon more missionaries came in to help, reaching today’s count of 54 missionaries from 9 different religious congregations and 15 nationalities.
    Bishop Padilla sees this variety of nationalities as a great help in illustrating the church’s message of its universality to the Mongolians. It shows, he said, “that’s how we are as Catholics. We don’t exclude anybody — everybody’s welcome.”

    With the influx of more religious orders, each with its own charism, apostolic works in Mongolia have proliferated. In addition to aiding the street people (children, as well as adults), there is a special ministry to young girls who live on the streets, in an effort to spare them from prostitution. Another ministry cares for the elderly.
    There is a care center for the street children and centers where young people are educated and trained in skills that will enable them to earn a living. “In our technical school, we offer courses like carpentry, sewing, automotive, computer and English,” said Bishop Padilla, “and that is a very good help for these out of school youths.”
    Several other schools have been established, catering to poor children who would not otherwise receive an education. “All cater to the very poor children,” said Bishop Padilla, “those who have no clothes to wear, no food, no family to buy school materials.” There are also two centers for teaching English, something the young Mongolians are eager to learn.
    A community building project has been established in the city areas, as well as an effort to organize farming communities to till the land and plant vegetables — something relatively new to the Mongolians who are a nomadic people. Another program that has been initiated includes a nursery, bakery and the teaching of handicrafts.

    There are also massive charitable and humanitarian undertakings, such as the one that followed a terrible winter disaster some years ago which killed millions of livestock, the primary livelihood of the Mongolians. In times of other disasters, such as fires or cholera epidemics, the missionaries send requests abroad for medicine, which is then given to the people gratis. Medical clinics, libraries and a research center for inculturation studies have also been established.
    The number of churches has multiplied as well, with there now being three in Ulaanbaatar, where Catholic efforts are now concentrated — the cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, Our Lady of the Assumption, and the Good Shepherd. “Good Shepherd is a very good symbol for the Mongolians, being nomads, shepherds, livestock herders,” noted Bishop Padilla.
    In the near future, they hope to extend their outreach to other Mongolian provinces, establishing small faith communities and churches.
    Bishop Padilla notes there have been many obstacles to overcome and challenges to face in their missionary work, including the difficulty of learning the language, the harsh climate and the predominance of the major religions there — Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism and the Muslim religion.     “Also, the poverty of the people is a big challenge,” he noted, “because we don’t have any local income. It’s all coming from outside.”
    Although Bishop Padilla was elevated from Apostolic Prefect to bishop in 2003, he still presides over Ulaanbaatar as an Apostolic Prefecture. It has not yet reached the requirements for being declared a diocese.

    Pope John Paul II was originally scheduled to perform Bishop Padilla’s episcopal ordination, but was unable to due to his declining health at that time. However, Bishop Padilla was honored to have met with Pope John Paul for two ad limina visits.
    He fondly recalls his first, when he brought with him a carpet portrait of the pontiff he had seen in an Ulaanbaatar department store on his arrival and immediately purchased. “So they know me in Mongolia?!” said the surprised pope. “He was very fond of Mongolia,” recalled the bishop.
    On his second ad limina visit, Bishop Padilla brought with him a photo album of the church’s many activities in Mongolia, eliciting the comment from the pope, “You are doing your work very fast!”
    Reflecting on the work of the church in Mongolia, Bishop Padilla said, “I really thank the people in the United States who have been helping us with their gifts, small and large contributions, to sustain the missionary work. And I’m really grateful for the spiritual support, the prayers.” He added, “I really thank the people who sustain the mission. I consider them as partners of the mission. Either by their donation or by their prayers, they’re all partners of the mission. They are journeyers with us.”
    Speaking of the phenomenal growth of the church in Mongolia from a base of zero, he noted, “It’s all the work of God. I know he was already there — we just had to hook up where he was working.”