ASIA/MONGOLIA – Msgr. Marengo: “Accompanying the faithful on their journey in the light of the Gospel”

Ulaanbaatar (Agenzia Fides) – “We must accompany the faithful to a deeper dimension: this is one of the pastoral challenges of the near future for the Church in Mongolia”. Msgr. Giorgio Marengo, Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator, is convinced of this and reminds Agenzia Fides that the meaning of the journey in the local Church “is that of an ever fuller and more living participation of the baptized”. This perspective was deepened during the recent Pastoral Week, organized for the 30th anniversary of the missionary life of the Mongolian Church (resumed in 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union), which today has 2 priests, 22 foreign missionaries and about 35 missionary nuns. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Mongolia. “For this double anniversary – the prelate reported – we have prepared a meeting on the path of synodality, during which we reflected on the future prospects of our Church”.
Taking stock and illustrating the perspectives of the mission in Mongolia, Mgr. Marengo notes: “Thinking back to these first thirty years of presence of the Catholic Church in Mongolia, the thread that unites these three decades is certainly the love for Christ, for his Gospel and for the Church, his bride, who now takes root in this land and in the hearts of this people”. Regarding the challenges to be met, according to the newly appointed cardinal, “perhaps it is time to go deeper, thinking above all of the life of faith, which must be able to be nourished by contents adapted to reality and ‘a practice which reflects and continues to inspire them’. In addition to the formation and deepening of the faith received, continues Bishop Marengo, the criteria to be followed are those of communion, that is to say living each step and each choice in a spirit of fraternity, preserving unity, within the Catholic community but also in relations with the outside world; those of proclamation, that is to say, to be the Church which goes from first, to continue the evangelizing mission, to give the Gospel of Christ and to whisper his message of love to every creature”. The main activity of missionary work continues to be social commitment: “The great investment of the first years – explains the Prefect – is the activity of human promotion, of attention to the most deprived with various projects. We are talking about education, health, care for abandoned children. We can also count on the cooperation of Caritas Mongolia. Then, each parish develops its own projects, which range from support for agriculture to aid for women, including scholarships and professional integration”. The priority, underlines Mgr Marengo, is to promote an announcement and a pastoral
attentive to the specificities of the Mongolian people and their infinite nuances: “depth means a long period of adequate integration and above all being in tune with the beating heart of this culture, which is embodied in the individuals encountered. It is also to accompany the journey of each brother and sister who, touched by Grace, he concludes, begins to reread his personal and collective history in the light of the Gospel”. (ES/PA) (Agenzia Fides 01/07/2022)

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