Pope Francis concluded the last day of his charitable, diplomatic visit to Mongolia by paying a visit to a Catholic shelter for the homeless and victims of domestic abuse.
The inauguration of “The House of Mercy,” which also contains a clinic, in a depressed neighborhood outside of Ulaanbaatar, the country’s capital, fits with the 86-year-old pope’s historical tradition of reaching out to underserved, unappreciated people.
Francis’ visit to the country of Central Asia, the first by a pope, has been overshadowed by his outreach to China, the country’s dominant neighbor.
Some Chinese Catholics have travelled to Mongolia to catch a glimpse of Francis up close, and outside the shelter on Monday, a group of women sang in Mandarin, wiping away tears as the pope’s black car passed.
“Dear Pope, our best wishes for you,” they sang.
The pontiff directly addressed Catholics in China on Sunday in impromptu comments following a mass, telling them to be “good Christians and good citizens”, in an apparent attempt to ease tensions with Beijing.
According to interviews with AFP, a large number of traveling Chinese Catholics informed domestic authorities that they were visiting Mongolia for tourism.
Francis conveyed “a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people” after the event, which was attended by much of Mongolia’s tiny Catholic population of 1,400.
“To the people I wish the best,” he said, flanked by the bishop and bishop emeritus of Hong Kong.
After addressing a group of missionaries on Saturday that governments had “nothing to fear” from the Catholic Church, it was the second apparent outreach to the Chinese Communist Party in two days.
The pope’s plane departed shortly after noon, and on his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, he praised the “friendship” he had made with Mongolians over the four-day tour.
“Dear brothers and sisters of Mongolia, thank you for the gift of friendship that I received in these days. Bayarlalaa [Thank you in Mongolian]! May God bless you,” the account posted.
“You are in my heart, and in my heart you will remain. Remember me, please, in your prayers and in your thoughts.”
