2023-09-03 10:18:02
ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) — Against the backdrop of China’s crackdown on religious minorities, Pope Francis joined Mongolian shamans, Buddhist monks and a Russian Orthodox priest on Sunday to highlight the role religions can play in shaping world peace, while presiding over an interfaith gathering that highlighted Mongolia’s tradition of religious tolerance.
The pontiff listened attentively as dozens of religious leaders — including Jews, Muslims, Baha’is, Hindus, Shinto, and evangelical Christians — described their beliefs and their relationship to paradise. Many said that the Mongolian yurt was a powerful symbol of harmony with the divine: a warm place of family togetherness, open to the sky where strangers are welcome.
“The fact that we are gathered in one place is already a message in itself: It shows that religious traditions, with all their distinctions and diversity, have an impressive potential for the benefit of society as such,” Francis said in statements made by mention of Buddhist writings, Gandhi, Saint Francis of Assisi and the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.
“If the leaders of nations chose the path of meeting and dialogue with others, it would be a decisive contribution to putting an end to the conflicts that continue to afflict so many peoples of the world,” he stressed.
The interfaith event held at a theater in the capital Ulaanbaatar came on the second of the pope’s four-day visit to Mongolia, the first trip by a pontiff to the country. He is in Mongolia to minister to one of the world’s smallest and newest Catholic communities, as well as to highlight Mongolia’s tradition of tolerance in a region where the Holy See’s relations with neighbors China and Russia are often tenuous.
According to statistics from the Catholic non-profit group Aid to the Church in Need, Mongolia is 53% Buddhist, 39% atheist, 3% Muslim, 3% shaman and 2% Christian.
Later on Sunday, Francis presided over a Mass at the capital’s sports auditorium attended by around 2,000 people, including several Chinese pilgrims. There, he kissed babies and tried to encourage Mongolian Catholic worshipers, telling them they know well the fatigue of the biblical figure Abraham, wandering the desert.
“We are all ‘God’s nomads’, pilgrims in search of happiness, travelers thirsty for love,” he said.
The Vatican’s complicated relations with China and Beijing’s crackdown on religious minorities have been a constant background during the trip, though the Vatican hopes to focus its attention on Mongolia and its 1,450 Catholics. It is believed that none of the bishops on the Chinese mainland were allowed to travel to Mongolia, where at least 20 bishops from other Asian countries have accompanied pilgrims to the events.
“We really hope that gradually our government and our rulers will accept him and invite him to visit our country,” said Yan Zhiyong, a Chinese businessman in Mongolia who attended an event Saturday with Francis at the city’s cathedral. “That would be the happiest.”
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