In 2016 the Salesians of Don Bosco were entrusted a rural parish in a place called Shuwuu, some 40 km from the capital of Ulanbaatar. The latter half of 2020 has been a time of great joy for the community, as they have now completed construction on their brand new Church building!
The Catholic mission in the area had been initiated by the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and there currently exists social work, a kindergarten and some agriculture.
Over the past 4 years this small Catholic community has been slowly growing thanks to the care and dedication of two Salesians - Fr. Mario and Fr Jaroslav. Over the course of their history, the 76 parishioners have always struggled to find a proper place for worship as the poverty in the area has made it impossible to build a decent house of God with their own means.
Thanks to the generous contributions of donors around the world and hard work of locals, construction of the new Church was completed. The architecture of the Church is modelled after a “ger” – a dwelling that has an extremely proud and storied tradition in Mongolia.
As one might expect, this Salesian parish is not just about prayers or catechesis; there is of course, an Oratory for the local children and youth, even if it is rudimentary.
The young people at the Oratory of Shuwuu play a team game where they have to keep a ball in the air using only rope!
The new church has extra facilities offered for the local community – construction included a clean, portable water source on the side of the street, as well as a place for people to take showers. The Shuwuu parish is now open to serve the surrounding people!
The best expression of gratitude for this new Church building comes from the first of the baptized, a quite senior member of the parish:
“My God, I'm praising you for our new beautiful Church. Soon our bishop will arrive and bless it and it will become a real Church, where we will listen to the Word of God, learn from Him, spread it around the world and experience that is True.”
A video has been produced to highlight the construction effort, as well as to give thanks for this wonderful accomplishment!
In the name of all Mongolia confreres, their Delegate Fr. Paul Leung introduced the parish priest, Fr Mario and expressed our satisfaction and gratitude to all benefactors:
"Dear friends, that our new Church construction is finishing and we are grateful to all donors and believe that also in the future you will support us as you did from the beginning. May God bless you all!"
We rejoice with our parishioners and also ask your prayers for the faith of our very young Catholic community and for new missionaries to Mongolia.
