In the projects of the Association we thought of bringing some help to Father Giorgio Marengo cardinal in Mongolia and Apostolic Prefect in Ulaanbaatar recently visited also by the Pope, and thinking back a bit to Gilda’s story it seems to us a reality that also gathers the essence of what was her will, the mission ad gentes and therefore, the will of this young Catholic Church to leave, to evangelize and to go to the people.

Tsagaan Davaa Landfill

Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, a land of blue skies and boundless space…but no shortage of poverty. In fact, the capital has three major landfills. For a long time Catholic parishes have been helping Mongolian brothers and sisters who spend their days among the garbage in two of those dumps, collecting useful things to sell.

We would like to help the volunteers, maybe only financially for now, but who knows we are also starting to think about going…maybe when the temperatures rise from minus 40 degrees!

Since September 2023, some volunteers from Ulaanbaatar Cathedral (of Saints Peter and Paul) have been starting to go twice a month to the third big dump. Because the Church has felt that the neediest and weakest people are also there and can meet them and see the face of the Lord in them. The Catholic Church in Mongolia shares God’s love in all three major dumps in the capital city. The Mongolian brothers, in order to survive, have to spend their days in the dump because they have little opportunity to eat. They must be ready and run whenever the garbage truck arrives. So our church decided to prepare meals for them. To provide meals twice a month, the church prepares the following:

• food products;
• single-use plastic items;
• salary for cook;
• gasoline for the car

House of Divine Mercy

Brother Andrew Tran Le Phuong, director of the House of Mercy, the facility inaugurated by Pope Francis on Sept. 4, 2023 in Ulaanbaatar during the papal trip to Mongolia. In his words, the mercy of God, for whom this House is named, takes body, form, until it invades and moves with powerful images the hearts of the listeners. It is a place that also functions as a first aid center for the homeless, where those living on the margins of society are welcomed on a daily basis: the poor, the vulnerable, especially women and children, migrants and all those whom the world rejects. There is even a laundry and bathroom service, clean food and clothes are offered, but most importantly, there is always someone to talk to, someone to sit and politely listen to anyone who comes knocking on the door.

The initial idea of Cardinal Giorgio Marengo was to create a center where all Church institutions working in the areas of social justice and assistance to the needy could come together and become a reality, for a common and concrete contribution of the Church in Mongolia. Thus we seek interconnection with all those who share the values of loving compassion and shared social responsibility, in a spirit of synodality. To be on the side of those who do not have the right to speak or who are not heard. A place of encouragement, then, where those who have lost everything have the hope of receiving new life, where “a different world is built in the spirit of union and mercy,” barriers are broken down through interfaith and community volunteering, and “boundaries of difference” are crossed, bringing those who are often forgotten closer.

Contribution of the Association

We, as an Association, would also like with this project that the service of the Catholic Church in Mongolia to the needy could make everyone understand that every man is a creature loved by God. And in this we see, we understand, we learn that anyone has the opportunity to share God’s love with others. It would be beautiful, this collaboration. And above all, the search together for the Light, in a land like Mongolia, which is trying to leave behind the most difficult phase of its history, where still many difficulties remain.