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2013_04 / No 12
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Contents
From the Desk of the Apostolic Prefect 3
Announcements 5
“Experiences” 6
Diary of the Prefecture
September 8
October 12
November 16
Birthdays 23
Calendar 24
Publisher: Catholic Church Mission
Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar
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Christmas 2013-New year 2014
Come Lord and open for us
the gates of your Kingdom.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
It is again the time of the year to greet and wish you with the blessings of the
Christmas/New Year seasons. May Christ’s lasting peace and joy be in your hearts!
With this message comes my sincere gratitude for journeying with me in the past year
through your prayers and loving support. No need to say that we fared well even in the midst
of “spiritual tsunamis” that came our way.
To start with, the year 2013 rolled on with much anxiety in our hearts when my office
started to process the renewal of our visas. From April to June most of us became illegal
residents since the Immigration and Labor Offices refused to renew our visas, as our number
exceeded the number of Quota imposed by the said offices, this year, which is 75/25…meaning:
for every 25 foreign missionaries, we have to employ 75 local workers. Sixteen of our
missionaries have no right to be here according to the stipulation of the Mongolian law on
immigration/labor…or we lack around 60 Mongolian workers in the rooster of our employees.
Through connections, however, we pulled through and were given a year of visa. The problem
still persists and we’ll see what happens by April 2014, when the time of renewing our residence
visas comes again.
A more happy news, however, came when our seminarian, Enkhee, arrived in Mongolia
for a break together with 9 of his classmates at the Daejeon Seminary in Korea. They came for
their exposure to mission work last July. After the month-long exposure program, Enkhee
stayed for another month for vacation and to stay with his family. While having this
opportunity, he was very much involved in our parishes/sub-stations in animating our people
with his sharing and reflections. We are now praying hard and looking forward to his diaconate
next year which will be followed by his priestly ordination after a year and a half. Most probably
and God willing, we’ll have the first Mongolian priest in 2016.
4
Another good tiding that I can share is the opening of our Orbit School, which we have
been constructing in the last years. It was opened for enrolment last summer and the school
year for Kindergarten started on September 2. Around 85 children (3-5 yrs. old) were admitted
and another 60 kids are on a waiting list. There is indeed a need for schools in Mongolia. I am
happy with this development although a balance of US$200,000 to pay off construction bills
still gives me headaches.
In between, as we celebrated
the 21 st anniversary of the Church’s
presence in Mongolia last July; I also
celebrated my 10 th Year anniversary as
bishop on August 29, the beheading of
St. John the Baptist. My trips to the
Southern Hemisphere (Australia) in
September and my weekend preaching
in 2 parishes in Seoul, Korea in October
gave me much satisfaction and joy to
be able to talk about our mission.
Hopefully these might also give relief to
the financial burden that still besets the
Prefecture.
For all these, however, I am glad and grateful that the Lord has not abandoned us. He
keeps bestowing his providence and never tires in accompanying us in all our endeavors. Thank
you for your determination, dedication, and steadfast commitment in your various ministries.
I can’t recount the many wonderful activities that you did in your own places of work. Suffice it
to say that you are all a bundle of blessing/gifts to the Catholic Church Mission in Mongolia.
This is a great reason to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
A BLESSED CHRISTMAS and A GRACE-FILLED NEW YEAR TO YOU!
+Msgr. Wens S. Padilla, CICM
Apostolic Prefect/Bishop
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Announcements
On December 29 all parishes will celebrate together the Patron Feast of our
Church in Mongolia, the Feast of the Holy Family in the Sts. Peter and
Paul Cathedral at 10:30am. On this occasion the PASTORAL PLAN for the
years 2014-2016 will be handed over to the parishes, congregations and
organizations.
This three years Pastoral Plan will be divided into two stages:
2 years of formation with the objective “Let us strengthen our faith” (2014-2015)
and on year of mission “Called to be sent” (2016).
The first two years of the pastoral plan will not be focused on specific themes as
we used to have in the past years but on the preparation or consolidation of
pastoral formation programs which hopefully will give a common base and a
point of reference to our pastoral engagements over the next years.
The third year of our pastoral plan, following the consolidated pastoral actions
of the two previous years will be dedicated to reflect on the fundamental task
of our Church of announcing the Gospel in the changing society of Mongolia.
Our missionary activities may be organized better in collaboration and
networking in order to make our Church more credible and visible in our
society.
Our Bishop Wenceslao Padilla will be in the Philippines from January 15 to
February 14 for a time of rest and vacation.
Fr. Paul Won, FDP, left at the end of November our Mission
and went back to Korea. He has been working in St. Sophia
parish (Bayankhoshuu) for almost two years. Thank you!
Aside from the diary with the ongoing activities in our Prefecture, we want to
present some interesting and specific experiences. In this Newsletter we present
the experience “Come and see” organized monthly in Darkhan by our Salesian
Fathers and Sisters and an activity of the MC Sisters Dari Ekh. You are
invited to send your experiences and contributions.
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Come and See!
What is “come and see”? It is a monthly youth encounter in which some young people aged 14
and above stay overnight in the Salesian community and discern their vocation for priestly or
religious life. It provides a way to know the charisms of the various congregations. The “Come
and see” program was initiated one year ago by SDB and FMA in Darkhan. Around 10 to 11
young people are attending the program.
This year the vocational meetings started in October
10-11 and Fr. Paul gave the opening session
introducing the religious and priestly vocation. Then
everyone joined for usual games in the oratory,
followed by Rosary and then the ‘Good night talk’,
which was also given by Fr. Paul Leung. Sr. Hanako
conducted a meaningful adoration service after
supper and gave the third session the following
morning on the same topic “priestly and religious
vocation.”
On November 9-10 again “Come & See group”
gathered together. The opening session was taken by
Fr. Paul and Sr. Hanako. The “Good night talk”
which included all the youth of the Darkhan Parish,
was given by Bro. Mario, SDB from Italy, and 50
years missionary in Korea, Africa and China. It was
a wonderful sharing of missionary life experience.
Br Andrew, SDB, took two sessions. In the first
session, he shared his own vocation story. In the
second session his emphasized on the uniqueness of
the brotherhood vocation. It was appreciated by all the participants. Heartfelt thanks to Bro.
Andrew and Bro. Mario!
Fr. Anthony Kishore, SDB
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MC Sisters Dari Ekh
The higher authority of the government office approached us for help of an old man
of 82 years and his retarded son of around 30 years. The father has been thrown out
of the ger and is rejected (together with his son) by his two normal sons.
We bought a ger for them and furnished it fully for they had nothing with them except
the clothes they wore.
We settled them in Honhor and visit them every week to see their needs of food,
clothing, coal/wood and other necessities. Especially we help them also with all the
paper work with different offices.
May God bless them and may they experience through our work of love, that there is
a God who loves them.
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September
September 1:
SPC Zuunmod:
For the new school year we welcomed 11
new children in the first grade.
September 2:
MC Yarmag:
We started our “after school homework” program, which is attended by more or less 87
children.
September 3:
MC Darkhan:
In honor of our Mother Teresa’s feast day, we
invited 175 families, gave a short talk about
our Mother’s life and distributed food stuff.
September 5:
MC Darkhan:
Today we celebrated Mother Teresa’s feast
day also in our parish. The children
performed a dance during mass at the
entrance and after communion.
After mass everybody received food.
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MC Yarmag:
We celebrated Mother’s feast day with the Holy Eucharist with our Yarmag faithful and
shared with them a simple meal after mass. To the kids we showed the movie of our
“Mother’s legacy”.
September 6:
MC Dari Ekh:
On the Feast day of our Mother we had mass with our people and after a small talk on
the life of Mother Teresa was given by Mongolian baptized lay. After we had dry ration
distribution in our house as well as in Ikh Naran. Everybody got a big piece of cake, light
drinks and went home happy.
FMA Orbit:
Through Caritas Taiwan our Bishop Wenceslao Padilla received around 200 tables and
chairs for the elementary school in Orbit from the American school in Taiwan.
We are very grateful for this donation. Especially when we will start the elementary
school – hopefully next September – they will be a precious gift.
September 9:
MC Darkhan:
We started our school activities named “Day care Center” in the location of the old parish
of Darkhan. 97 children are coming to do their homework in two sections – some in the
morning, some in the afternoon. We have also two teachers, who are helping us. After
homework and meal they have free time in which the children are invited to do some
handicraft activities with the sisters.
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SPC Elementary school:
Our 5 th grade students began with lessons in our new sand treatment room.
September 9-16:
MC-Sisters:
Due to the visa problem in this year some sisters haven’t been able to go out of the
country for their annual retreat– so the Regional Superior Sr. Leon M.C. organized the
retreat in Mongolia with Fr. Lawrence Kettle, a Capuchin priest from Korea.
September 13:
MC Darkhan:
Outing with our garbage people.
September 13 – 15:
CJ Sisters:
We made a ‘history trip’ with our dormitory
girls for 3 days. We were able to visit famous
historical sites like Erdenzuu monastery,
Uigarin har balgas, Kharkhorin museum and
Turtle rock. On this trip we could learn more
of the history of Mongolia and feel the
wisdom of our ancestors. We spent a good
time of relax at the beautiful lake Ogii nuur on our way home.
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September 19:
INBO Sisters:
We prepared a birthday party for the first time
for our school students since our library
started. We will have this party every month.
September 20:
SPC Elementary school and kindergarten:
All of us, elementary school and kindergarten
children, went for a picnic in the children park.
We had a fantastic time.
September 21 and 28:
CJ Sisters:
We went for a picnic with the young people
of our Mary Ward Youth Center on Sep 21.
We played many games and It was a fun
and enjoyable experience for the young
people. Also with the “New Generation &
Future” NGO members we went for a
picnic.
September 25:
SPC Bayankhoshuu:
We visited the National History Museum with
the 5 years old children to learn about the
Mongolian history.
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September 27:
SPC Bayankhoshuu:
Because it became already cold, we harvested
earlier our potatoes, cabbages and other
vegetables.
October
October 1:
INBO Sisters:
Dejon Diocese seminarians visited our
school and talked with the students.
October 1-4:
CICM:
Yearly retreat of CICM Fathers and Brothers in Darkhan City under the guidance of Fr.
Ferdinand B.
October 4:
SPC Zuunmod:
We went for a picnic to Terelj by bus with lunch
boxes and some snacks. We have been singing
songs and playing interesting games with friends
and teachers on the bus and we admired the
landscape on the way. It was a wonderful day and
all of us have been very happy.
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October 5:
CJ Sisters:
Our Sports Festival on Oct 5 was
a time where our young people
could enjoy fellowship through
basketball and volleyball
competition. The winner team
received a gift and medals.
SPC Elementary school:
We finished with the setup of the equipment in
our playground.
October 6:
SPP Parish:
Mass for the 17th anniversary of the death of Ernest Lontsi, father of Fr. Herve.
October 7:
MC – Sisters:
“Thanksgiving day for decree of praise” (official recognition of the Congregation)
In gratitude all the MC Sisters are having a full day of adoration, which is open for
everybody. Mongolian faithful, inmates, coworkers and children are joining in turns the
adoration. This tradition was started by Mother Teresa.
October 12:
SPP Parish:
The Marian Day, wished by the Pope, was celebrated with an Eve Day of prayer starting
from a morning mass in Dari Ekh’s outstation with Rosary and concluded in the night
under the topic “With Mary during the night”. The whole night there was Adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament and Rosary until midnight.
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October 13:
SPP Parish:
Special recitation of the Rosary for the consecration of the world to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary as presided by Pope Francis. The prayer was led inside the surrounding
of the basement with 100 candles. The devotion lasted the whole day.
October 17-21:
SDB:
October 19-19:
SDB Darkhan: Visit of the Mission Councilor of SDB
FR. Klement Vaclav, the Councilor for the
Mission, and Fr. Joseph, our provincial, visited
Don Bosco Darkhan from October 18-19.
They celebrated mass with and for the faithful
of the parish. Through their inspiring homilies
and various talks they encouraged the faithful
to remain firm in
their
catholic faith and carry the seed of faith to
other Mongolians. Fr. Klement gave also
conferences to us SDBs, working in Mongolia.
Visit of our provincial Fr. Joseph Tran
Hoa Hung and our general councilor
for the mission, Fr. Vaclav Klement
… they came, visited and served …
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Both of them also made a short visit to FMA and MC Sisters who collaborate whole
heartedly in the parish work.
October 24:
Don Bosco School – UB:
On the 24 th of every month – commemoration
of Mary Help of Christians – the baptized
students and teachers of our school come
together for prayer.
SPC Bayankhoshuu:
Dentists came to our kindergarten and our
children had their dental checkups and
treatments. With their parents we practiced
dental hygiene.
October 25:
CICM:
Gathering in the French Embassy with the French speaking CICMs around the French
Minister of Foreign Affairs M. Laurent Fabius.
October 26:
Don Bosco Caring Center:
Birthday party for our children every month.
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October 27:
MAP Darkhan:
The month of the Holy Rosary was well
observed by the parish. Throughout the
month the parishioners honored Mama
Mary through various religious activities like
rosary procession etc. On October 27, with
the help of Ms. Michelle, the parish
organized a mega Marian Quiz competition.
There were around 20 participants from
various age groups (age12-45). It was
really a remarkable day for the parishioners.
This was an opportunity to learn something about Mary and it has strengthened their
faith and devotion to Mary.
November
November 4-5:
SPC Elementary school:
We opened a beautiful store in our school and sold several articles which we got from
Korea at a very low price. It was so interesting and exciting.
November 5:
SPC Bayankhoshuu:
We watched the movie “The life of Chingis” with our children.
November 8:
INBO Sisters:
We went with our teacher to Sainshand to visit some
nomadic families. We met nine of them and provided
them with daily necessities and vitamins.
SPC Elementary school:
We delivered in poor houses coal we bought with the money that we received from the
main office of life-sharing campaign.
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November 9:
SPP Parish:
Foundation of Altar servers group among the children of expatriate in Mongolia to serve
the English mass.
November 10:
SPP Parish:
Visitation of our Cathedral by Mons. Julien Kibore, Secretary of the Nuncio in Seoul
accompanied by Fr. Gerard Hammond, Maryknoll Missionary in South Korea.
MC Yarmag:
We started our Bible sharing going from house to house among the Yarmag faithful
every Sunday afternoon. Especially we want to reach those, who don’t come to Church
anymore.
November 15:
SPP Parish:
Visitation of Fr. Hervé, CICM, and Sr Regina, SPC, to Nazareth, the newly created SPP
Cathedral’s outstation. We distributed 10 sacks of potatoes complying Bishop’s
incentive to provide both, material and spiritual assistance.
November 16 and 23:
CJ Sisters:
The “New Generation & Future” NGO
members held a conference on “My Future
Plan” in the Mary Ward Youth Center.
There was an exposure of newspapers
and Future Notebooks on the first floor, on
the second floor lectures were given of the
members. Students of 10 schools have
been participating in this event. They
showed a lot of interest in The “New
Generation & Future” NGO activities.
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November 17-24:
CICM:
Fr. Herve Kuafa Lontsi traveled to Japan for
the Provincial Government Meeting.
November 18:
INBO Sisters:
We visited my teacher's house and one or our
students who has a mental problem.
November 20:
INBO Sisters:
Some people who are working in Shin Han
Bank in Korea visited our school. They
prepared many things, like toys, and brought
many gifts for our students.
FMA Orbit:
With joy we received finally the certificate for our
kindergarten for the next four years up to 2017.
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November 22-23:
CJ Sisters:
We organized a youth training for two days
for their young leaders of Mary Ward Youth
Center and CCM library with the theme:
“Mary Ward, the founder of the congregation
of Jesus “.
November 24:
SDB Darkhan: “Solemnity of Christ the King”
It was a significant day for our Darkhan
parish. Around 200 faithful gathered
together to celebrate the solemnity of
Christ the King and the feast of St.
Cecilia.
The very Solemn Mass was presided
by Fr. Andrew Tin, SDB, our delegate
superior. Then a small snack was
provided by Fr. Paul Leung. Thereafter the
long awaited concert began which lasted
for two hours. The participants of various
age groups came up on the stage with
colorful dance, music, song, skit play etc.
It was indeed a jubilant atmosphere in the
parish.
Birthday celebration for Fr. Andrew Tin:
October 24 was also an occasion for the
parishioners to honor Fr. Andy their former
pastor. His birthday was anticipated as it is
on October 29. A big birthday party was
hosted by the rector and the staff of our
parish, which ended with party games,
giving of Birthday gifts and then the echo of
the birthday song.
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November 27:
VCC Center:
The children of VCC are organized and divided in
families and gender groups. On this day, in order
to strengthen the bounds within the family groups,
the boys and girls from 6 to 18 years could
compete. At the end fraternity was the only winner.
Tear were shared, the joy from the prices equally
shared.
November 28:
CICM:
CICM Foundation Day celebrated with a
Mass presided by our Bishop
Wenceslao Padilla and a shared supper
for all the participants after. This day we
remembered also the 25 anniversary of
preofession of Fr. Pierrot Kasemuana.
November 30:
CCM:
As it is already a good tradition, also this year Fr. Phil
Mares, Maryknoll missionary in Korea, came to guide us
in our Advent recollection and was available for a whole
week for confession and spiritual guidance. All
missionaries, but especially the Korean ones, enjoy his
talk and his presence among us and his availability for our
mission. Thank you Fr. Phil!
VCC children –
theatric
presentation
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CJ Sisters:
Two priests and a sister of the Korean
Catholic Scouts visited our Mongolian
Catholic Scouts. Our Mongolian Catholic
Scout members prepared traditional
cultural performances. We had the
opportunity to catch a glimpse of
Mongolia through various program items
including traditional Mongolian food,
cultural experiences, dance
performances and songs.
Don Bosco School – UB:
Competition on Mongolian culture and tradition for our students
Unique moment in our community –
three Salesian brothers together:
Br. Mario, Br. Andrew, Br. Francis
Visit and work of Br. Mario, Salesian
from Italy and missionary in China-
Korea from November 2-13
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Every day traditional ‘Good morning-
talk’ for our students and teachers
Thanksgiving Day in occasion of the
Birthday and Feast day of our rector
Fr. Andrew Tin.
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December: 3 Sr. Lucia Cho Miok, CJ
25 Ms. Justyna Homa, lay missionary
26 Sr. Sophia Oh Whayoung, SPC
27 Sr. Maria Esperanza Becerra Medina, MDC
31 Fr. Daniele Giolitti, IMC
January: 1 Fr. Matthieu Ndjeok Golime, CICM
15 Sr. Veronica Jeon Young Eun, CJ
17 Sr. Marjorie Rose Buston, ICM
20 Fr. Norbertus Lee, FDP
Sr. Bona Oh Eun-Kyoung, SPC
25 Sr. Hanako Kojima, FMA
30 Fr. Pierre Palussiere, FDP
February: 5 Br. Andrew Tran Phoung
6 Sr. Agnes Lee Keon Sook, CJ
9 Sr. Rose Mita Nongmin Marcela, MC
14 Br. John Baptist Quang Trung Vu, SDB
20 Fr. James Li Renfang, CICM
Sr. Lukarda Choi Ik Soon, INBO
23 Sr. Furaha Largi Mponzi, MDC
28 Sr. Chrysostom Choi Mihi, MC
December 8 Immaculate Conception
25 THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD
29 Holy Family – Patron of the Church in Mongolia
January 1 Mary, Mother of God
5 Epiphany of the Lord
12 Baptism of the Lord
23 Birthday or Mary Ward / Feast of CJ Sisters
24 St. Francis of Sales / patron of SDB and FMA
25 St. Paul’s conversion / Feast of SPC Sisters
29 Foundation day of IMC and MDC
31 Tsagaan sar
St. John Bosco / founder of SDB and FMA
February 2 Presentation of the Lord
16 Blessed Joseph Allamano / founder of IMC and MDC
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The next CCM-Newsletter will come out in March 2014. You are invited to send your
contributions until February 28, 2014. Thank you very much!
