You may remember that Pope Francis in 2023 visited Mongolia. As he did throughout most of his pontificate, he always visited countries with a minority of Catholics. Mongolia itself has only 1500 Catholics. Francis even made their young Italian Bishop a Cardinal. But the faith actually was revived only in 1990 when the communist domination ended. And the person who is credited to have kept the faith alive is the Belgian priest, Father Robert Goessens. He is a member of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Helping him over the past few years were Father Gilbert Sales and Father Wenceslao Padilla from the Philippines. Father Goessens was ordained in 1955, and spent 37 years helping in Japan, before moving to Mongolia in July of 1992. Working together in the capital Ulaanbaatar, the three missionaries faced an entirely tough task: learning the Mongolian language, meeting a population that knew little or nothing about Catholicism, and patiently laying the foundations of an ecclesial community. Father Goessens just died on August 15 at the age of 97. His funeral was held 3 days later where he was described as giving faithful service alongside his confreres, whereby his commitment sowed faith, hope, compassion and love among the Mongolian people.
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