Cathedral of the Saints Peter and Paul of Ulan Bator (Mongolia)
In Ulán Bator, the capital of Mongolia, the Cathedral of the Saints Peter and Paul, the largest Catholic temple in the country and the seat of the Apostolic Prefecture. It is not a church of the Rosary, but is dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul. In 2003, its silhouette evokes a gives, the traditional Mongolian shop, in a gesture of inculturation. It also keeps a touching Marian history: the image of the "Mother of Heaven," found in a landfill.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The cathedral was consecrated on 30 August 2003, presided over by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe on behalf of John Paul II; the previous day, Father Wenceslao Padilla, the first Apostolic Prefect and pioneer of the contemporary Church in Mongolia, was ordained there.
- The work of the Serbian architect Predrag Stupar, its circular plant and its cover evoke the Mongolian ger or yurta; an added tragaluz in 2005 represents the four evangelists adapted to the country, replacing the bull and the lion winged by a yak and a snow leopard.
- The modern Catholicism of Mongolia was born from scratch in 1992, when the country restored religious freedom and the first three missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary arrived without finding a single Catholic; in 2002 John Paul II raised the mission to the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulan Bator.
- On December 8, 2022, the Solemnity of the Immaculate, Cardinal Giorgio Marengo entered into the cathedral a small image of the Virgin found years ago in a Darkhan landfill by a woman named Tsetsee, and consecrated Mongolia to the Virgin Mary under the title "Mother of Heaven."
- On September 2, 2023, Pope Francis visited the cathedral on the first papal journey to Mongolia; he met with the clergy and with Tsetsee himself, and meditated on how the image of the Immaculate One wanted to appear "from the garbage" to descend to the latter.
- The prefecture, which is exempt and directly dependent on the Holy See, extends its jurisdiction over all of Mongolia and has only about a thousand four hundred Catholics; its holder, Cardinal Marengo, was the youngest of the Cardinals College when it was created in 2022.
Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
The Cathedral of the Saints Peter and Paul of Ulan Bator, consecrated in 2003 in the form of a Mongolian ger, is the largest Catholic temple in Mongolia. Although dedicated to the apostles, he keeps a deep Marian memory: the image of the "Mother of Heaven" found in a landfill and enthroned in 2022, before which Mongolia was consecrated to the Virgin. Pope Francis visited her in 2023.
"Mother of Heaven, who you wanted to be found among the despised to approach the little ones, welcome under your mantle to Mongolia and to those who seek your Son with a simple heart.
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