ULAANBAATAR (UCAN) -- The sending out of missioners to the Mongolian countryside marks a new phase of the Church's mission in the country.

While the Church has been working for the past decade mainly here in the capital, which has a population of 760,000, a "sending off" ceremony in July means the Church is now reaching out to the rest of the country.

Mongolia has a population of only 2.6 million scattered in a few towns and many tiny settlements spread across its more than 1.5 million square kilometers of land.

The Catholic Mission in Mongolia became an apostolic prefecture in July when it marked the 10th anniversary of its presence in the country.

The Salesians, one of six Religious congregations and groups whose members were "sent off," will start an "oratory" at Darhan, Mongolia's second largest town. For the Salesians, an oratory is a place where "friends can meet and spend time together."

With a population of 66,000, Darhan is known as a "rough place" but the only railway line connecting Russia and China makes it easy to reach. According to the Salesians, it would be "ideal" to set up their oratory in Darhan where there reportedly are many homeless children.

The Missionaries of Charity sisters will serve outside Ulaanbaatar in Dai Ekh village where families live in tents or wooden cabins. The nuns will have a two-story building with a big yard.

The village is also a missionary venture as people who move from the countryside to Ulaanbaatar's suburbs are usually the poorest. They have no jobs and need help, especially medical care.

The Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will be in Erdenet, the third largest town with a population of 60,000. It also plans to establish a parish in Songino Hairhan district.

"Fidei Donum" missioners will work at Zuun Mod, center of Tov (central) province, which surrounds Ulaanbaatar. They also planned to set up a new parish community in Han Uul, southwest of Ulaanbaatar, with an opening ceremony on Aug. 15.

In response to Pope Pius XII's 1957 encyclical "Gift of Faith" (Fidei Donum), mission countries have developed a tradition of sending their own diocesan clergy as missioners to needy countries.

Other missions include Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters, who are involved in community building in Shuvuu, and St. Paul de Chartres sisters, who operate a small school for poor children in Zuun Mod.

During the offertory at the July 10 sending-off Mass, members of the missionary congregations and laity, both Mongolians and expatriates, laid a stone in front of the altar, symbolizing their willingness to carry on their mission.

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Archbishop Giovanni Battista Morandini, the Seoul-based apostolic nuncio to Mongolia, handed out mission crosses to leaders of the six Religious groups present in Mongolia.

The crosses are to be carried by the missioners to the countryside.

The Mass began with the missioners honoring the soil of Mongolia. Young Catholics in national costume brought in symbols representing the land.

The first was fire, which burns in the center of every home to provide warmth and life in the freezing winter. Then came water, which turns the land into a meadow for herds to graze, giving food and life to people.

The third symbol was the "ger," the round-shaped felt tent that is home to most Mongolian families. Finally, soil was carried in, symbolizing the land of the Mongolian people.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Monsignor Wenceslao Padilla, the first head of the newly formed Ulaanbaatar apostolic prefecture, and Father Gilbert Sales entered barefoot to pay homage to the land.

They prostrated and kissed the soil placed before the altar. Then all the missioners lined up and honored the soil by bowing in front of it.

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