ULAANBAATAR (UCAN) -- A child walking up the aisle to receive his First Holy Communion is still an unusual sight in a Mongolian Catholic parish.

Father Stephen Kim, pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Ulaanbaatar, gives 9-year-old Anand his First Communion.

"I went to preparation class for my First Communion with my brothers and three American girls two years ago, when I was 7, but I was too young to receive Holy Communion at that time," said 9-year-old Anand.

"I could hardly wait to grow up and be allowed to receive my First Communion," added the young parishioner of St. Mary's Church in Ulaanbaatar.

On June 22, Anand, whose family is Catholic, was the only child this year to make his First Communion from among the 600 or more children who regularly attend Mass and Sunday school in the four parishes and seven mission stations the Catholic Church has in Mongolia.

Two years ago, the three girls and Anand's two brothers became the first children to make their First Communion in Mongolia since Catholic missioners arrived in 1992.

The brothers, now 11 and 12, prepared their younger sibling. "We read the Bible together with our mother -- the parts where Jesus established the Holy Eucharist," Anand said. He prepared for confession too. "I had to think over many things, but I had very good talks with my mother and brothers and I learned about sin, so I know what I had to confess," he said. "I took notes to make sure I remember, then I tore up the paper," he added.

Local Catholics, who number less than 500, are new to the faith and know little about Catholicism, so the local Church does not baptize or initiate children to the Eucharist unless the parents are Catholic.

Children whose parents are not Catholic are allowed to receive baptism only if they are 16 or older, and have their parents' written permission, in compliance with Mongolian law. There are no such restrictions for adults, according to Bishop Wenceslao Padilla, apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar.

Only children who are 14 or older may enroll in catechism class for two years of preparation to receive baptism and Communion. Bishop Padilla maintains that children whose parents are not Catholics also are more likely to stay firm in practicing the faith in their non-Catholic family environment if they wait until 16 for baptism. This does not apply for children whose parents are Catholic.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Father Serge Patrick Mondomobe, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in the capital, told UCA News that among the 100 or so children attending Mass at the cathedral and in the parish's Dari Ekh mission station, he has just one candidate for First Communion. "In our parish there is only one such girl, Sukhraa, who is 13, but we allowed her to join catechism class earlier, and she will receive her First Communion soon." Sukhraa is an exception, he explained, because she comes from a Catholic family.

Father Stephen Kim, St. Mary's parish priest, used the occasion of Anand's First Communion to encourage parents and children in the parish to think about preparing for the sacrament. "Some of our Christian families are matured by now. It is our job, parents and parish priests, to raise them up and teach them to thirst and hunger for the body and blood of Our Lord," he said.

About half Mongolia's people are Buddhists, and another 40 percent have no official religious affiliation. Shamanists and Muslims each account for about 4 percent of the population, and 2 percent are Christians. The Mongolian government invited the Catholic Church and other Christian groups into the country in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which dominated the country until then.

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