When Tserenchimed Chuluunbaatar retired from his job at Mongolia’s finance ministry, he looked forward to a peaceful life like any other retiree.
But heaven, as it often does, had other plans.
In 2017, he retired at 60 and lived peacefully with his wife, Baigalmaa Horloo, and their three daughters in their hometown, about 50 kilometers from the hustle and bustle of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital.
This quiet life lasted only five years until two of his daughters — the youngest and the oldest — broke that tranquility.
One snowy evening in 2022, they returned home from work and informed him that they had left the family’s traditional faith to join the Catholic Church.
“They wanted to remove all the images and statues connected with our Buddhist faith from our home. They wanted to replace it with Christian images.”
“That made me speechless and my relatives furious. They could not take it in at all. How could they abandon the family’s faith and traditions so easily?” they said, but the daughters “couldn’t care less.”
But the daughters — Enkhtuul, now 40, and Margad, now 33 — persisted and were baptized as Monica and Stella during the Easter Vigil 2023 at the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in the capital city.
Leading daughters
Religion divided the household. Chuluunbaatar, his 62-year-old wife, and their other daughter followed their traditional faith, while the other two practiced Catholicism.
They told Chuluunbaatar that they changed their faith after experiencing a profound inner peace while praying in the cathedral.
They mentioned entering the cathedral simply to see what was inside. However, they experienced an unusual sense of peace and tranquility while sitting inside.
They sought to learn more about the man on the cross and the reasons behind his crucifixion. Due to their eagerness, they were referred to Father Kim Stephen, the Cathedral Parish Priest.
Both women subsequently participated in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), a Catholic program aimed at learning about faith and mission, and were baptized.
Their story inspired Chuluunbaatar. However, as someone raised in a traditional faith, he never felt the need to change his religion.
Each week, the women brought home the Sunday Mass booklet containing the weekly Gospel reflections, which Chuluunbaatar read carefully.
“I became interested in the Bible, the Church, and the Christian faith,” he said.
Pope comes calling
The turning point came when Pope Francis visited Mongolia from Sept 1 to 4, 2023. The entire Chuluunbaatar family was invited to attend the Papal Mass on Sept 3.
They joined approximately 2,500 others in filling the Steppe Arena stadium in Ulaanbaatar two hours before Pope Francis arrived for the afternoon Mass.
The stadium reverberated with the crowd’s prayers, chanting in praise of the Pope and singing devotional songs.
“The enthusiastic gathering of Catholics and their cheers for the aged leader [86 at the time], combined with his speech and the Mass, created a remarkable experience for me,” Chuluunbaatar said.
“I wanted to be part of that community and serve as a missionary for Christ,” he added.
Cultural similarities
The papal message during the visit made him “realize that there are many similarities between Mongolian culture and the Catholic Church.”
Two things that stood out for him were the “prayers to God in heaven” and the connection between the Mongolian Ger (traditional dwelling) and the concept of family.
Mongolians, including Genghis Khan, traditionally practiced Tengriism, a shamanistic faith that worshiped spirits in the sky, winds, and mountains.
“I could easily connect with God in heaven and the omnipresent Holy Spirit. I found that the Catholic faith provided new meaning and life to my beliefs,” he said.
Pope Francis also linked the Mongolian Ger to the Holy Family, which Chuluunbaatar said was “instantly appealing” to him.
For Mongolians, the Ger is a symbol of family. “Family and the Ger are inseparable. I can understand the Holy Family because I understand the Ger. Everything good starts from the family,” he said.
After returning from the stadium, Chuluunbaatar joined his “Catholic” daughters in replacing the symbols of the traditional faith with Marian pictures and a crucifix.
He, his wife, and their remaining daughter joined catechism classes in 2024 under the care of Salesian Father Paul Leung and are scheduled to be baptized during the Easter Vigil at the cathedral parish on April 19.
Tiny but committed
“I am excited about the prospect of becoming a Catholic and missionary,” Chuluunbaatar said.
The 67-year-old said he is “already a missionary” because he has “placed a crucifix in the center of their home. I explain to visiting relatives who is on the cross and how he saved me.”
Sister Nirmala Rani, a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICM), who leads the adult catechism programs in the cathedral parish, remarked that Chuluunbaatar’s “spirit to be a missionary is remarkable.”
She noted that a team with the parish priest visited Chuluunbaatar’s home to bless it. “The whole family is very positive about the faith now.”
The Chuluunbaatar family is joining Mongolia’s small community of about 1,400 Catholics in a population of 3.3 million. The Church has only 25 Catholic priests, of whom only one is Mongolian, along with 36 nuns.
Christian missions only resumed in the former Soviet satellite state in 1992, after the Buddhist-majority nation transitioned to democracy and its constitution guaranteed religious freedom.
Father Leung said the Chuluunbaatar family is “a sign of the Church’s growth” and “committed Catholics” in Mongolia.
“It makes me think of the two daughters as Andrew, who found the Messiah and introduced him to his brother Simon Peter. The two daughters took the initiative to look for true faith, and after encountering Jesus, they introduced it to their parents and sister.”
Rani, their Sacraments teacher, said, “I give Christ to them as missionaries, and in turn, they can give Christ to others as missionaries.”
She appreciates “the family’s dedication and commitment to faith. They attend Sunday Mass regularly, and Chuluunbaatar also sometimes visits the cathedral during weekdays to assist with parish work,” she said.
The nun “is proud of the family” and has become their “Godmother,” accompanying the whole family in faith and hope to follow Jesus fervently.”
For Chuluunbaatar, “life is busy now,” far from the quiet life he had planned. “But I enjoy it. It gives me meaning and peace.”
With thanks to Union of Catholic Asian (UCA) News and Sister Nirmala Rani, where this article originally appeared.
