Ulaan Baator (Fides Service) - "Until now Catholics in Ulaan Baator had two parish churches: Our Lady of the Assumption opened in August 2002 and the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary which started pastoral activity in January this year, 2003. However both parish premises were only temporary. Today we are at last building a real church, a House of God, worthy of the name". Mgr Wens Padilla CICM, Prefect Apostolic of Ulaan Baator said this in a conversation with Fides Service. "The work is well advanced - he continues. The church will be dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul and the building is 70% finished. We hope it will be ready by April. We desperately need more churches, the existing ones are always overflowing with people and we are unable to provide sufficient pastoral attention for the people of God entrusted to our care. Growing numbers of persons are anxious to hear the Good News of the Gospel. Their hearts are open. We see many non Christians coming to church: they want to know about our faith and many ask for baptism. The Christian community is growing fast and this makes us very happy."
What impresses people most, the Prefect explains, is to see missionaries, nuns, brothers and laity involved in social work, assisting the poor, caring for street children. Christians organise schools, social centres, hospitals. One of these, Father Gilbert Sales a Filipino Scheut missionary, has been working for the past eight years to rescue abandoned, derelict children living in the sewers and on the streets and give them education and a home. PA (Fides Service 18/2/2003 EM lines 19 Words: 273)