Pope Francis urged Chinese Catholics to be “good citizens” and “good Christians,” a rare instance of the Holy Father publicly addressing the issue of religion in China.

Francis’ seemingly off-the-cuff comments came during his Sunday Mass in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

The trip has been scrutinized because of both its historic nature – it is the the first ever by a Pope to the sparsely populated Asian nation – but also because of its potential geopolitical reverberations. Mongolia is sandwiched between Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine Francis has publicly criticized, and China, an atheist state where religious practice is heavily curtailed by the government.

Officially there are about 6 million Catholics in China, but the number may be higher when counting those who practice at underground churches to avoid Beijing’s watchful eye.

At the end of Mass, Pope Francis took the hands of the current Bishop of Hong Kong, cardinal-designate Stephen Chow, and his predecessor, Cardinal John Tong, calling them “brother bishops” before addressing China’s Catholics

Francis said he wanted to take advantage of their presence at his Mass in Mongolia “to send a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people.” Hong Kong’s Catholic leaders play an important role in navigating Vatican-Beijing relations, as the territory allows its citizens greater freedom of religion than in mainland China.

“To the entire people I wish the best, go forward, always progress. And to the Chinese Catholics, I ask you to be good Christians and good citizens.”

China may be officially an atheist state, but religious practice is legal in the country – albeit under tight government supervision and surveillance.

Catholicism is one of five state-recognized faiths, but state-sanctioned Catholic churches were for decades by bishops chosen and ordained by Beijing, not the Holy See, until the two sides reached an agreement in 2018. Details of the accord have never been made public.

Francis landed in Mongolia Friday for a trip that has lacked the usual fanfare of a Papal visit.

There are only 1,500 Catholics in the entire country of 3.5 million, but that number has grown significantly in the decades following country’s transformation from communist one-party rule to multiparty democracy in the 1990s. According to Vatican News, there were only 14 Catholics in the country in 1995.

The 86-year-old Pontiff spent the first day of his trip resting. He met with Mongolian political leaders on Saturday and on Sunday attended an inter-religious meeting alongside representatives from various religious communities, including Buddhists, Shamans, Muslim, Jews, and evangelicals and Russian Orthodox Christians.

CNN’s Sophie Tanno contributed to this report

With China's crackdown on religious minorities as a backdrop, Pope Francis joined Mongolian shamans, Buddhist monks and a Russian Orthodox priest Sunday to highlight the role that religions can play in forging world peace, as he presided over an interfaith meeting highlighting Mongolia's tradition o

Francis listened intently as a dozen faith leaders - Jewish, Muslim, Bahai, Hindu, Shinto and evangelical Christian among them - described their beliefs and their relationship with heaven. Several said the traditional Mongolian ger, or round-shaped yurt, was a potent symbol of harmony with the divine - a warm place of family unity, open to the heavens, where strangers are welcome.

The interfaith event, held at a theatre in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, came midway through Francis’ four-day visit to Mongolia, the first by a pope. He is in Mongolia to minister to one of the world’s smallest and newest Catholic communities and highlight Mongolia’s tradition of tolerance in a region where the Holy See's relations with neighbouring China and Russia are often strained.

According to statistics by the Catholic nonprofit group Aid to the Church in Need, Mongolia is 53 per cent Buddhist, 39 per cent atheist, three per cent Muslim, three per cent Shaman and two per cent Christian.

Later Sunday, Francis was to preside over a Mass in the capital's sports stadium that the Vatican had said would also be attended by pilgrims from China. One small group of Chinese faithful from Xinjiang attended his meeting at the city's cathedral Saturday. They held up a Chinese flag and chanted “All Chinese love you” as his car drove by.

The Vatican's difficult relations with China and Beijing's crackdown on religious minorities have been a constant backdrop to the trip, even as the Vatican hopes to focus attention instead on Mongolia and its 1,450 Catholics. No mainland Chinese bishops are believed to have been allowed to travel to Mongolia, whereas at least two dozen bishops from other countries across Asia have accompanied pilgrims for the events.

Hong Kong Cardinal-elect Stephen Chow was on hand and accompanied 40 pilgrims to Mongolia, saying it was an event highlighting the reach of the universal church. He declined to discuss the absence of his mainland Chinese counterparts, focusing instead on Francis and the importance of his visit to Mongolia for the Asian church.

“I think the Asian church is also a growing church. Not as fast as Africa - Africa is growing fast - but the Asian church also has a very important role to play now in the universal church,” he told reporters.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has demanded that Catholicism and all other religions adhere strictly to party directives and undergo “Sinicization.” In the vast Xinjiang region, that has led to the demolition of an unknown number of mosques, but in most cases it has meant the removal of domes, minarets and exterior crosses from churches.

The Vatican and China did sign an accord in 2018 over the thorny issue of Catholic bishop nominations, but Beijing has violated it.

The Head of State of the Holy See Pope Francis, who is on a State Visit in Mongolia, presented to the President of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa an official copy of the letter of Guyug Khaan of the Great Mongol State, which is kept in the secret library of the Vatican. The official copy of the letter was made up to the highest quality requirements through use of advanced technology.

In his speech to the public, His Holiness Pope Francis said, that 777 years ago, at the end of August and beginning of September 1246, Pope's envoy priest John of Plano Carpini visited Guyug Khaan, the third Khaan of the Great Mongol State, and handed over the official letter of Pope Innocent IV. Soon after, the Great Khaan sent a reply letter with a seal engraved in Mongolian script, translated into many languages, which is now kept in the Vatican Library. “Today, I am respectfully presenting as a gift an official copy of this letter, made in the highest quality using advanced technology. This gift should become a symbol of the ancient friendship relations that are expanding nowadays.”

Clarification:

The Pope's emissary, Monk Plano Carpini, was one of the observers who witnessed the enthronement ceremony of the third Khaan of the Great Mongol State, Guyug, which took place in the Yellow Palace near Kharkhorin. In the fall of 1246, he presented a letter from the Pope to Guyug Khaan, demanding that the Mongols convert to the Crusader religion and confess their guilt for invading the Crusader countries such as Magyar. Consequently, Guyug Khaan not only rejected the Pope's demands and refused to convert to the Crusader religion, but the messenger returned with a letter warning the Pope to come and submit in person. Plano Carpini wrote about this in his travelogue "History of the Mongols". It is believed that Guyug Khaan's letter to the Pope had versions written in Mongolian, Persian, and Latin. In 1920, the Polish priest Krill Karalewski found a Persian letter from the Vatican archives and gave it to the researcher Masse. Masse made the first translation of the letter. Subsequently, a famous French Mongolist P. Pelliot researched and translated this letter. He published it with the Persian original, translation, and commentary and put it into research circulation.

The letter of Guyug Khaan, one meter twelve cm long, 20 meters wide, written in Persian on tarmac paper is stored in the secret archives of the Vatican, This letter, confirmed by double-stamping with the seal of Guyug Khaan of the Great Mongol State at the junction of the paper and at the end of the inscription, is a witness of 777-year history of relations between Mongolia and the Holy See, and a unique valuable heritage.

During his visit to the Vatican City in 2011, the President of Mongolia Elbegdorj Tsakhia got acquainted with valuable heritage related to the history of Mongolia, such as the letter of Guyug Khaan.

Vietnamese Catholics who flew thousands of miles to see Pope Francis in Mongolia had one message for the pontiff: They want him to visit their communist-run country too.

"Visit Vietnam, Papa," some in the group shouted as the pope was driven in a golf cart past a crowd of about 2,000 people of various nationalities on the grounds of the Catholic cathedral in Ulaanbaatar on Saturday.

Vietnam broke off relations with the Vatican after the communists took over the reunited country at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The authorities then viewed the Catholic Church in Vietnam as having been too close to the former colonial power, France.

"I see that he's very near, very near distance. So I really want to cry when I see him," said Cindy Pham from Ho Chi Minh City. "Even when I saw him, the first time at the gate, I ran, ran a lot to see him again."

The prospect of a papal visit to Vietnam, once seemingly impossible, became more realistic last month when the Vatican and Hanoi agreed to have a Resident Papal Representative in Hanoi.

It was a step years in the making which could lead to full diplomatic ties. It was announced on July 27 when the pope received Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong at the Vatican.

"I really hope that he will visit Vietnam in the short term," Pham said, mentioning the hope spawned by president's visit to the Vatican.

Maria Vo, a Vietnamese-born tour guide who now lives in the Philippines, could not contain her excitement as Francis waved from the moving golf cart.

"I cannot tell (you) my feelings right now, because I'm so happy," said Vo, seeing the pope for the first time. "Vietnamese people, we love him and are waiting for him to visit us in Vietnam."

Writing by Joseph Campbell and Philip Pullella Editing by Ros Russell

The China-Mongolia Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center was inaugurated here on Friday.

The center will serve as an important platform for carrying out joint efforts to prevent and control desertification, as part of China's support for Mongolia's afforestation campaign "Billion Trees."

The cooperation plan will also include China's assistance in constructing ecological protection and restoration demonstration areas in Mongolia, promoting China's advanced technologies in afforestation and desertification prevention and control, establishing monitor stations in the Gobi Desert areas, and strengthening cooperation in sandstorm monitoring and early warning.

The first-ever largest solar power plant in a remote area of Mongolia is under construction to be completed in December 2023. It is a 10MW Solar power plant in Murun soum of Khuvsgul aimag, the northern province of Mongolia.

The Murun 10MW Solar Power Plant is a subproject of the Upscaling Renewable Energy Sector Project being implemented with a grant of USD 14.6 million from the Strategic Climate Fund, USD 6 million from Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism, and a loan of USD 40 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Project will develop 41.0 megawatts (MW) of solar, wind, and shallow-ground renewable energy in remote areas of the Western and Altai Uliastai Energy Systems. The Sector Project selected western aimags as the remote western region, where 30 percent of the total population resides, has not been connected to the central grid yet even though the energy need of the region increases by 10 percent every year and livelihood is considered lower than of central provinces, one of the causes of lacking investment.

Therefore, within the Upscaling Renewable Energy Sector Project, the following core subprojects are planned to be implemented.

Wind subproject: A wind power plant in the western region of Mongolia. 2) Uliastai subproject: A 5 MW solar power plant in Aldarkhaan and Uliastai soums of Zavkhan aimag, and a 3.6 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at the Uliastai substation. 3) Gobi Altai subproject: A 10 MW solar power plant in Yesonbulag soum. 4) Altai Soum subproject: An off-grid 0.5 MW hybrid solar and BESS facility in Altai soum. 5) Khovd subproject: A 135 kW shallow-ground heat pump (SGHP) at Kindergarten 1 in Khovd City.

In addition to these, shallow ground heat pump projects are under progress in 5 soums, namely Uliastai, Altai, Ulaangom, Ulziit and Jargalant soums of Zavkhan, Gobi-Altai, Uvs, Bayankhongor and Khovd aimags. The Project is being implemented over two phases, with the first phase from 2019-2022 and the second from 2022-2024.

Newly appointed ADB Country Director for Mongolia Shannon Cowlin, accompanied by relevant officials of the projects, under implementation in Khuvsgul aimag and a press group, visited the sites in late August to oversee the projects’ implementation.

The construction of the 10 MW solar PV farm is in full swing at the site of the Murun 10MW Solar Power Plant Project, installing all the 23192 pieces of solar PVs, competing against time as cold days are coming to stop outside work. The solar panels which have 21.8 percent efficiency are produced by LONGi, the world's leading supplier of solar PV solutions.

The subproject contract has been awarded to Xian Electric Engineering Co.,LTD and the contractor had worked on developing design drawings and installation of PVs is progressing with around 90 percent performance, working together with subcontractor Smart Plus company of Mongolia. Smart Plus, an experienced company that also has installed PVs for a 10MW solar power plant in Myangad soum of Khovd aimag is using installing machines and a special screw machine for drilling rocky earth, shortening the time to install the required strings (52 PVs on 1 string).

The Murun solar power plant will be connected to the central power grid through the existing Murun substation, which is also planned to be extended within the subproject. Advisor of the project Professor Enebish Namjil said “The PV installation and other works are progressing successfully ensuring the completion in time. Murun soum has not had a reliable energy source so far. This project will enable the soum to have an independent energy source that fully provides not only the whole energy needs of the soum but also supplies energy to the central grid system of Mongolia, decreasing the load by 68 to 75 percent. The project will be an example for others as a solar power plant is built in the area with extreme weather, one of the coldest provinces of Mongolia.” Professor Enebish worked as an administrator for the Darkhan Solar Plant Project (10MW) which commissioned its full operations on January 19, 2017.

Mongolia’s total electricity consumption is roughly 1GW and it is increasing year by year. Nearly 90 percent of this demand is met by the centralized energy system which means 800-900 MW, though the renewable energy source has been increasing in recent years.

While Mongolia can be ranked 5th in the world with its underground mineral resources, it can top the globe with its capacity to utilize renewable energy. The Mongolian Gobi is advantageous as it is studied more closely compared to other deserts such as the Sahara and Arizona. Starting in 1999, Mongolian scholars teamed up with international experts and studied the feasibilities of the Gobi for utilization of renewable energy and even came up with technological solutions to exploit the great resources.

The studies have proven that mega plants with 10-100 times larger capacities than the total energy consumption of Mongolia can be built in the Gobi, excluding other areas. “ Mongolia has nothing to lose because such plants only require a minuscule part of the vast Gobi region. The land will not be dug or depraved in any way; it will only be used for its sunlight and wind. Mongolia will benefit from the high-tech and possibility of exporting the excess energy that's produced. Only the tax revenue of such amount of renewable energy exports will be enough to increase Mongolia’s GDP several times,” noted Professor Enebish in his interview.

The Murun Solar Power Plant is unique in Mongolia not only with its capacity of 10MW, the first largest solar plant in the remote areas, but also with its coverage of small areas (30 ha) compared with its capacity, saving water usage of 148 thousand tons, and using new simpler technique in the installation of PVs.

The Solar Power Plant, which is expected to last 25 years will produce electricity of 15500 thousand KW/h annually, providing 21600 households with permanent electricity. The Upscaling Renewable Energy Sector Project is anticipated to support the distributed renewable energy systems in remote and less developed regions in Mongolia; and enhance the capacity of local public utilities in investment planning, project management, and grid control for sustainable renewable energy upscaling in the targeted region. Upon successful completion, the Project delivers, most importantly, clean electricity to 70,000 households while annually avoiding 82,789 tons of carbon dioxide emission. Performance indicators were evaluated on the construction readiness and the effectiveness of environmental management for the proposed construction of the 10 MW solar PV farm in Moron soum, Khuvsgul Aimag. Environmental Monitoring is conducted on every subproject constantly. The impact will be imported electricity reduced and energy security improved. The outcome also will be renewable energy supply in Mongolia increased.