Christianity in Mongolia
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Christians in Mongolia are considered a growing minority group. Accounts of the exact number of Christians vary as no nationwide statistics have even been released. As of 2005, the United States Department of State reports that approximately 24,000 Christians live in Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator, which is around 2.5 percent of the entire registered population of the city.[1]
With the end of Mongolia's communist regime in 1990, numbers of Christian followers have started to steadily increase again. Foreign Christian missionary groups have also returned to Mongolia, including Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Russian Orthodox, Presbyterians, Seventh-day Adventists, various evangelical Protestant groups, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and Jehovah's Witnesses.
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[edit] Nestorianism
As activities of the Assyrian Church of the East after the Nestorian Schism expanded eastwards during the 7th century, Nestorianism became the first form of Christianity to be introduced in Mongolia.[2] During the rise of the Mongol Empire, the Great Khans, though mostly Shamanists and Buddhist, were religiously tolerant towards the Nestorian Christians, Muslims, and Manichaeans.[3] Nevertheless, Nestorian Christianity disappeared from the region after the break up of the Mongolian Empire.[4]
Due to the region's harsh weather conditions, many of the region's archaeological and architectural remains have been destroyed, making it difficult to study and research the archaeological evidence of Nestorianism in Mongolia. However, some wall paintings, clothing, and manuscripts have survived, especially those hidden within caves and other rock landforms.[5] In Inner Mongolia, several Nestorian gravestones have been recorded in the past, but none now remain in situ.[6]
[edit] Roman Catholicism
Catholicism was first introduced in Mongolia during the Yuan Dynasty, in the late 13th/early 14th centuries. However, Catholicism in Mongolia does not seem to have survived the fall of that dynasty, and only reappeared after the Opium war of the mid-19th century. In time, a mission was founded for Outer Mongolia, giving Mongolia its first Roman Catholic jurisdiction, but all work ceased within a year when a communist regime came to power and freedom of thought and religion were no longer permitted.[7]
With the introduction of democracy in 1990, Roman Catholic missionaries returned and rebuilt the church from scratch. As of 2006, there is an Apostolic Prefecture, a bishop, three churches, and diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Mongolia since 1992. Pope John Paul II originally planned to visit Mongolia along with Kazan, but he eventually cancelled the trip, explaining to the press that "Our Lord does not want it".[8]
[edit] Orthodoxy
From 1771 to 1845 at least eight missions of the Russian Orthodox Church visited Mongolia. The first Orthodox church on Mongolian territory, St. Troitsky, was established at Khalkha in 1872.[9]
[edit] Protestantism
Protestant Christian teaching did not reach Mongolia until the mid 1800s, brought by missionaries such as James Gilmour. As with Roman Catholicism, the rise of a Communist government in Mongolia caused the number of Protestant followers to rapidly decrease.[10]
As with Catholicism, Protestant missionaries, often based in South Korea or the United States, have begun seeking converts after the introduction of democracy.
Currently the Mongolian Evangelical Association estimates there are 35,000 Protestant Christians in Mongolia. The country also has a local Christian TV station, Eagle Television, and a pro-Christian radio station, Family Radio.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "Mongolia International: Religious Freedom Report 2005". U.S. Department of State. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51522.htm. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ "Mongolia". OMF International. http://www.omf.org.uk/content.asp?id=8505&cachefixer=. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ "A History of Religion in Mongolia". Mongolus.Net. http://mongoluls.net/mongolian-religion/monrelihis.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ Gaby Bamana, ed., Christianity and Mongolia: Past and Present (Ulaanbaatar: Antoon Mostaert Center, 2006).
- ^ "Nestorianism in Central Asia during the First Milleminnium". jaas.org. http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:Hux-ap7r9_EJ:www.jaas.org/edocs/v11n1/Nestorianism.pdf+Nestorianism+Mongolia&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=7. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ Tjalling H. F. Halbertsma, Early Christian Remains of Inner Mongolia: Discovery, Reconstruction, and Appropriation (Leiden: Brill, 2008).
- ^ Jeroom Heyndrickx, "The Catholic Mongol Mission," in Bamana, ed., 89-104.
- ^ "Pope John Paul II cancels visits to Mongolia and Kazan". News from Russia. 2003-08-30. http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2003/08/30/49669.html. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ L. Altanzayaa, "Regarding the Protection of Russian Orthodox Priests in Mongolia", in Bamana, ed., 79-88.
- ^ Bamana, ed., 54-78.
