Christianity in Mongolia: Difference between revisions
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'''Christianity in [[Mongolia]]''' is a minority religion. As of 2005, the [[United States Department of State]] reports that approximately 24,000 Christians live in Mongolia's capital, [[Ulaanbaatar]], which is around 2.5 percent of the entire registered population of the city.<ref name="USDOS">{{cite web | url= https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51522.htm | title= Mongolia International: Religious Freedom Report 2005 | accessdate=2006-10-31 | publisher= U.S. Department of State}}</ref> |
'''Christianity in [[Mongolia]]''' is a minority religion. As of 2005, the [[United States Department of State]] reports that approximately 24,000 Christians live in Mongolia's capital, [[Ulaanbaatar]], which is around 2.5 percent of the entire registered population of the city.<ref name="USDOS">{{cite web | url= https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51522.htm | title= Mongolia International: Religious Freedom Report 2005 | accessdate=2006-10-31 | publisher= U.S. Department of State}}</ref> |
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Most Christians in Mongolia became Christian after the end of [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia's communist regime]] in 1990. According to the Christian missionary group [[Barnabas Fund]], the number of Christians grew from just four in 1989 to around 40,000 as of 2008.<ref name="Religions in Mongolia">[http://www.mongolia-attractions.com/religions-in-mongolia.html Religions in Mongolia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513073925/http://www.mongolia-attractions.com/religions-in-mongolia.html |date= |
Most Christians in Mongolia became Christian after the end of [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia's communist regime]] in 1990. According to the Christian missionary group [[Barnabas Fund]], the number of Christians grew from just four in 1989 to around 40,000 as of 2008.<ref name="Religions in Mongolia">[http://www.mongolia-attractions.com/religions-in-mongolia.html Religions in Mongolia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513073925/http://www.mongolia-attractions.com/religions-in-mongolia.html |date={{date|2011-05-13}}}}</ref> |
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== Statistics == |
== Statistics == |
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According to the 2010 National Census there were 41,117 Christians (age of 15 and older) or 2.1% of total population.<ref>[http://www.toollogo2010.mn/doc/Main%20results_20110615_to%20EZBH_for%20print.pdf National Census 2010] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915170555/http://www.toollogo2010.mn/doc/Main%20results_20110615_to%20EZBH_for%20print.pdf |date= |
According to the 2010 National Census there were 41,117 Christians (age of 15 and older) or 2.1% of total population.<ref>[http://www.toollogo2010.mn/doc/Main%20results_20110615_to%20EZBH_for%20print.pdf National Census 2010] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915170555/http://www.toollogo2010.mn/doc/Main%20results_20110615_to%20EZBH_for%20print.pdf |date={{date|2011-09-15}}}}</ref> |
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==Nestorianism== |
==Nestorianism== |
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{{main|Christianity among the Mongols}} |
{{main|Christianity among the Mongols}} |
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[[Nestorianism]] was the first form of Christianity to be proselytized among the Mongols, in the 7th century,<ref name="Mongolia">{{cite web | url=https://omf.org/mongolia/asia/mongolia/mongolia-profile/| title= Mongolia Profile| accessdate= |
[[Nestorianism]] was the first form of Christianity to be proselytized among the Mongols, in the 7th century,<ref name="Mongolia">{{cite web | url=https://omf.org/mongolia/asia/mongolia/mongolia-profile/| title= Mongolia Profile| accessdate={{date|2010-01-26}} | publisher= OMF International}}</ref> and several Mongols, at least a dozen, became primarily Christian. During the rise of the [[Mongol Empire]] in the 13th century, the [[Great Khan]]s, though mostly Shamanists and Buddhist, were religiously tolerant towards the Nestorian Christians, [[Muslims]], and [[Manichaeism|Manichaeans]].<ref name="Mongolia2">{{cite web | url= http://mongoluls.net/mongolian-religion/monrelihis.shtml | title= A History of Religion in Mongolia| accessdate=2006-10-31 | work=Mongolus.Net}}</ref> Many of the khans had Nestorian Christian wives from the [[Kerait]] clan, who were extremely influential in the Mongol court. During the rule of [[Möngke Khan]], Christianity was the primary religious influence. After the breakup of the Mongol Empire in the 14th century, Nestorian Christianity nearly disappeared from the region.<ref>Gaby Bamana, ed., ''Christianity and Mongolia: Past and Present'' (Ulaanbaatar: Antoon Mostaert Center, 2006).</ref> |
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There are only very few archeological traces of the prospering of Nestorianism among the Mongols.<ref name="Mongolia3">{{cite web | url= http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v11n1/Nestorianism.pdf | title= Nestorianism in Central Asia during the First Millennium | accessdate=2010-09-15 | publisher= jaas.org}}, p.45</ref> In [[Inner Mongolia]], several Nestorian gravestones have been recorded in the past, but none now remain ''in situ''.<ref>Tjalling H. F. Halbertsma, ''Early Christian Remains of Inner Mongolia: Discovery, Reconstruction, and Appropriation'' (Leiden: Brill, 2008).</ref> |
There are only very few archeological traces of the prospering of Nestorianism among the Mongols.<ref name="Mongolia3">{{cite web | url= http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v11n1/Nestorianism.pdf | title= Nestorianism in Central Asia during the First Millennium | accessdate=2010-09-15 | publisher= jaas.org}}, p.45</ref> In [[Inner Mongolia]], several Nestorian gravestones have been recorded in the past, but none now remain ''in situ''.<ref>Tjalling H. F. Halbertsma, ''Early Christian Remains of Inner Mongolia: Discovery, Reconstruction, and Appropriation'' (Leiden: Brill, 2008).</ref> |
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==Orthodoxy== |
==Orthodoxy== |
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[[ |
[[File:Holy Ttinity Church in Ulan Bator.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Holy Trinity Church, Ulaanbaatar]] |
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The Orthodox Churches and |
The Orthodox Churches and their monks became victims to the Mongol invasion of Eastern Europe in the early 13th century. However, [[Jarlig]] or charter of immunity, also contributed to the strengthening of the Church. With the reign of [[Möngke-Temür]], a jarlig was issued to Metropolitan Kirill for the Orthodox Church in 1267. While the church had been under the de facto protection of the Mongols ten years earlier (from the 1257 census conducted under Khan [[Berke]]), this jarlig formally decreed protection for the Orthodox Church. More importantly, it officially exempted the church from any form of taxation by Mongol or Russian authorities and permitted clergymen to remain unregistered during censuses and clergy were furthermore not liable for forced labor or military service. For the first time, the Orthodox church would become less dependent on princely powers than in any other period of Russian history.<ref>Halperin, Charles J. "George Vernadsky, Eurasianism, the Mongols, and Russia", ''Slavic Review'', Vol. 41, No. 3, Autumn, 1982: 477-493</ref> |
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From 1771 to 1845 at least eight missions of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] visited Mongolia. The first Orthodox church on Mongolian territory, Holy Trinity Church |
From 1771 to 1845 at least eight missions of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] visited Mongolia. The first Orthodox church on Mongolian territory, [[Holy Trinity Church, Ulaanbaatar|Holy Trinity Church]] was established in the [[Khalkha Mongols|Khalkha]] capital city [[Ulaanbaatar|Urga]] in 1872,<ref>L. Altanzayaa, "Regarding the Protection of Russian Orthodox Priests in Mongolia", in Bamana, ed., 79-88.</ref> and newly rebuilt there in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orthodox.cn/news/20060905mongolia_en.htm|title=A Russian Orthodox church to be built in Mongolia|website=www.orthodox.cn}}</ref> |
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==Roman Catholicism== |
==Roman Catholicism== |
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{{main|Roman Catholicism in Mongolia}} |
{{main|Roman Catholicism in Mongolia}} |
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[[File:UlaanBaatarCathedral.jpg|thumb|Cathedral |
[[File:UlaanBaatarCathedral.jpg|thumb|[[Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral (Ulaanbaatar)|Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral]]]] |
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Historically, much of Europe had been ruled by Turkish and Mongolian tribes both of which originated in Mongolia. The |
Historically, much of Europe had been ruled by Turkish and Mongolian tribes both of which originated in Mongolia. The [[Eastern Roman Empire]] was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the [[15th century]]. |
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Western Catholicism was first introduced in |
Western Catholicism was first introduced in the [[Middle Ages]], primarily through [[Franciscan]] and [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] missionaries, sent to the Mongol court in [[Karakorum]] and also via medieval Roman Catholic missions in China. Missionaries to China were successful during the Mongol-created [[Yuan Dynasty]] in China in the late 13th/early 14th centuries. However, after the native Chinese [[Ming Dynasty]] overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368, Christians were expelled from China. Many Mongols in the western part of the Empire converted to Islam, and with the collapse of the entire Mongol Empire in the 14th century, Christianity nearly disappeared from Central Asia, only reappearing after the [[Second Opium War]] in the mid-19th century. In time, a [[Mission (Christian)|mission]] was founded for [[Outer Mongolia]], giving Mongolia its first Roman Catholic jurisdiction, but all work ceased within a year when the [[Mongolian People's Republic]] was established and [[freedom of thought]] and [[freedom of religion|religion]] were no longer permitted.<ref>Jeroom Heyndrickx, "The Catholic Mongol Mission", in Bamana, ed., 89-104.</ref> |
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After the [[Mongolian Revolution of 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 [[Holy See]] and Mongolia since 1992. [[Pope John Paul II]] originally planned to visit Mongolia along with [[Kazan]], but he eventually cancelled the trip, supposedly explaining to a Russian newspaper that "Our Lord does not want it".<ref name="newsfromrussia">{{cite news | url= http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2003/08/30/49669.html | title= Pope John Paul II cancels visits to Mongolia and Kazan | accessdate= 2006-10-31 | date= 2003-08-30 | publisher= News from Russia | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051219160412/http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2003/08/30/49669.html | archive-date= 2005-12-19 | dead-url= yes }}</ref> By 2014, there were 919 Catholics in the Prefecture Apostolic of Ulaanbaatar, headed by Wenceslao Selga Padilla, C.I.C.M. as Prefect and organized into 6 parishes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dulaa.html|title=Ulaanbaatar (Prefecture Apostolic) [Catholic-Hierarchy]|first=David M.|last=Cheney|website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref> |
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==Protestantism== |
==Protestantism== |
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{{main|Protestantism in Mongolia}} |
{{main|Protestantism in Mongolia}} |
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[[ |
[[File:ZuunmodChurch.jpg|alt=|thumb|Protestant church in Zuunmod, Töv Province]] |
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Most Christians in Mongolia today are Protestant, and most have become Christians since |
Most Christians in Mongolia today are Protestant, and most have become Christians since the Mongolian Revolution of 1990. Mongolia has a local Christian TV station, Eagle Television, and a pro-Christian radio station, Family Radio. |
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==Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints== |
==Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints== |
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In 1992, |
In 1992, six [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] arrived in Mongolia as English teachers. In 1995, the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission was established with Richard Cook as the first mission president. The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia West Stake with six congregations was formed in 2009 growing to nine congregations by May 2016. The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia East Stake was created in May 2016 with six congregations. About 2010 new visa laws went into effect limiting foreigners causing many of the foreign Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionaries to be reassigned to other countries. There were, however, about 110 Mongolian missionaries serving full time missions inside Mongolia. By the end of 2015, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had 11,250 members in twenty-three congregations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/lds/ci_14665329|title=Some Mormon missionaries leave Mongolia|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/mongolia|title=LDS Statistics and Church Facts - Total Church Membership|publisher=}}</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 22:10, 31 July 2019
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Christianity in Mongolia is a minority religion. As of 2005, the United States Department of State reports that approximately 24,000 Christians live in Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, which is around 2.5 percent of the entire registered population of the city.[1]
Most Christians in Mongolia became Christian after the end of Mongolia's communist regime in 1990. According to the Christian missionary group Barnabas Fund, the number of Christians grew from just four in 1989 to around 40,000 as of 2008.[2]
Statistics
According to the 2010 National Census there were 41,117 Christians (age of 15 and older) or 2.1% of total population.[3]
Nestorianism
Nestorianism was the first form of Christianity to be proselytized among the Mongols, in the 7th century,[4] and several Mongols, at least a dozen, became primarily Christian. During the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, the Great Khans, though mostly Shamanists and Buddhist, were religiously tolerant towards the Nestorian Christians, Muslims, and Manichaeans.[5] Many of the khans had Nestorian Christian wives from the Kerait clan, who were extremely influential in the Mongol court. During the rule of Möngke Khan, Christianity was the primary religious influence. After the breakup of the Mongol Empire in the 14th century, Nestorian Christianity nearly disappeared from the region.[6]
There are only very few archeological traces of the prospering of Nestorianism among the Mongols.[7] In Inner Mongolia, several Nestorian gravestones have been recorded in the past, but none now remain in situ.[8]
Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Churches and their monks became victims to the Mongol invasion of Eastern Europe in the early 13th century. However, Jarlig or charter of immunity, also contributed to the strengthening of the Church. With the reign of Möngke-Temür, a jarlig was issued to Metropolitan Kirill for the Orthodox Church in 1267. While the church had been under the de facto protection of the Mongols ten years earlier (from the 1257 census conducted under Khan Berke), this jarlig formally decreed protection for the Orthodox Church. More importantly, it officially exempted the church from any form of taxation by Mongol or Russian authorities and permitted clergymen to remain unregistered during censuses and clergy were furthermore not liable for forced labor or military service. For the first time, the Orthodox church would become less dependent on princely powers than in any other period of Russian history.[9]
From 1771 to 1845 at least eight missions of the Russian Orthodox Church visited Mongolia. The first Orthodox church on Mongolian territory, Holy Trinity Church was established in the Khalkha capital city Urga in 1872,[10] and newly rebuilt there in 2007.[11]
Roman Catholicism
Historically, much of Europe had been ruled by Turkish and Mongolian tribes both of which originated in Mongolia. The Eastern Roman Empire was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. Western Catholicism was first introduced in the Middle Ages, primarily through Franciscan and Dominican missionaries, sent to the Mongol court in Karakorum and also via medieval Roman Catholic missions in China. Missionaries to China were successful during the Mongol-created Yuan Dynasty in China in the late 13th/early 14th centuries. However, after the native Chinese Ming Dynasty overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368, Christians were expelled from China. Many Mongols in the western part of the Empire converted to Islam, and with the collapse of the entire Mongol Empire in the 14th century, Christianity nearly disappeared from Central Asia, only reappearing after the Second Opium War in 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 the Mongolian People's Republic was established and freedom of thought and religion were no longer permitted.[12]
After the Mongolian Revolution of 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 Holy See and Mongolia since 1992. Pope John Paul II originally planned to visit Mongolia along with Kazan, but he eventually cancelled the trip, supposedly explaining to a Russian newspaper that "Our Lord does not want it".[13] By 2014, there were 919 Catholics in the Prefecture Apostolic of Ulaanbaatar, headed by Wenceslao Selga Padilla, C.I.C.M. as Prefect and organized into 6 parishes.[14]
Protestantism
Most Christians in Mongolia today are Protestant, and most have become Christians since the Mongolian Revolution of 1990. Mongolia has a local Christian TV station, Eagle Television, and a pro-Christian radio station, Family Radio.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In 1992, six The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in Mongolia as English teachers. In 1995, the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission was established with Richard Cook as the first mission president. The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia West Stake with six congregations was formed in 2009 growing to nine congregations by May 2016. The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia East Stake was created in May 2016 with six congregations. About 2010 new visa laws went into effect limiting foreigners causing many of the foreign Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionaries to be reassigned to other countries. There were, however, about 110 Mongolian missionaries serving full time missions inside Mongolia. By the end of 2015, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had 11,250 members in twenty-three congregations.[15][16]
References
- ^ "Mongolia International: Religious Freedom Report 2005". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
- ^ Religions in Mongolia Archived 13 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ National Census 2010 Archived 15 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Mongolia Profile". OMF International. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
- ^ "A History of Religion in Mongolia". Mongolus.Net. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
- ^ Gaby Bamana, ed., Christianity and Mongolia: Past and Present (Ulaanbaatar: Antoon Mostaert Center, 2006).
- ^ "Nestorianism in Central Asia during the First Millennium" (PDF). jaas.org. Retrieved 2010-09-15., p.45
- ^ Tjalling H. F. Halbertsma, Early Christian Remains of Inner Mongolia: Discovery, Reconstruction, and Appropriation (Leiden: Brill, 2008).
- ^ Halperin, Charles J. "George Vernadsky, Eurasianism, the Mongols, and Russia", Slavic Review, Vol. 41, No. 3, Autumn, 1982: 477-493
- ^ L. Altanzayaa, "Regarding the Protection of Russian Orthodox Priests in Mongolia", in Bamana, ed., 79-88.
- ^ "A Russian Orthodox church to be built in Mongolia". www.orthodox.cn.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on 2005-12-19. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Cheney, David M. "Ulaanbaatar (Prefecture Apostolic) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org.
- ^ "Some Mormon missionaries leave Mongolia".
- ^ "LDS Statistics and Church Facts - Total Church Membership".
External links
Media related to Christianity in Mongolia at Wikimedia Commons
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