Visiting Mongolia Sept. 1-4, Pope Francis encouraged the nation’s tiny Catholic community to grow in faith and charity, but the visit also was designed to reassure the government that it has nothing to fear from the Catholic missionaries who arrived in the country in 1992.

The pope admitted Sept. 4 it was not his best moment when he cited the examples of Peter the Great and Catherine II, who conquered and subjugated neighboring nations and who Russian President Vladimir Putin has evoked as role models in his war on Ukraine.

The Synod of Bishops is not a television show or a parliamentary debate, and its discussions will not be open to the public or to reporters, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis ended his four-day visit to Mongolia where Catholic missionaries began — with charity.

Like the land struck by a “zud,” the human heart has a thirst and longing that can be alleviated only by the God of love, Pope Francis told Mongolians gathered for Mass in Ulaanbaatar’s Steppe Arena.

The 86-year-old Pope Francis and other religious elders gathered in a ger-shaped theater to speak of the earth and the divine, harmony and beauty, peace and the human family.

Pope Francis continues to make surprise additions to the College of Cardinals with plenty of “firsts,” and perhaps the most surprising of those “firsts” this time is just how many cardinal electors there will be.

In a cathedral shaped like a ger, Pope Francis met leaders of Mongolia’s tiny Catholic community, offering them encouragement but also reminding them that faith and unity must be at the center of their lives.

In a land bordering both Russia and China, and having deep ties with both, Pope Francis told Mongolian leaders their country can play “a significant role in the heart of the great Asian continent and on the international scene,” particularly in peacemaking.

Greeted with “aaruul,” a dried yogurt cheese, which he tried, Pope Francis arrived in Ulaanbaatar for a four-day visit.