Mongolian bishop touched by the generosity of young and old alike

25 Sep 2013

By Matthew Biddle

Brad Nicholas from Emmanuel Catholic College presents Bishop Wenceslao Padilla with a cheque for Mongolia’s infant Church. PHOTO: Gerard De Souza

Bishop Wenceslao Padilla of Mongolia visited Perth last week, thanking parishes and schools for their support of the work of Catholic Mission in his country.

On September 21 and 22, Bishop Padilla spoke at four Masses at St Francis of Assisi Parish in Maida Vale, explaining the state of the Church in Mongolia and the need for monetary assistance.

He said he was deeply moved when he received an unexpected financial contribution at one of the Masses. “At Communion… there was a young mother with a small boy, he was coming up for a blessing,” Bishop Padilla said.

“After blessing him, he stood there holding up a five-cent coin, offering it to me… this broke my heart.”

After re-telling the story to about 400 students at Aranmore Catholic Primary School in Leederville, a similar event occurred.

“After the talk, we were going out, a little girl gave me 50 cents,” Bishop Padilla said. “For me, this is worth more than a million bucks, and as I go back to Mongolia I will show the people these [coins].”

During his visit to Emmanuel Catholic College, Bishop Padilla spoke to the school’s faculty, before being presented with a cheque of the proceeds from fundraising efforts for Mongolia.

“My main objective is to thank each and every one of you for what you are doing for the missions, especially Mongolia,” he told staff.

He then answered questions from Year 10 students, who also presented Bishop Padilla with $3,374.85 the school had raised through the Fast4Faith initiative.

The leader of the Apostolic Prefecture of Mongolia told students that he and two other priests introduced Catholicism to the former Communist country 21 years ago.