Pope Francis wraps up historic Mongolia trip

STORY: Pope Francis on Monday wrapped up the first-ever papal visit to Mongolia.

The trip's main purpose was to visit the country’s tiny Catholic flock, but it took on international implications as Francis made overtures to China over freedom of religion in the bordering communist country.

On Sunday, nearly all of Mongolia's Catholic population-- some 1,500 people in a country of around 3 million-- gathered under the same roof with the pope as he led Mass.

In unscripted comments at the end of the service, Francis sent greetings to China-- after calling the current and former bishops of Hong Kong to his side:

"These two brother bishops, (the bishop) emeritus of Hong Kong and the current bishop of Hong Kong: I would like to take advantage of their presence to send a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people. To all the people I wish the best, and to go forward, always moving forward. And I ask Chinese Catholics to be good Christians and good citizens.”

The plea for China’s Catholics to be quote "good Christians and good citizens" - is one the Vatican uses frequently in trying to convince communist governments that giving Catholics more freedom would only help their countries' social and economic progression.

China's constitution guarantees religious freedom, but in recent years the government has tightened restrictions on religion as it moves to root out foreign influences and enforce obedience to the Chinese Communist Party.

In December, the United States designated China, Iran and Russia, among others, as countries of particular concern under the Religious Freedom Act over severe violations.

And a landmark 2018 agreement between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops has been tenuous, with the Vatican complaining that Beijing has violated it several times.

The Pope ended his trip Monday with a stop to inaugurate the House of Mercy, a charity based in the capital Ulaanbaatar.

In comments there, Francis said he wanted to dispel what he called the 'myth' that the aim of Catholic institutions was to convert people to the religion, quote “as if caring for others were a way of enticing people to join up.”

From there, Francis’ motorcade set off to the airport.

The route was lined with devotees, including many from China, attempting to receive a final blessing before his departure.