Giorgio Marengo was born in Cuneo, Italy, on 7 June 1974 — a scout and fencer who took a classical lyceum diploma before philosophy at Turin and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, then a licentiate and (in 2016) a doctorate in missiology at the Pontifical Urban University. He made his vows with the Consolata Missionaries on 24 June 2000 and was ordained a priest on 26 May 2001.
He was among the first Consolata missionaries ever sent to Mongolia, and has served there his whole priesthood — mostly at Mary Mother of Mercy parish in Arvaikheer. From 2016 to 2020 he was the order's regional councillor for Asia and superior for Mongolia. On 2 April 2020 Francis appointed him Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, the missionary jurisdiction covering the entire country — some fifteen hundred Catholics in a nation of three million. He was consecrated by Cardinal Tagle in Turin on 8 August 2020.
On 27 August 2022 Francis created him a Cardinal-Priest of San Giuda Taddeo Apostolo — at 48, the youngest cardinal in the Church — and that October named him to the Dicastery for Evangelization. He hosted Pope Francis's historic visit to Mongolia in September 2023 and voted in the conclave of 2025. His missiological reflections appear in Sussurrare il Vangelo nella terra dell'eterno Cielo blu (“Whispering the Gospel in the land of the eternal blue sky”).
Consequential Quotes
Dialogue with the Buddhist world, which is a majority in Mongolia, is fundamental for us, it is part of our mission. I am sure it will bear good fruit.
When you whisper, you whisper to an individual or a few people, you cannot whisper to many people at the same time because they simply will not hear you.
Here we are, 20 years later, and about 800 years after the first direct contact between the Holy See and the Mongol emperors, when Pope Innocent IV sent his envoy, the Franciscan Giovanni di Pian del Carpine, to personally meet the famous Mongols and start a peaceful dialogue.
We like this expression: ‘Whispering the gospel to the heart of Mongolia’. I find it inspiring because it contains, in a nutshell, all the elements of what mission is.
Major Works & Initiatives
Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar
Leads the Church across all of Mongolia, a flock of about fifteen hundred.
Host of the first papal visit to Mongolia
Welcomed Francis in September 2023 — the first pope ever to visit the country.
Missionary in Mongolia
Two decades of parish ministry, latterly at Arvaikheer.
Sussurrare il Vangelo
His missiological reflections on evangelisation in Mongolia (Urbaniana University Press).
Controversies
On the record
No significant public controversies reported.