Pope Francis visits homeless shelter on last day in Mongolia

Pope Francis capped the final day of his diplomatically tinged visit to Mongolia preaching charity, with a visit to a Catholic shelter for the homeless and domestic violence victims.

The visit to inaugurate "The House of Mercy", which also includes a clinic, in a poor area on the outskirts of the capital Ulaanbaatar suits the 86-year-old pope's longstanding practice of reaching out to marginalised, overlooked communities.

Francis' voyage to the Central Asian nation -- the first by a pope -- has been overshadowed by his overtures to its powerful neighbor China.

Some Chinese Catholics have traveled to Mongolia to catch a glimpse of Francis up close, and outside the shelter on Monday, a group of women sang in Mandarin, wiping away tears as the pope's black car passed.

"Dear Pope, our best wishes for you," they sang.

The pontiff directly addressed Catholics in China on Sunday in impromptu comments following a mass, telling them to be "good Christians and good citizens", in an apparent attempt to ease tensions with Beijing.

Many traveling Chinese Catholics told authorities at home they were traveling to Mongolia for tourism, according to interviews with AFP.

After the mass, attended by many of Mongolia's tiny Catholic population numbering just 1,400, Francis sent "a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people".

"To the people, I wish the best," he said, flanked by the bishop and bishop emeritus of Hong Kong.

It was the second apparent overture to the Chinese Communist Party in two days, following Francis telling a gathering of missionaries Saturday that governments had "nothing to fear" from the Catholic Church.