One of the greatest disasters in church history took place in 1271 when Nichelo and Matteo Polo (the father and uncle of Marco Polo) travelled to the courts of Kublai Khan in China.
At that time, the vast Mongol empire extended from China in the east to Eastern Europe in the west and from Russia in the north to India in the south.
Kublai Khan was attracted to the story of Christianity as Nichelo and Matteo told it to him. And he said this to them: “You shall go to your high priest and tell him on my behalf to send me 100 men skilled in your religion, and I shall be baptised and when I am baptised, all my barons and great men will be baptised and their subjects will receive baptism, too. There will be more Christians here than there are in your parts!”
So Nichelo and Matteo Polo went to the pope, Gregory X, requesting 100 mission-aries. The pope brushed the request aside. Nothing was done for about 30 years and then only 2 missionaries were sent.
Ultimately the attempt to convert the Mongols to Christianity failed. After the death of Kublai Khan in 1294, Muslim missionaries succeeded before the Christians and the family of Kublai Khan were converted to Islam, and their ‘Golden Horde’ followed their example.
The opportunity to convert the largest empire history has ever known was lost.
