In square miles, Krasnoyarsk Krai is the largest parish in the world (almost eight times the size of France). Located in the largest diocese of the world, Siberia, Krasnoyarsk is also one of the newest parishes in the diocese. The pastor, Fr. Antoni Badura, arrived with six other missionaries only eight months ago.
Altogether there are 11 missionaries in Krasnoyarsk: two Polish priests, six Polish sisters, one Irish priest, and two Irish lay volunteers. This is an unusually large number of laborers for a Catholic parish in Siberia, but Fr. Antoni makes good use of his helpers by ministering to 10 missions in various towns in the krai (province). The farthest mission is above the Arctic Circle in Norilsk. It is about 940 miles to the north and 150 miles from the mouth of Krasnoyarsk's Yenisei River. The young pastor was very excited to hear that many priests in Alaska fly small planes to serve their scattered communities, an idea that is not out of place in a parish such as Krasnoyarsk.
Missions are often begun in ethnic communities of Germans, Poles, and Lithuanians. These people were involuntarily relocated to Siberia, persecuted for their nationality and religious beliefs. The older generation has struggled to preserve its national heritage and faith. Children are now being brought to Mass for Baptism and lovingly catechized by their grandparents, while the parents themselves are being initiated into the Church.
Music and prayers are often in languages other than Russian. Fr. Antoni celebrates Mass in various languages as the need arises. He speaks Polish, Russian, Spanish, Italian and English, and he can offer Mass in German and Lithuanian.
Missions in farm collectives show their gratitude to the missionaries with precious gifts of fresh milk, eggs and butter.
In the city of Krasnoyarsk itself, the parish of 200 is composed of all ages, babushkas freely intermingling with the young adults. The Irish volunteers and Fr. Robert Bradshaw have introduced the Legion of Mary which is very successful among the young adults and children. Fr. Robert's weekly lecture for non-Catholics attracts a crowd to his apartment from the universities and institutes--professors, students, and professionals. Many in this group have been coming to the lectures faithfully for many months and have begun to attend Mass. The sisters visit hospitals and teach catechism and songs in the children's leukemia ward.
One of the Catholic Church's strongest appeals is the sacrament of Confession. The priests in Krasnoyarsk recommend that Catholics celebrate the sacrament once a month but they find that new parishioners, especially the youth, enjoy confessing weekly. I had the pleasure of preparing five girls (around eight years old) in Fr. Robert's apartment to make their first confession. It was the last lesson in their preparation. Fr. Robert invited them to make their first confession that day. He said he could give absolution to the two girls who were already baptized; to the other three he would give a blessing. They eagerly agreed, and as they left the confessional room, each exited with such a brilliant smile that the next in line rushed in to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation.
Young adults are active in the Legion of Mary and in the encouragement of junior leagues. There is an enthusiastic core group that gathers in the parish office where the monthly newsletter is printed. They are eager for any news from the Catholic world and eagerly interview any Catholic passing through town. They are eager for a wider Catholic perspective and plan to make a pilgrimage to Czestochowa in Poland. They are disappointed that they cannot find sponsors to help them travel to the Pope's Youth Conference in Denver, but are eager to express their faith in an active evangelism among their own community.
This young parish is rich in graces, attended by all ages with awe for the sacraments and pride in a real feeling of ownership of their parish. The community was begun a few years before the first priest came to live in Krasnoyarsk. The laity took on the responsibility of being the body of the church. It is a responsibility that all share, from the children preparing to make their first communion, to the parents who participate in the preparation for catechumens, to the grandparents who visit the missions to teach the prayers and music in German.
Most impressive to me was the general enthusiasm of a healthy community, a parish that welcomes heartily every visitor and begs you to stay with them in "the best parish in Siberia."
[Teresa Chen, raised in Seattle and stationed in Magadan, is a lay volunteer from the Anchorage archdiocese. She is a 23-year-old graduate of Brown University.]
Three sisters from the Congregation of St. Agnes arrived in Novosibirsk on May 29 on a two-week exploratory tour for ministry possibilities that will take them to the cities of Omsk and Chelyabinsk. Based in Fond du Lac, Wisc., the Sisters of St. Agnes have a strong connection with the Volga Germans in Kansas, and their interest in Siberia comes in large part from Bishop Werth's 1992 trip to Ellis County.
Bishop Werth will be in Fargo, N.D., in the first week in August and plans to be in Denver for the Pope's visit for the World Youth Day.
On May 26, Bishop Werth celebrated a Mass marking the 10th anniversary of the death of his mentor, Bishop Alexander Chira. Secretly ordained bishop in the Byzantine Catholic rite in 1945, Chira spent seven years in a Siberian prison for his fidelity to the Pope. When he returned to the Ukraine, government officials saw the people's affection for him and gave him 24 hours to leave the area. He then went to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, Werth's home town, and secretly served the underground church as "Fr. Chira."
Bishop Werth consecrated a church in the Altai region May 9. The church is served by Fr. Bernard Scholtz, who lives in Slavgorod, 20 km [12.4 miles] away.
As president of Caritas in Siberia, the Bishop named Fr. Myron Effing vice president of the new Caritas affiliate in Vladivostok. Lay volunteer Anastasia Potapenko directs the Vladivostok organization which aims to realize works of charity and mercy, while promoting the spiritual awakening of the people.
After a good five-inch snow on Mother's Day, May 9, the temperature in Novosibirsk warmed up to 25° C. [=77° F.) on May 30. Sunrise 5:01, sunset 9:51.
Fr. Charles Polifka, leader of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America, revealed May 20 that he had received an official request from the Capuchin Minister General in Rome, Fr. Flavio Roberto Carraro, asking the Mid-American Capuchins to establish a fraternity in Siberia. The Capuchin General said that the request that he had received from Bishop Werth was no ordinary request for help, but rather "a cry from the heart of a martyred population that has known decades of oppression and persecution. It is a sign from God that these people now desire Catholic priests." Fr. Charles said the Mid-American Capuchins will give the invitation very serious consideration. He opined further that there is a real possibility that by 1995 the Mid-American friars might establish a fraternity in Siberia.
The St. Agnes Sisters sent as scouts to Siberia are Sr. Mary Christine Fellerhoff from Muncie, Ind., vicar general of the community; Sr. Donna Innes from Beloit, Wisc., a general councilor; and Sr. Alice Ann Pfeifer from Hays, Kans. Sr. Alice Ann is a decendent of 19th-century immigrants from Russia's Volga River area. The group is expected back in Fond du Lac June 14.
New Russian postage stamps graced a May letter from Bishop Werth. Instead of missiles and tanks they showed a statue of St. Vladimir (75 rubels), the cathedrals in the Kremlin (1 rubel), and St. Michael the Archangel spearing the devil (50 kopeks). The last of these was particularly interesting since the same image is on Bishop Werth's shield.
Thanks to seven generous, new donors, this issue and most of the next one are paid for. Each issue costs a total of $80 for printing and postage, and donations are most welcome.
The following untitled and unpublished history of the Church in Siberia, obtained by Fr. Blaine from the archives of Kirche in Not at Koenigstein, Germany, seems to have been wriuen by Fr. Paul Bitautas Saulius, O.F.M.
Catholics first appeared in Siberia in small numbers during the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. During a surprise attack, some German Catholic knights and their servants were taken prisoners and exiled by the czar to Siberia. The number of Catholics later increased. Most of them, of course, were Poles and Germans.
The community in Tomsk was founded in 1806 by an edict of Alexander 1. The first Catholic priest, appointed there at that time, was Fr. Markell Kaminsky, superior of the Jesuit order. In 1820 he was replaced by Fr. Jacob Urevir of the Bemardine order [= the Observant Franciscans], and Fr.Remigy Aponasevitch of the same order began serving there in 1825.
In the 1830s, as a result of the Polish uprisings, the number of exiled Poles greatly increased. There were many Catholics in Siberia at that time. But as these people were not ... <very well off, they> could not afford to build a church very quickly. It took them very long.
Fr. Jacob bought two horses in those days and travelled throughout his vast parish which extended from Tomsk to Omsk. He administered the sacraments and gathered donations. People donated money, eggs, butter, bread, and homemade cotton. Fr. Remigy supplied the workers' families with the food, and paid them with the money that people had donated to the Church. Thanks to this, the building of the church continued uninterrupted.
Ground for the church building was given to the community by the Minister of Home Affairs already in 1819. The church plot of 720 square sazhens [all told 4/5 of an acre] was in town on Resurrection Mountain. Not far from town, there was also a small territory... <where> homes were built. The Catholic church was finished in 1833, and on Oct. 1, Fr. Remigy Aponasevitch blessed it and named it the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God. The size of the church was not very large. It was 18 x 10 x 13 meters [= 60 x 33.3 x 43.3 feet], and contained three altars, a small number of icons and a statue. The roof was made of wood.
In 1846, the wooden roof was replaced by an iron one.
In 1862, A.I. Despot Zenovitch, a member of the Council of Internal Affairs Ministry, managed to obtain a benefice of 6,000 or 7,000 rubels for the church. Some new buildings were built with the help of this money, among them a two-story stone building. In 1837 a bell tower with three bells weighing 136, 152 and 32 kgs was built. (To be continued).
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