Nearly a year following his visit to Hays, Ks., Bp. Joseph Werth makes a return trip to America, this time, however, to the German-Russian community in North Dakota.
Responding to an invitation from Fr. Al M. Bitz of St. Mary's Cathedral in Fargo, Bp. Werth will attend a gathering of North Dakota priests in Bismarck, Aug. 1 - 3.
North Dakota, with German-Russians from the Odessa region, differs from the Hays area, much of whose population came from along the Volga river. Bp. Werth said that though he does not expect great differences in the two communities, the first task remains "to learn about each other."
Information will also be exchanged about Central Asia, as Fr. Johannes Boersch, vicar general for that region, will serve as the English translator for the first leg of the Bishop's journey.
Fr. Boersch, along with approximately 25 other priests, serves under Bp. Jan Lenga in the Apostolic Administration for the countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmeniya, Tajikistan and Kirghizia.
Bp. Werth says there are two key differences between the church in Siberia and in Central Asia. Christians are a minority in the predominantly Muslim countries of Central Asia. In Uzbekistan and Tajikistan the sentiment exists to regulate non-Muslims to a second-class status.
Another difference is that in places like Karaganda, Kazakhstan, priests have been present for the past 35 years. Karaganda, seat of Bp. Lenga and birthplace of Bp. Werth, maintains a strong German Catholic tradition. A number of predominantly Polish or Ukrainian Catholic villages dot the map of northern Kazakhstan, but in Siberia Catholics live in mostly mixed ethnic and mixed religious situations.
The main similarity between the two regions, which will be made apparent during the conference at the University of St. Mary in Bismarck, is that both are in need of priests.
"American Catholics can help a lot," Bp. Werth said. "I have heard there may be as many as 120 priests in North Dakota with German-Russian ancestry. If only 10% came here it would be a great help."
Bp. Werth's campaigning for priests, sisters and lay volunteers a year ago inspired Theresa Butler to come to Novosibirsk. Butler, who has an M.A. in pastoral care and post-graduate training in religious education, arrived July 5 for a two-month exploratory visit of ministry possibilities.
In addition to sponsoring volunteers, Americans can help the Church in Siberia develop its structure, the Bishop said. As examples he cited the need for financial and consultative support in developing both a Catholic school in Tomsk and Caritas, the Apostolic Administration's charitable organization.
Bp. Werth will offer some help of his own when he visits the Sisters of St. Agnes in Fond du Lac, Wisc., on Aug. 11. Representatives of the sisters, were in Siberia in June and received an offer by Bp. Werth to open a house in Chelyabinsk. The Bishop said he will meet with the Sisters to support them in "taking the difficult step" of committing their congregation to work in Siberia.
Bp. Werth will fly to Denver on Aug. 13 to attend World Youth Day. It was at WYD in Czestochowa, 1991, that the Bishop first met Pope John Paul II. Five youth from Siberia will attend WYD 1993 with Bp. Werth. The U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference is supporting three of them, while the others are sponsored by the organizers of WYD itself.
Bp. Werth will return to Russia on Aug. 17. When asked for a lasting impression from his earlier trip to Hays, the Bishop responded with a smile, "I met there a typical Russian German priest, like the ones that served along the Volga 70 years ago."
A federal Caritas organization was founded in Novosibirsk on June 11. The organization's task is to support the development of the diocesan and parish Caritases by providing informational, training, and fundraising services. According to the documents signed by Archbp. Tadeusz Kondrusievicz and Bp. Joseph Werth, presidents of the two diocesan Caritases in Russia, the organization will work according to the principle of subsidiarity and assumes the task of representing the social activities of the Catholic Church on the federal level. Representatives of Caritas European part of Russia, Caritas Asian part of Russia, Caritas Germany, and Catholic Relief Services U.S.A., also took part in the two-day conference.
Dan McNeil, American lay missionary working with Caritas Asian part of Russia and principal inspiration of "A Letter from Siberia," noted in a cover letter that he would be "out of town till Aug. 13," and quickly added, "I will be here for the next two years though."
Pavel Vavlin arrived in Assisi, Italy, on July 12 to begin his novitiate with the Franciscans. Pavel, 22, is from the Franciscan Friary in Novosibirsk.
Fr. Al M. Bitz. rector at the Fargo cathedral and Bp. Werth's host during his visit to North Dakota, has graciously provided the latest (July 21) schedule for the visit:
Bp. Werth and his travelling companion, Fr. Johannes Boersch, vicar general of the Apostolic Administration of Karaganda, will arrive at Hector International Airport in Fargo on July 30 at 8:23 p.m. The public and the press are both invited to welcome them. They will stay overnight at St. Mary's Cathedral.
The North Dakota State University Libraries will hold a welcome breakfast for the Bishop and Fr. Boersch on July 31. There they will meet John W. Beecher, library director; Dr, Thomas Isern, director of the North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies; Michael M. Miller, Germans from Russia Heritage Collection bibliographer, and Corine Becker, GRHC researcher.
Later that morning and in the early afternoon, they will visit the NDSU libraries, especially its Germans from Russia Heritage Collection and the ND Institute for Regional Studies. They will also tour the NDSU campus.
This will be followed by lunch at Cardinal Muench Seminary in Fargo.
A 7 p.m. Eucharist celebrated by the Bishop in the cathedral will be followed by a public reception for the German-Russian community of the Fargo-Moorhead area.
Bp. Werth will concelebrate 8:30 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral on Aug. 1, and will be available during the morning for anyone who wishes to visit with him about going to Russia to work in his diocese. This will be at St. Mary's Rectory, 679 6th Ave. N., Fargo (telephone (701) 235-4289, FAX (701) 235-6354).
That evening at 7 p.m. the Bishop will celebrate an outdoor Mass at the University of Mary in Bismarck. This will be followed by a reception for the German-Russian community in the Bismarck-Mandan area.
The next two days, the Bishop will attend the annual Priests' Summerfest at the University of Mary and have a chance to meet most of the priests of North Dakota.
The Bishop will visit Assumption Abbey at Richardton on Aug. 4, where he will give a public address at 1 p.m. in the Abbey North Lounge. That evening and during the next several days, he will celebrate Mass and attend receptions in several ND cities:
The Mass on Aug. 7 is for the Mathern reunion and will include a special reunion program.
At Strasburg, the visitors will visit German-Russian cemeteries and meet with the Germans from Russia community.
Dr. Timothy Kloberdanz will host the visitors on a tour of NDSU's Northern Crops Institute and its agricultural departments on Aug. 10.
The following day, Bp. Werth will depart Fargo for the Agnesian Motherhouse in Fond du Lac, and Fr. Boersch will head for Washington. D.C.
The Bishop will fly from Fond du Lac to World Youth Day in Denver on Aug. 13 and will be there till Aug. 16.
He then flies to Chicago, where he will be the guest of Cardinal Joseph Bemardin.
A news conference has been scheduled in Chicago, hosted by Fr. Tom Widner, editor of The New World, Chicago's archdiocesan newspaper. This will be on Aug. 17 at 10 a.m. At 5:10 that afternoon, Bp. Werth will leave Chicago for Russia.
The Sisters of St. Agnes who recently visited Novosibirsk, Omsk, and Chelyabinsk have prepared an extensive report for their conununity. Hopefully we will obtain permission to reproduce some of it as space allows. The report was quite positive, but the Sisters are still engaged in discerning what the Spirit may wish of them. If the Sisters do go, they will probably be stationed in Chelyabinsk on the extreme western edge of Bp. Werth's Apostolic Administration.
It is gratifying to hear that this newsletter is being photocopied and distributed to many additional readers. Another exciting new development is an offer by a priest in Austria to distribute the newsletter throughout Europe to friends of Bishop Werth and the Siberian Church.
The untitled and unpublished history of the Church in Siberia, apparently written by Fr. Paul Bitautas Saulius, O.F.M., which we began publishing in Issue 4, will be continued at a later date as space allows.
Somewhere I read that Bp. Werth was invited to attend the Russian Federation's recent constitutional convention, but the Archbishop in Moscow was not invited as he is not Russian born.
Thanks to several generous, new donors, this issue and the next two are paid for. Thanks be to God for inspiring your help.
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