The Difficult Reopening of Catholic Churches in Russia

AsiaNews ^ | 4/28/18 | Vladimir Rozanskij

[marshmallow]

The restitution of Catholic religious buildings continues to meet with resistance from the authorities. The "breaking down" of the wall of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The re-consecration of a church in Ryazan and the pretexts for denying the restitution of the church of Kirov

Moscow (AsiaNews) - For one church restored to the Catholics of Ryazan, Russian authorities continue to deny churches to other communities such as the faithful of Kirov, where the parish priest has even started a hunger strike. Indeed, 2018 marks a quarter of a century since, in 1993, the Catholic Church in Russia succeeded in obtaining the formal restitution of the first churches by the competent authorities.

In that year the statute of the parishes of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg was approved, the most important and prestigious, that of the Rosary in Vladimir, the center of the "Golden Ring" of the ancient Russian cities, and that of St. Louis of the French in Moscow, the only one left open all the time under communism together with the twin church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Leningrad. These were the two French "diplomatic" churches, and their activity served to demonstrate freedom of worship in the USSR, even though they were strictly controlled by the KGB.

The church of St. Louis was returned to the French government (not to the Catholic archbishop, Msgr Kondrusiewicz), and today Catholic communities of varying linguistic expression are hosted there (in addition to the French, there are functions in English, Italian, Hispanic -Portuguese, Korean, Filipino). One of the Sunday Masses, moreover, is entrusted to the parish priest of the Russian Church of Saints Peter and Paul, the main Catholic church in Moscow that stands 200 meters from St. Louis, but which has not yet been returned. Recently it seems that there.......

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[DIRTYSECRET]

If Polaks are Catholic why aren’t Russians?

[bad company]

when the communists took over they decided they were only going to deal with one church so whichever was most prominent was chosen and the others closed.

[elhombrelibre]

The Russian people were converted to Christianity by the Orthodox Christian Church. The Poles, or Polaks as you prefer, were converted by to Christianity by the Roman Catholic Church. And, it’s putin who will only allow churches he controls, like the Czars.

[GOP Poet]

Because it is considered a foreign religion to the Russian Orthodox Church--also a historical threat by the 'powers that be' even though they themselves were deeply faithful to their Orthodoxy. The Catholic pope actively tried to change them over with the marriage of Sophia to no avail.

Whereas the Polish strongly identified with the Catholic Church. It was not considered either a threat or a foreign religion.

Also we all know about the little thing called the Russian revolution. But there were many who at risk of their life continued worship after that time. I have many stories--both beautiful and heartbreaking. Of icons hidden deep and far away-- but within reach to be viewed for brief moments of prayer and worship. Many silent believers in those day.

[GOP Poet]

When I saw your question I wasn't sure where it stemmed from as I hadn't read the article yet. I bookmarked it for later. But this article is very simplistic and not very clear in its differentiation between what they are defining as a "Catholic Church" in Russia. Russian Orthodox Church is VERY similar to the Catholic Church as we know it. But the dates of occasions, mass, services, and often lingo is different. There are other differences. The Coptic Christian church is very closely tied to the Russian Orthodox Church in the areas listed above.

But the Catholic Church as the Pope in Rome etc. This is what we think of as Americans when we say Catholic Church and it is accurate.

This article on the other hand (I believe through close reading of it.) is referring to the Russian Orthodox Churches which used to be a foundation of their aristocracy until the Russian revolution. Russia has a very political relationship with its history around the aristocracy and the church. And as mentioned by another. Their is a lot of political control in their leaders (i.e. Putin.) which interfere.

[GOP Poet]

Oh and for clarification. The Russian Orthodox Church is commonly referred to as Eastern Orthodox Church. Or Orthodox Catholic Church—the latter which is much more rare reference on an international level as internationally Catholic Church is seen more as the pope based church. And the religion the Polish people practice more often. The former Eastern Orthodox Church for the Russian church is the usual name.

[x_plus_one]

Fastest growing christian denomination -

300 million Based on the numbers of adherents, the Eastern Orthodox Church (also known as Eastern Orthodoxy) is the second largest Christian communion in the world after the Roman Catholic Church. The most common estimates of the number of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide is approximately 225–300 million.

Protestant anti-catholics have their hands full.

[married21]

I visited Russia back in the 1990s to see a friend who worked there. She said, during the communist days, people would put their family icon on the inside of their front door. That way, if police came through the open door, looking for evidence, it was concealed right behind them.

Also, some families’ icons had gotten completely darkened by generations of candles burning in front of them. The people could then claim ignorance that it was an icon and say, “I don’t know what that is.”

[GOP Poet]

Ahhhhh! Thank you so much for sharing this married21. It really touched my heart. It would be so lovely to see a compilation of these stories. They are very powerful and deeply touching, and inspiring.