Holy Trinity Parish in Petropavlovsk

 

  • http://www.liguori.narod.ru/

The history of parish of Holy Trinity in Petropavlovsk

From the very beginning, Petropavlovsk was the place for exiles. There were many Catholics among the convicts who tried to arrange their religious life there. In 1911 Catholics had a chapel in Petropavlovsk, and at the same time they began building a temple, which was dedicated to the Holy Heart of Jesus. At that time there were about three thousand believers in the city?s Catholic community. The parish in Petropavlovsk applied to the Omsk dean`s office and the Mogerlev archdiocese.
 

It was a time of hard ordeals and persecutions after the Communist revolution. In 1920, the temple was used as a storehouse. According to information from the time, a priest and ten men, who were the members of the community, were shot in 1922. Religious life in Petropavlovsk officially died in the so-called time of socialism. But the believers, mainly Poles and Germans, met for prayer in private homes both in the city and in nearby villages. 

The priests visited them, sometimes at night. They baptized, heard confessions and blessed marriages. Fr. Kashuba was the most famous priest among the local community.

In 1991, Catholics in the city and nearby villages began building their religious lives again. German-Catholics built churches in the villages of Asanovo, Esebelnoye, Scrostovka and Furmanovka, where they had public worship every Sunday under the direction of specially elected women and men. Bishop Jan Pawel Lenga came to meet with the Catholic community in Petropavlovsk, and founded a Roman Catholic parish, called Holy Trinity, there.

On April 20, 1993, the bishop appointed Fr. Zbigniew Kotlinski as a parish priest, and Fr. Casmir Ziemyl was appointed as his vicar. Ground was also given for church buildings. On January 10, 1995, Bishop Jan Pawel Lenga blessed the new chapel. In Pietropavlowsk - a town of about 250,000 inhabitants - there are currently three priests working from the order of Jesus the Redeemer (Redemptorists) from Poland, and three sisters from the congregation of the Mother of Mercy.

The parish is the place of spiritual development: through the sacraments, prayer and catechization. There is also a choir, and a large group of ministers. The parish arranges regular meetings for groups of young people and children. Evangelizing takes place in such institutions as children's homes, hospitals and senior citizens' homes. In this work, laymen help the priests and sisters. The holy mass is celebrated not only in town, but also in the 28 villages in a radius of 200 km from the city. Eight of them have small chapels. On September 12, 1999, the feast of the dedication of the church was celebrated. It is the pre-revolutionary temple and parish home, returned by the administration of the city, for the Catholic parish.

Translation: Irina Shirshova


A new Catholic church consecrated at Petropavlovsk (http://www.fides.org/English/2000/e20000901b.html)

(Fides) ? The young Church of Petropavlosk, a town in the north some 2000 kilometres from the capital Almaty, is flourishing. Three Redemptorist Fathers and a community of Divine Mercy Sisters work together on a busy pastoral programme involving about 750 Catholics.

The community?s vitality is demonstrated by the fact that new churches are being opened. On July 16 there was the solemn consecration of new parish church dedicated to Divine Mercy. This solemn act was preceded the day before by the first ever public procession involving about 500 people including many young people. The new church and adjacent convent are in the city-centre and have ample space for parish and missionary activities. By 2001 it is hoped that the reconstruction of the old church will be completed.

The Redemptorist Fathers have played a fundamental role for the local Catholic community: after the 1905 Russia-Japan war, thanks to more liberal laws, in 1908 they were able to open missions in Siberia and Kazakhstan.

Petropavlovsk, a town dating to 1854, has a population of 250,000 of various national origin: Russian, Kazak, German and Polish. 16 religious groups are officially registered: besides Catholics and Orthodox there are Baptist Christians and Muslims. However most of the population declare themselves atheist. (1/9/2000)