Aid to the Church in Need: Kazakhstan: Support for 70 religious sisters and 3 religious brothers

Kazakhstan: Support for 70 religious sisters and 3 religious brothers

Posted by Project of the Week on 1/6/2009, 11:23 am
Board Administrator

KAZAKHSTAN

Support for 70 religious sisters and 3 religious brothers in the archdiocese of Astana

When Pope John Paul II travelled to Kazakhstan in 2001, he recalled the times of the terrible persecution of the Faith. "The long years of communist dictatorship, when so many Christian believers were deported to the gulags in this region, brought immense suffering and sadness. How many priests, religious and laity paid for their faithfulness to Christ with unimaginable suffering and even with the sacrifice of their lives! The Lord heard the prayers of these martyrs, whose blood soaked the soil of your land. Once again, 'the blood of the martyrs was a seed' (cf 2001 Tertullian, Apol. 50,13) from which your Christian communities have arisen, as a new shoot, and now look forward confidently to the future".

Since the collapse of the communist regime, the structures of the Catholic Church have become steadily more established in this former Soviet republic of Central Asia. Today there are already three dioceses and an apostolic administration here. Most of the Catholics live in the archdiocese of Astana – around 80,000 in fact, or approximately 2% of the population. Most of them are ethnic Poles, Ukrainians, Germans and people from the Baltic states, many former deportees or their descendants. But in all this vast region of 225,000 square miles (576,000 km²) there are just 24 priests. Hence the work of the religious, and especially the women religious, is so very important. Currently, there are 70 religious sisters and 3 religious brothers working in the archdiocese of Astana. Many of them are foreigners, but there are now also a number of local vocations.

The sisters devote themselves with loving care to the sick and suffering and to the neglected children for whom nobody otherwise cares. But above all, without their pastoral service, parish life would be unthinkable. The Mass-servers' groups, the children's choirs, the youth groups are all the work of these sisters. Sister Maria writes, "The people here have won our hearts by their openness and kind hearts. All of them, and especially the "babushkas", the little old ladies. They have survived the hell of deportation and know what it is to live in a foreign land. They treat us like their own daughters."

But for these 70 sisters and 3 brothers to continue serving the Catholics of Astana, they need our support. Although they live extremely modestly, they depend on outside help. The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has promised them $64,000 or $850 a head – just as ACN supports countless other religious in so many other countries – so that through their life of love and service to God and their fellow men they can continue working for the salvation of the world.

To help this cause please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

This child has found a new home with the Sisters
(Code: 351-05-39)

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org