History of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan

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This is a treatise on the history of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan from the 12th century to the 21st century in what is now Kazakhstan.

The beginnings

The Christianity in Kazakhstan can see at the 2nd century. Chr. Traced. The history of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan began in the 12th – 13th centuries. Century. In connection with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and China , the first Catholic metropolitan districts and dioceses sprouted along the Great Silk Road .

Missionary journeys by Franciscan religious

The earliest Catholic presence in Kazakhstan can be dated to the year 1246 and falls under the pontificate of the Roman Pope Innocent IV. In the following period, Catholic missionaries who were on their way to the great khans on behalf of the Roman apostolic authority stayed here . The first Catholic missionaries in Kazakhstan were Franciscan religious. Their missions took place as follows:

The journey of the Franciscan Wilhelm von Rubruk, whose route ran from Constantinople to Karakorum , where the residence of the Great Khan was, lasted from 1253 to 1255. Part of this 16,000-kilometer route led through what is now Kazakhstan. The success of the evangelization by the Franciscan Brothers prompted Pope Nicholas III. to establish the diocese of Kipchak in 1278 (which, however, never became active because it did not receive a bishop). Khan Möngke Timur granted extensive privileges to the Franciscans who lived in the Kipchak region (which roughly corresponds to today's Kazakhstan). These were also confirmed by his successors Khan Tokta and Uzbek Khan and consisted of exemption from military service, compulsory service and all taxes.

One of the most important Catholic missionaries of the 13th and 14th centuries. Century was the Franciscan Giovanni (Johannes) de Montecorvino . He was sent to Asia by Pope Nicholas IV in 1291 . His activities include the translation of the Bible into Mongolian, the establishment of new bishoprics in the metropolitan region of Kambalik (Khanbalik, today's Beijing) and the conversion of the Mongolian Khan Kyrgyz to the Catholic faith. Before his conversion, the Khan was a Nestorian Christian and was called George. Since "Georg" was pronounced in the Turkish language Kirgiz (Kerghiz), the ethnic name of the Kirghiz is said to go back to his name (literally "The people of St. George"). In 1330 Franciscan missionaries created a Latin-Persian-Turkish dictionary with the name "Codex Cumanicus" .

The diocese of Almalygh

At the beginning of the 14th century, a diocese was established in Almalygh , capital of the Chagata Empire and residence of the ruling Khan (today Gulja (Yining), capital of the Kazakh Autonomous District Ili in the People's Republic of China). The diocese belonged to the metropolitan diocese of Kambalik, its first bishop was Carlino de Grassis. In 1338 Pope John XXII sent the Chagata Khan a letter "Laeti rumores" , in which he thanked him for his favor, which he showed the Christians in his empire, in particular the Archbishop of Kambalik and Franciscan brother Nicholas. Another letter, “Laetanter de vobis” , was dated on the same day and was addressed to “Karasmon and Jochan, two people close to the Great Khan Khansi” , who had accepted the Christian faith. The Pope recommended the Franciscan Bishop Richard of Burgundy to their care and introduced him as a “perfect man” and Bishop of Almalygh, where “a very beautiful church was built in honor of the name of God” .

Protection for the Franciscans in Almalygh lasted until 1339 (or 1342). After the death of Giovanni de Montecorvino and Kyrgyz Khan, the religious situation became more difficult: The new Khan Ali-Sultan accepted Islam for political reasons and the persecution of Christians began . In the course of these persecutions, Bishop Richard of Burgundy was killed in Almalygh in 1339 (or 1342) along with six Franciscans (including three priests). In the centuries that followed, the Catholic faith was so supplanted by Islam that Catholicism barely existed in the entire Kazakh region.

Under the tsarist rule

Forced relocations

In the middle of the 19th century a new phase of Christianity began in what is now Kazakhstan. This was brought about by reforms and a resettlement policy on the part of the government of the Russian tsarist empire. This policy also decisively influenced the history of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan in the second half of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

The Catholic faith found its way into the region (mainly) with representatives of European ethnic groups (Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs, Germans, French, Latvians, Hungarians, Austrians). These were predominantly exiles, members of the Tsarist army, prisoners of war and refugees. In the "Denomination registers of the military battalions from 1842 to 1852" there are records of members of Siberian military units. According to this, there were 202 members of the Catholic army and two Catholics who were active in the administration.

Catholic parishes in the Tsarist era

At the time of the tsarist rule, the Catholic parishes in Kazakhstan belonged to the Archdiocese of Mogilew (now Mahiljou in Belarus). The faithful in the northern districts of Kazakhstan (Akmola, Semipalatinsk and even Semiretschensk) were mostly cared for by the priests of the parish of Omsk (Siberia) and for a long time had neither a church nor a chapel. From 1883 to 1885, pastor Ferdinand Sentschikowski was the first official Catholic priest in the Turkestan region (the area in what is now southern Kazakhstan).

The first Catholic parishes emerged in the middle of the 19th century / beginning of the 20th century. Their emergence was co-founded in particular by a mass exile to Siberia of Polish prisoners who had participated in the uprisings of 1830–1831 and 1863–1864 and who then experienced resettlement to Kazakhstan. In 1848 the Diocese of Tiraspol was founded with its seat in Saratow (European Russia). The Catholic parishes in northwestern Kazakhstan may have been integrated into them. The following graduates of the Saratov seminary worked in what is now Kazakhstan: Joseph Wolf and Adam Garreis (in Kustanai and the surrounding area), Karl (or Eduard) Gopfauf (in the Turgay district), and later in the 1950s / early 1960s Alexander Staub in Karaganda , where he was also buried.

In 1905 there was a decisive turning point, which led to activism in the Catholic parishes: On April 17, 1905, Tsar Nicholas II had issued a manifesto for toleration, according to which the rights of the Catholic Church were in some cases equal to those of the Orthodox. In addition, it no longer required the consent of the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church for the organization of the parishes. Thus the Catholic parishes flourished at the beginning of the 20th century. The construction of Catholic churches in Kazakhstan began. The colonies of Polish and German Catholic immigrants in the Akmolinsk and Semipalatinsk districts were now looked after by the priests of the parish of Kustanai (now Kostanai in northern Kazakhstan). Houses of prayer were opened in the town of Semipalatinsk and in Malbork (Peremenovka).

Among the first priests who were active in the various dioceses in Kazakhstan were P. Kubilis (Semipalatinsk), M. Bugenis (Deanery Omsk), I. Senvaitis (Petropavlovsk), A. Biljakevic (Peremenovka-Marienburg, Semipalatinsk), I. Jakschtas, P. Radzinski, I. Kozakevic, J. Wolf (Kustanai) A. Garreis (Kustanai), A. Rometzki, Gopfauf (Turgay district), Uklei (Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk), V. Tschaplinski (Peremenovka-Marienburg, Semipalatinsk) and others.

There were also large parishes among the Catholic parishes. For example, the Catholic parish in Petropavlovsk consisted of 3,000 believers before the 1917 revolution. The parish of the Ozernoje settlement (which was part of the Kustanai parish) included 3342 German Catholics who had immigrated from the Tiraspol diocese and about 300 to 400 Poles. The remainder of the Kustanai parish numbered around 5,000 Catholics. The parish of the German colony Marienburg (Peremenovka) in eastern Kazakhstan consisted of about 4,000 members. On July 27, 1886, the parish of Omsk had 2660 parishioners. After the revolution all parishes were destroyed and the clergy and active believers were suppressed. Many Poles returned to Poland and the Ukraine , so that many parishes inevitably dissolved.

Under the Soviet regime

Forced Labor Camp and Exile

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Catholic Church, along with other faiths in the Soviet Union , experienced the most severe persecution. From 1921 to 1935 the Catholic church-administrative structure was almost completely destroyed, the hierarchy of both the Latin and the Byzantine rites wiped out. The priests who were still alive were deported to forced labor camps, which were also located in Kazakhstan (KARLag, Spassk (sand camp) etc.). Many priests were exiled to Kazakhstan.

The following priests were in exile in the area of ​​the future Diocese of Karaganda : Michael Keller (Koehler), Joseph Gotlibovic Koelsch, Joseph Johannovic Neigum, the Greek Catholic Bishop Alexander Chira , and Wladyslaw Bukowinski. The Greek-Catholic priests were: Aleksei Saritzki, Michail Ivanovic Suljatitzki, Nikolaj Wladimirovic Wonsul, Dmitri Iwanowic Kuzminski as well as Michael Bendas (Bengas), Radko, Mitsko and others. The Soviet government made Kazakhstan a place of forced relocation for various ethnic groups. Among them were also Catholics: Germans, Poles, Lithuanians and others. Many priests, although mostly brought to Kazakhstan involuntarily, stayed in Kazakhstan after their prison term had expired to help these Catholics.

The underground church

In Karaganda and in many other places, the canonized Aleksey Saritsky served as a priest until his martyrdom in 1963. He had been commissioned by Metropolitan Joseph Slipyi to be the apostolic visitor for the Greek Catholic believers in Kazakhstan and his seat was in Karaganda. Besides him, the following priests worked underground in Karaganda: Alexander Staub (until his death in 1961), the Greek Catholic priest Dmitri Kuzminsky (until his death in 1964), the "Apostle of Kazakhstan" Wladyslaw Bukowinski (until his death in 1974) , whose beatification process opened in Krakow in 2006, Michael Stonets (Stones), Michael Bengas and others. In other places in Kazakhstan, Joseph Kuczynski, Bronislaw Dzhepetzky, Aloysius (Seraphim) Kashuba and many others exercised the priestly service. Their work supported the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan underground.

In 1975 the Lithuanian Jesuit priest Albinas Dumbliauskas settled in Karaganda after having worked in various places in Kazakhstan for several years. This made Karaganda, in a certain sense, the center of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. He secretly celebrated Holy Mass with the faithful, administered the sacraments, built a male novitiate underground , whose pupils later entered the seminary in Riga, brought religious sisters to Karaganda who came from Lithuania and Georgia (Tbilisi), and promoted spiritual ones Vocations. In 1978 he built the first Catholic church, St. Joseph, which was officially recognized as a parish church by the Soviet state. During this time, Catholic priests of the Byzantine rite were also active in Karaganda. Including Bishop Alexander Chira, former rector of the Greek Catholic seminary in Uzhgorod. Also the priests Josef Schaban, Stefan Prischljak and others who, regardless of the prohibitions, performed their pastoral service with the Catholics of the Byzantine and Latin rites. Towards the end of the Soviet era, Kazakhstan was already producing its own priests and religious sisters due to its lively and strong underground church under the leadership of the priests.

New beginning in the post-Soviet era

After the collapse of the Soviet Union , the Holy See began to work actively on the establishment and renewal of ecclesiastical structures in the post-Soviet area in the early 1990s. Special attention was paid to the administrative organization. To this end, the Apostolic Delegate in Moscow and later Cardinal, Francesco Colasuonno , visited Kazakhstan in May 1990.

Establishment of the first administration

On April 13, 1991 Pope John Paul II established the Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan in Karaganda . In addition to the Republic of Kazakhstan, its administrative district temporarily also included the municipalities in Central Asia: Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan . On the same day Jan Pawel Lenga was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Administration and at the same time appointed Titular Bishop of Arba . He was ordained bishop on May 26, 1991 in Krasnoarmeisk (Kazakhstan) by the later Cardinal Francesco Colasuonno. On October 17, 1991, a letter of appreciation for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Holy See was exchanged and on November 1, 1992 an official bulletin on the Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan and Central Asia was published.

In August 1995, the publication of the magazine "Credo" began in Karaganda. In September 1997, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan received the status of “ Mission sui juris ”. On October 7, 1997 the seminary “Redemtoris Mater” was officially opened in Karaganda, which was renamed “Mary Mother of the Church” on July 16, 1998 after restructuring. On April 7, 1998 the first monastery of the Discalced Carmelites was opened in Karaganda and on May 10, 1998 the sisters of the order “ Missionaries of Charity ” founded by Mother Teresa came to care for the poor.

Foundation of the first diocese of Karaganda

On July 7, 1999, the Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan was elevated to the status of the Karaganda diocese, which extends over the area of ​​central and eastern Kazakhstan, with the papal bull “ Ad aptius consulendum ”. In addition, three new Apostolic Administrations were established: Astana, Atyrau and Almaty. On the same day, Bishop Jan Pawel Lenga was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Karaganda with the bull “ Romani est Pontificis ”. This made him the first Roman Catholic bishop in Kazakhstan after the Soviet regime. His enthronement took place on October 10, 1999 in the Church of St. Joseph, which Albinas Dumbliauskas had built in 1978 and which has now become the Cathedral of Karaganda.

From June 23 to 25, 2000, a major jubilee of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan took place in Karaganda on the occasion of the 2000 year celebration with pilgrims from all over Kazakhstan. In September 2001 Pope John Paul II visited Kazakhstan and in his address called Kazakhstan a "land of martyrs and believers, a land of deportees and heroes, a land of thinkers and artists" .

Foundation of the Metropolitan Diocese

On May 17, 2003, the Apostolic Administratur Astana was elevated to the Archdiocese of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Astana . Tomasz Peta , previously Apostolic Administrator of the Astana Administratur, was appointed the first Archbishop of the Archbishopric. The Bishop of the Diocese of Karaganda Jan Pawel Lenga was appointed Archbishop ad personam. Also on May 17, 2003, the Almaty administration was elevated to the status of the Most Holy Trinity of Almaty .

Thus, the dioceses of Karaganda and Almaty with the apostolic administration of Atyrau form the suffragan dioceses of the metropolitan diocese of Astana. On June 29, 2003, Pope John Paul II presented the pallium to Tomasz Peta, now Metropolitan and Archbishop, in Rome . On April 8, 2006, Father Athanasius Schneider (ORC) was appointed Titular Bishop of Celerina and Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Karaganda. On June 2, 2006, Cardinal Angelo Sodano donated him the episcopal ordination.

On February 5, 2011, the episcopate in Karaganda passed to the Apostolic Administrator of Atyrau, Bishop Janusz Kaleta , who was led by Pope Benedict XVI. was appointed the new Bishop of Karaganda while retaining his office as Apostolic Administrator of Atyrau. On April 3, 2011 his inauguration took place.

The new cathedral in Karaganda

On September 3rd, 2004 the construction of the new, 42 meter high Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima - Mother of All Nations started . The shell of the building was completed in early 2006. On August 24, 2009, the two tower domes with the crosses were installed. The construction is financed by donations and should be completed by September 2012. On September 9, 2012 the inauguration of the new cathedral in Karaganda will take place. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will perform the inauguration in a high mass. In 2009 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was presented with a model of the cathedral, which has been on display in the capital Nur-Sultan (until 2019 Astana) since the end of August 2009 .

Greek Catholic Apostolate

The organizational structure of the Greek Catholic apostolate in Kazakhstan and Central Asia also developed from Karaganda. With Decree 493 of November 8, 2002, Father Wasili Gower , who presided over the parish “Patroness of Mother of God” in Karaganda, was appointed by the Holy See as Apostolic Delegate for all Catholics of the Eastern Rite in Kazakhstan and Central Asia . On September 18, 2005, he was given the title of Archpriest with permission to wear the miter .

See also

literature

  • Лиценбергер О.А., Римско Католическая Церковь в России. История и правовое положение, Саратов 2001. (Litzenberger, Olga: Roman Catholic Church in Russia. History and legal situation (The Roman Catholic Church in Russia. Its History and Legal Status). Saratov 2001. 382 p.)
  • Чаплицкий Б., Осипова И., Книга памяти. Мартиролог Католической церкви в СССР, Москва 2000. (Tschaplitzkij, Bronislav Prelate, Osipova, Irina: Kniga Pamjati. Martiriolog Katolitscheskoj Tzerkvi, Moscow 2000. 76 S. Serebrjanye. 76 S. Serebrjanye)
  • Приходько Г., Католичество в Казахстане и Средней Азии: Средневековье и современность, Караганда 2005 (Prikhodko, Gregor: Katolitschestvo v Kasachstane i srednej Asii. Srednevekov'e i sovre mennost> Karaganda, 2005. 133 pp)
  • Верижникова Е.Г., Предыстория католичества на территории Казахстана, в: Кредо, № 138, январь 2007, с. 8-10. (Verizsnikowa EG: The Prehistory of Catholicism in the Kazakhstan Region. In the journal Kredo, No. 138. Jan 2007, pp. 8-10.)
  • воспоминания священика владислава буковинского: Memories of the priest Wladyslaw Bukowinsi: Translation from Polish into Russian by Sr. Maria Schmidtlein. Moscow 2000. 109 pp.
  • Documents from the Karaganda Archives.

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