The Catholic Church has been present in Tajikistan since the late 1970’s, when Catholic priests and lay people deported by Stalin’s regime during the Soviet era arrived.
Newsdesk (22/07/2021 00:00, Gaudium Press) The first monastery of contemplative life has been opened in Tajikistan, a predominantly Muslim country in Central Asia. The religious family of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) is in charge of the new monastery dedicated to Pope St. John Paul II, the pontiff who encouraged missions in Central Asia when Communism prevented public confession of the Faith.
“For us (the monastery) has a very important meaning because there are religious inside the mission praying for the fruits of the apostolates that take place where we are working. And it is very timely, to use a more ordinary term, in these times of conflict. It is a very great privilege,” said Father Pedro López, the priest responsible for Catholics in Tajikistan.
Procession with the image of Our Lady of Luján
The founding ceremony of the new monastery was celebrated by the Apostolic Administrator of Uzbekistan, Father Jerzy Maculewicz, and concluded with a procession in which the image of Our Lady of Lujan, Patroness of Argentina, was carried.
“It was emotional for us too, because these are not things you normally see here as you see in European or Latin American Christian countries. Here, although there are no explicit prohibitions, it is not customary to have public manifestations of the Faith,” Father Lopez stressed.
Tajikistan has only about 120 Catholics
Four IVE nuns from Uzbekistan, Paraguay, and Argentina have settled into the new house, located in St. Joseph’s parish, one of only two Catholic churches in the country. These nuns join the Catholic community which, in a country of almost nine million inhabitants, numbers only 120 faithful, two priests and three active religious women.
The Catholic Church has been present in Tajikistan since the late 1970’s, when Catholic priests and lay people deported by Stalin’s regime during the Soviet era arrived. When they returned to their respective countries in the 1990’s, they left behind two temples and a small community of the Sisters of St. Teresa of Calcutta, the only Catholic presence until the arrival of a priest of the Incarnate Word in 1997. (EPC)
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Compiled by Sandra Chisholm