The Rosary, a sort of eighth sacrament

In the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, where Catholics make up just 1 per cent of the population, the Church is experiencing a new life during the Extraordinary Missionary Month October.

The tiny Catholic community in Kazakhstan has made use of the Extraordinary Missionary Month October to renew its spirit and bear witness to Christ by serving the people and learning the country’s official language, says Father Leopold Kropfreiter. 

The Austrian priest of the Servants of Jesus and Mary Congregation has been a missionary in the largest of the central Asian republic since 2008.

Under Soviet rule, Christians kept their faith alive, secretly gathering in their homes to pray. In the words of Archbishop Peta, “In the years of Soviet domination, when Catholics were forced to live without churches, priests and sacraments, Catholics created a sort of eighth sacrament: the Rosary. The only thing they could do during the Soviet persecution was to baptize their children and pray the Rosary. “In some ways, the Rosary replaced the lack of shepherds.” 

In 1978, the government relaxed the rules and people began to profess their faith more openly. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan was restored and Catholics felt free to worship publicly. Pope Saint John Paul II established the Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan on 13 April 1991, covering all of Central Asia. Diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Kazakhstan were established in 1994. 

The reborn Church of Kazakhstan received a much-needed boost with the visit of Pope John Paul II in September 2001. According to Archbishop Tomasz Peta of Astana, the visit showed the world a living Church in Kazakhstan, with some 40 thousand people attending the Pope’s Mass: “Without exaggerating, I can say that the papal visit opened a new chapter in the history of our Church. From that moment, every three years a Congress of religious representatives of all faiths is held in the capital.”

The Pope’s visit was also an occasion to raise the Marian shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace, in the village of Ozyornoye, to the national shrine. Youth meetings have been held since 1999 next to the tall cross on the hilltop in Ozyornoye. According to Archbishop Peta, they help to deepen the young people’s Christian faith and reflect on their future, on marriage and the family. The Marian shrine, he said, reflects a strong character of the Church of Kazakhstan, namely, a strong Eucharistic adoration and a special devotion to the Virgin Mary. The cross bears an inscription paying homage to the martyrs and victims of the Soviet repression. Today, Archbishop Peta said, “Kazakhstan is a blessed country, perhaps thanks to that blood and those tears of millions of martyrs.” 

Robin Gomes Vatican News