Russian Mission

This weekend (July 15-16), Terry Kopp from the Mary Mother of God Mission Society will visit our parish to speak about the Roman Catholic Mission Churches in Eastern Russia.  A second collection will be taken for the missions.
 
In the early 1900’s, the Russian Far East boasted of a thriving Roman Catholic population.  Many Russians, Poles, Lithuanians, and other groups inhabited the area and had built schools, hospitals, and beautiful churches.  After the revolution of 1917, Russia became an emblem of the Communist era, a land without churches and without God. Under Stalin, all Catholic churches were confiscated and Dioceses closed.  Most churches were desecrated or destroyed. Catholics were murdered by the hundreds of thousands and their bodies dumped into mass graves.
 
Our two American priests, Fr. Myron Effing, CJD, and Fr. Daniel Maurer, CJD, arrived in Vladivostok in 1992 to help re-establish the Church in this region and provide charitable assistance to its many poor residents.  Now that the foundations have been laid, additional priests and sisters are joining the work, and parishes are growing and multiplying—very slowly, but surely.  For the latest news on activities of the mission and the Catholic Church in Russia, please visit our website.