Kazakhstan Invites Pope to Visit in June

In Wake of Ordination of First Bishop of Almaty

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, DEC. 13, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Church and state authorities of Kazakhstan have invited John Paul II to visit this former Asian Soviet Republic, at the end of his June 21-24 trip to Ukraine next year.

The international agency Fides reported that the invitation was extended by President Nursultan Nazarbayev during an audience he had with the Pope in the Vatican on Sept. 24. The invitation has been renewed by the bishop of Karaganda and the apostolic administrators of Almaty, Astana and Atyrau.

The invitation follows in the wake of the Nov. 26 ordination of Franciscan Father Henry Theophilus Howaniec as the first bishop of Almaty. Almaty is one of the most important urban centers of this country, which borders northwest China.

The rite took place in Almaty's Most Holy Trinity Church, which was crowded with faithful of different nationalities. The ceremony was presided over by Archbishop Mariano Oles, the apostolic nuncio. Orthodox Archbishop Alexiy was unable to attend for health reasons, Fides reported. The Muslims were represented by Ali Khadgi, master of Medina.

The Orthodox Church's television crew filmed the whole celebration. It was transmitted by HTK local broadcasting station and Novosibirsk TV channel. The ceremony ended with an Act of Consecration of the Kazakhstan's Apostolic Administration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In this country of 16.5 million inhabitants, the Catholic Church, which practically lived in the catacombs in these lands during the Soviet regime, has reconstituted its pastoral structures and activities, thanks in part to the arrival of foreign missionaries.

Catholic presence was virtually eradicated in Central Asia in the 13th century, when the Mongol insurrection occurred. In the 20th century, Catholic communities began to emerge among exiles from Communism; they were primarily from Polish, German and Byelorussian communities. ZE00121309

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