Shrine for Persecuted Christians Opened in Astana
It is the sixth prayer centre established by the US-based organisation Nasarean.org, run by Father Benedict Kiely, and the first in Central Asia. The shrine was blessed by Archbishop Tomasz Peta.
During the inauguration ceremony, Auxiliary Bishop Schneider referenced the words of St. John Paul II during his visit to Astana in 2001, when he spoke of the “unspeakable trials” endured by those who refused to renounce their faith.
From the 1930s onwards, entire ethnic groups were forcibly relocated to Kazakhstan, including Germans, Poles, Ukrainians, and Balts, many of whom were Catholic or Orthodox. Religious practice was criminalised. Churches were closed or repurposed, and the sacraments were celebrated in secret.
The family of Bishop Schneider was among those affected. He was born in 1961 to ethnic German Catholics who had been exiled to the Urals.
Picture: Fr Benedict Kiely, #newsLcuwdvzett