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9 August 2008 Consecration of a new Catholic church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross has taken part today in Kazan.
The consecrating ceremony was attended by the chairman of Tatarstan State Council Farid Moukhametshin, Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, apostolic nuncio to Russia, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, archbishop of the central religious organisaton of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Clement in Saratov Clemens Pickel, President of the World Apostalate of Fatima David Karollo (USA) and officials of three cities of the Mother of God Visitation – Mayor of Chenstohovo (Poland), Mayor of town Fatima (Portugal), and burgomaster of Mariazell (Austria). Farid Moukhametshin greeted the guests on behalf of the Tatarstan President, the State Council, and the Tatarstan Government. “Tatarstan is a multinational subject of the Russian Federation. The representatives of 115 nations and world confessions live here. The traditions of mutual understanding and tolerance between the nations which have been formed for centuries in this land give the republic an inimitative multinational and multiconfessional coloring. We are proud of the achieved social stability, civil peace and harmony in the republic. All the confessions have equal conditions for the development,” emphasized Farid Moukhametshin. “I am very glad that we witness the historical event – the return of a catholic church to the faithful of our city and republic. In 2005 John Paul II gave back one of the most venerated Sanctuary in the Orthodoxy – the icon of the Mather of God of Kazan. She is venerated not only by Christians. A whole chapter in Koran dedicated to Virgin Mary, that is why all the faithful in Kazan venerate the holy image. We will do everything in order Kazan and Tatarstan to be always a home for all of their citizens,” noted the mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin. “It is a great honor for me to be in Russia, in the Republic of Tatarstan, in Kazan to consecrate a new catholic church. I arrived from Rome first of all to deliver cordial greetings of Papa Benedict XVI who is with us in spirit,” said Cardinal Sodano. “I wish you the new church to further promote consolidation of the dialogue and collaboration between the different Christian confessions and between the faithful of various religions. Tatarstan has already become an example – and not only in the Russian Federation – of tolerance and friendship between various religions and cultures”. 2008 is a 150th anniversary of the consecration of the first catholic church in Kazan. The construction of the new catholic church has been under way since spring 2005. The interio of the church is identical with the first church confiscated by the Soviet authorities in 1921.
An All-Russian meeting of Catholic youth is planned to be held in August 2009. Yelena Chembayeva Source: www.tatar-inform.ru |
