Help Complete a Convent for Poor Clares in Kazakhstan
Friday, May 23, 2014

Project Code: 351-06-19

There are roughly 190,000 Catholics living in Kazakhstan currently. The great majority of them are the descendants of Eastern Europeans, Poles, Ukrainians and Volga Germans, who were deported by Stalin to Central Asia. Today, half the population of this former Soviet satellite are Muslim, while Christians of the various different denominations make up approximately 13.5% and the remainder have no particular religious affiliation.

In the city of Pavlodar, in the north of the country, there is a community of four Poor Clares who have been living there since 2009. They came at the invitation of the Archbishop of Astana and have founded a contemplative convent there. There is just one Catholic parish in this city of 400,000 people, and the convent is the first convent of the Poor Clares in the whole of eastern Central Asia.

In 2011 the Sisters began work on their convent, including the convent chapel where they pray in perpetual adoration before the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Initially, they had difficulty in obtaining a building permit, but the Sisters did not give up praying, trusting that God would help, and they finally obtained permission to begin building work. A number of young people are also coming to take part in the adoration and several are interested in the life of the Poor Clares. At the same time the convent has become a center of encounter between those of different faiths.

The Sisters have now turned to us, in hope, for help. They need another $7,000 to complete the final work so that they can actually move into the convent. We are confident that our benefactors will not leave them disappointed. Will you give to help complete this convent for these Poor Clares in Kazakhstan? We are sure they will remember you in their grateful prayers.

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