Catholics in Tajikistan praise Argentine missionaries who run mission

Published: 2007-10-16

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (CNS) -- Although the church in Tajikistan did not plan a special commemoration for its 10th anniversary, local Catholics praised Incarnate Word missionaries who run their mission church. "The priests from Argentina saved our church," Larissa Kwiatkovskaia, a catechist at St. Joseph's Parish in Dushanbe, recently told UCA News, an Asian church news agency. "Before the Incarnate Word priests came," she said, "there had been no priest for four years. They came when there was no one to serve the Catholics. The Tajik church would have just disappeared if it were not for them." Irina Petrova, a mother of eight, told UCA News: "I'm calm when my children are in the church. I know our priests will teach them well. The priests play tennis and football with them and teach them how to pray and how not to do bad things." The missionaries are not just teachers, added her son, 23-year-old Anton Petrov. "I always treat them not only as priests but as friends of mine," he said. The revival of the local church began when the first Incarnate Word priest arrived in 1996. Pope John Paul II established the Tajikistan mission, directly subordinate to the Vatican, Sept. 29, 1997.

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