FLEDGLING UZBEKISTANI CHURCH PERSEVERES
Catholic.net
GLOBAL ZENIT NEWS
Oct 2, 2008
CT
ROME, OCT. 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Catholic community in Uzbekistan
is coming to life after Communist repression, but it still faces
obstacles from restricted religious liberty, reported L’Osservatore
Romano in a feature on the country.
The Vatican’s semi-official newspaper called the Uzbekistan Catholic
community "a minority Church in a country of Muslim majority
[…] dedicated especially to aiding the poor through works that
receive no public recognition; what is more, they must work almost
clandestinely."
Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s most populated country, with more than
27 million inhabitants. It is also one of the poorest nations of the
former Soviet Union. Uzbekistan has an 88% Sunni Muslim population
and is 9% Orthodox Christian. Catholics number about 5,000.
Bishop Jerzy Maculewicz, on the occasion of his five-yearly visit to
the Pope and the Roman Curia, gave details on the development of the
Catholic community that is being reborn in the wake of the fall of
Communism. Bishop Maculewicz is the nation’s only active bishop. He
is of Ukrainian origin and was one of the last prelates appointed by
Pope John Paul II.
The bishop told L’Osservatore Romano: "The Catholic Church is a very
small community, grouped around five parishes that still exist. We
are hoping to open two others, but the difficulties are many and are
reflected in the daily life of our faithful.
"We are a small group, which also suffers the consequences of the
phenomenon of emigration: Many Catholics leave Uzbekistan for financial
reasons. Fortunately, every year we also see some immigrants enter,
some of whom are Catholic."
Evangelizing
Despite the difficulty of pastoral work, the local Catholic community
relies on the help of religious communities such as the Franciscans and
nine Missionaries of Charity, who take care of the poorest, prisoners,
the sick, and evangelization through charity, explained the bishop.
These religious, he said, "would like to open another house to shelter
convalescent people who leave the hospital, but for the past year
and a half they have not received an answer from the authorities."
In order to respond to the needs of the people, the pastor said that
the Church in Uzbekistan is trying to introduce the work of Caritas,
but they still do not have formal permission. "In the meantime,
we promote small charitable initiatives at the parish level."
The difficulties in the area of religious liberty are due to a law
that bans all missionary and proselytizing activity.
"We receive and catechize the people who come, but we cannot proclaim
the Gospel in public," Bishop Maculewicz said.
Daily dialogue
The Catholic community of Uzbekistan enjoys daily opportunities for
interreligious dialogue.
"When I travel through the country, many Muslims approach me and ask
me questions, especially regarding our faith, such as how we pray, why
for us, Jesus is the Son of God," the prelate noted. "At the beginning
of this year, we promoted meetings with the apostolic nuncio and the
mufti of Uzbekistan. It was an unprecedented historic event."
Three years ago, with the ambassador of Israel, a concert was
organized on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the promulgation
of "Nostra Aetate," and the mufti was invited, he recalled. "Without
this anniversary, the Israeli ambassador would never have been able
to have a meeting with the Muslim authority," Bishop Maculewicz said.
In regard to the Orthodox, the prelate said there is no contact at
an official level, but with some priests. He said the Catholics do
have a close relation with the Lutherans and the Armenian Church,
and organized a prayer meeting during the week of prayer for Christian
unity.