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Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Second catholic priest expelled within two weeks [ID 11477]

Observers assume secret service FSB behind the expulsion of catholic priests

"Die Heimkehr des polnischen katholischen Bischofs Jersy Mazur in dessen russische Diözese St. Joseph in Irkutsk hat am Freitagabend am Moskauer Flughafen Scheremetjewo 2 ein vorzeitiges Ende genommen. Die Grenzbeamten verweigerten dem ahnungslosen Priester die Einreise, beschlagnahmten dessen noch bis Januar 2003 gültiges Visum und schickten ihn mit der Erklärung nach Polen zurück, er figuriere auf einer Liste von in Russland unerwünschten Personen. Nachdem vor zwei Wochen bereits einem seit langem in Russland lebenden italienischen Priester die Einreise verweigert worden war, ist dies innert kurzer Zeit der zweite ähnlich gelagerte Zwischenfall. Am Samstag veröffentlichte die katholische Bischofskonferenz in Russland denn auch eine von ihrem Vorsitzenden, Bischof Tadezus Kondrusiewiz, gezeichnete Stellungnahme, in dem sie den Vorfall scharf verurteilte und diesen als Teil «einer organisierten Kampagne gegen die katholische Kirche in Russland» brandmarkte. Sie forderte die staatlichen Institutionen und Präsident Putin auf, dafür zu sorgen, dass Russland seinen völkerrechtlich eingegangenen Verpflichtungen nachkomme und die Religionsfreiheit und die Nichtdiskriminierung religiöser Minderheiten garantiere. Von Seiten der Regierung war am Wochenende keine Stellungnahme zu erhalten."

03.08.2005 - Source: Forum 18

Altai: Catholics encounter persistent obstacles in regaining and building churches ("Altai officials prefer eyedrops and cattle to Catholics") [#35245],  [ID 11474]

Document(s): Open document

13.09.2002 - Source: Washington Post

Expulsion of five catholic priests ("Russian Catholics Criticize Expulsion of Five Priests") [ID 11476]

"Catholics today accused Russia of plunging their church back into the dark years of Soviet rule by expelling five priests over the last six months.

Ties between Moscow and the Roman Catholic Church, still served mainly by foreign priests after 70 years of Soviet communism, suffered a new blow this week when two Polish priests were barred from reentering the country. Three others, including a bishop, were refused entry earlier this year.

The Orthodox Church, which has blocked a visit by Pope John Paul II over what it calls Catholic drives to poach its members, said it had no role in decisions ordered by government authorities. No official explanation has been given.

"Catholic priests are now being expelled every day. Foreign priests are now afraid to go abroad in case they will not be allowed back in," said Viktor Khrul, a spokesman for the church in Russia and editor of the Catholic newspaper Svet Evangeliya. [...] In the latest incident, the Rev. Edward Mackiewicz, a priest who served in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don for more than 10 years, was turned back at the border on Tuesday.

"We understand that countries have the right to issue or refuse visas. . . . But more than 80 percent of our priests are foreign, so within a year they could all be thrown out," Khrul said. "Russian Catholics will soon go back to the way they were in the Communist era."

Document(s): Russian Catholics Criticize Expulsion of Five Priests

04.2002 - Source: UK Home Office

UK Home Office: Catholic religious workers have experienced problems in obtaining desired residency permits and visas ("Country Assessment - April 2002") [#7107],  [ID 11475]

"There are an estimated 300,000 Roman Catholics in European Russia and a further 1,050,200 in Siberia. During the Soviet era, most of the millions of Roman Catholics were to be found in the Baltic states and Ukraine. Between 1917 and the late 1930s, the Catholic Church in Russia lost around 1,000 priests and most of its 614 churches. In European Russia, there are now 80 priests serving 86 parishes, and there are 18 churches and 21 small chapels currently available to the Catholic community for worship. In Asian Russia, there are 67 priests serving 80 registered parishes. The Vatican has recently established new dioceses in the country, including Moscow and Novosibirsk, where there had never before been Roman Catholic bishops. However, Roman Catholic religious workers have experienced problems in obtaining desired residency permits and visas; foreign Catholic religious workers who are assigned full-time to parishes in Russia must go abroad once a year in order to renew their visas. They have also faced sharp rent increases on land where they once owned churches that were confiscated and in certain cases demolished by the Soviet regime."

Document(s): Open document