San Miguel Archangel de Biskek - The pro-cathedral of Kyrgyzstan
The small church of San Miguel Archangel of Biskek is the pro- cathedral of the Apostolic Administration of Kyrgyzstan and the heart of one of the smallest Catholic communities in the world. It was built in 1969 by ethnic Germans deported by Stalin, on the condition that it did not look like a church from outside.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- In 1956 the Soviets demolished the previous church of Biskek recently built, imprisoned the pastor and banished the parishioners; in 1968 the permission came to turn an old house into a temple.
- The 1969 building, the work of the Germans deported in the 1930s, was deliberately raised as a house of a plant to pass unnoticed: symbol of the perseverant faith under persecution.
- In 1997 the Mission of Kyrgyzstan was born and in 2006 it was elevated to Apostolic Administration, subject directly to the Holy See and attended by the Jesuits.
- The community, of Polish, German and Korean origin for the most part, celebrates the Sunday masses in English and Russian, with the help of Slovak Franciscan nuns.
Pro-Biskek Cathedral (San Miguel)
Living memory of Catholics deported to the Soviet Central Asia, the pro- cathedral of St. Michael keeps the faith of a few hundred faithful who also pray to the Mother of God in the Kyrgyz steppe.
"St. Mary, Queen of the Confessors of the Faith, pray for the Catholics of Kyrgyzstan.
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