31.03.2004.Short visit to the far north

They should be happy about visits, when in the end, it just takes too long to wait for the awakening of nature…, when winter simply lasts too long and powers are vanishing.

 

But the small lively parish of Murmansk and Apatiti I met in a rise! Young and lively, happy but with lot of honesty, how they understand them being a parish – with children and teenagers.

 

I visited the parish in the middle of March, well at this time in Murmansk , too, you can already feel that spring is close and everybody agreed that the most difficult time is in November, when it is getting darker and colder with big steps.

 

The Diocesan Caritas of the Mother of God is endeavored to understand the potentials, possibilities and difficulties in such small parishes with its visits and to develop joint activities.

 

They are in a phase of development, founded after the revolution, with mostly foreign parish priests, that cannot accompany the parishes stable and for many years because of the visa regulations.

 

Here, of course, we find advantages and disadvantages. It is a big advantage for the Catholics in Russia – to understand “catholic” in its deeper meaning as “all-embracing”, very often the parishes themselves are consisting of many non-Russians members, grown up in the Soviet Union , but with Polish, Byelorussian or German roots.

 

A big challenge that the small Caritas team is facing – with small possibilities – to accompany parishes with their self-finding- and integration process in the community.

 

The best way realizing this, is to develop small social activities with the parish priest and the parish council, first of all for the good of the parish – to experience something good yourself – in order to collect courage and energy to start working charitable in your environment.

 

The parish in Murmansk is already helping social not sufficiently provided children with a s called pupils breakfast and other material support, as pre-condition for learning, well in order not to sit with in an empty stomach in a school lecture.

 

In the mean time a difficult situation on labor market appeared in Murmansk . There is simply not enough work for everybody. Lots of problems are also appearing throughout problems in the family through sicknesses such as alcholism.

 

When there is a visit from Moscow, then on invitation of the parish, so there is an intrest to get aktive!

I tried to use all possibilities on a short weekend as beginning, to get acquainted with the people and the possibilities. Additionally to the mass we celebrated together, we had meetings and lots of conversations with different parish members, a visit to a sick person and a family home visit. I also could explore the surrounding area, nearly 300km through the beautiful tundra in through hills moved sea landscape – the branch Apatiti. In the evening at the two priests I was listening a lot and we found common approach for charitable work and parish development.

 

The Diocesan Caritas will now support the breakfast project and give other material help to needy.

 

There will be parish Easter-activities and just at the moment we are inviting to participate in the worldwide Children's action “Children have rights” of the “Kindermissionswerk” (Children's mission), to think together about the situation of children and to design together with children T-shirts on the theme.

 

Full of enthusiasm I returned from the north into the capital, I experienced a departing parish, that is taking a good place in the city because of its openness and liveliness – without having been able to build a church – the space in the small chapel in a flat for Sundays mass is already not sufficient for everybody…

 

We are accompanying this parish development actively as Caritas.