MONDAYAugust 28, 2000 volume 11, no. 153
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NEWS for Monday, August 28, 2000 CASTEL GANDOLFO, AUGUST 27 (ZENIT.org)
John Paul II has named his
special envoy to the consecration of the Cathedral of Irkutsk, see of
the Apostolic Administration of Eastern Siberia, which will take place
on September 8.
The Pope will be represented by Belgian Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte,
secretary general of the Synod of Bishops. For this occasion, Russian
Catholics have organized in Irkutsk the first Marian Congress since the
fall of Communism.
Given the growth of Catholic communities in Siberia, John Paul II
decided in May of 1999 to erect what in practice is a new diocese in
Irkutsk, although its technical name is not diocese but apostolic
administration.
Up until now, Siberia was, perhaps, the largest diocese in the world.
Henceforth, however, there will be two ecclesiastical territories: one
for Eastern and another for Western Siberia. The Bishop for the Eastern
region is Joseph Werth, whose see is in Novosibirsk. In 1991, when he
was only 39, John Paul II made him responsible for restructuring the
Church in this region. The Bishop of Irkutsk is Jerzy Mazur, a Divine
Word religious, who is a year younger than Bishop Werth.
There are one million Catholics all together in the two Siberias (the
majority being deported Germans, Poles, Ukrainians, etc., or their
descendents). They live among a population of some 25 million
inhabitants, spread over 4.6 million square miles of territory.
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