Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Almaty (Agenzia Fides) - Three Sisters, Servants of the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary of Matara (SSVM) a congregation founded in Argentina, have just opened a new mission in the diocese of Almaty in Kazakhstan, to be a new Christian presence and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The new convent was inaugurated with a special Mass presided by the Bishop of Almaty, Bishop Henry Howaniec. The Convent is in the parish of St Therese of Lisieux, in the little town of Chimkent near Almaty. The Bishop thanked and encouraged the three women religious who are starting their mission in Kazakhstan where they will help with pastoral work and catechism in the parish, instruction of children and assistance to families in need.
The three Sisters, a Peruvian, a Brazilian and an Argentinean, come from mission experience in eastern Europe countries and they speak Russian, this will facilitate contact with the local people. Kazakhstan has a population of 15 million mostly Muslim and there are 250,000 Catholics.
The SSVM Sisters are the female branch of the Institute of the Incarnate Word founded in Argentina in 1984, which has, besides priests and women religious also a lay tertiary order. The Institute has a number of priests and sisters on mission in former Soviet territories in central Asia. The local Catholics gave a warm welcome to the Sisters whose presence will be a prophetic sign and a witness of Christian life at the service of the poorest of the poor. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 11/10/2007 righe 25 parole 252)
