Apostolic Prefect of Azerbaijan Bishop Vladimir Fekete took part in the historic meeting between Catholic and Orthodox bishops of Central Asia

On April 19, 2023, within the framework of the meeting of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Central Asia, a historic meeting of the Catholic and Orthodox bishops of the region took place.

The meeting took place in the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima – the Mother of All Nations. The head of the Kazakh Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan and the delegation of Orthodox bishops and clergy headed by him were met by Bishop Adelio del Oro.

The Orthodox and Catholic Churches of the Central Asian region experienced many difficult moments during the time of persecution of the faith. Therefore, the moment was especially beautiful and inspiring when in Karaganda, a city that occupies a special place in the fate of the Catholic Church of Kazakhstan and the entire Central Asian region, in the central Catholic church, dedicated to the patronage of the Mother of all nations, the Easter hymn sounded and the Orthodox Metropolitan repeatedly announced the joyful message “Christ is Risen!”, to which the clergymen of both Churches jointly answered “Truly Risen!”.

The Catholic Church of the region was represented by Cardinal Giorgio Marengo from Mongolia, Archbishop Tomas Peta and Bishop Athanasius Schnadier representing the Archdiocese in Astana, Bishop Jose Luis Mumbiela Sierra who ministers to the southern regions of Kazakhstan, Bishops Adelio del Oro and Evgeny Zinkovsky who are in charge of the Karaganda diocese, Bishop Jerzy Matsulevich from Uzbekistan, Bishop Vladimir Fekete from Azerbaijan, Mitred Archpriest Vasily Govera who administers the Greek Catholic Church in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, Father Anthony Corcoran from Kyrgyzstan, Father Andzej Madej from Turkmenistan, Father Peter Sakmar  who cares for the Catholics of Western Kazakhstan, Father Giovanni Scalese from Afghanistan.

On the base of materials from catholic-kazakhstan.org