Two Slovakian nuns have been fined by law enforcement in Kyrgyzstan for violating the country’s laws after the women read passages from the Bible during Sunday mass. This was reported on March 28 by the Fides news agency.
On March 26, Kyrgyz officials visited the Church of St. Nicholas in the northwestern city of Talas and imposed a $90 fine on sisters Daniela Chinchilova and Eva Eliashova of the Congregation of St. Francis school sisters.
Authorities accused the nuns of illegally preaching Catholicism without the permission of the State Religious Affairs Commission.
The decision to fine was “definitely made out of ignorance… the nun did not violate the rules in force in Kyrgyzstan,” said Jesuit brother Damian Voitsekhovsky, director of the Kyrgyz Apostolic Administration Curia. According to him, the nuns celebrated two Sunday Mass readings, but did not preach or serve at the Mass.
According to national regulations, foreigners must obtain a special permit for missionary activities such as preaching or celebrating mass.
Police said they had photographic evidence that the nuns were engaged in preaching Catholicism.
The police did not allow the believers to leave the church for about an hour and a half until the nuns signed the protocol.
Remember that Catholics in Kyrgyzstan are dispersed in nine parishes. The three main Catholic churches are located in the country’s capital, Bishkek, Jalal-Abad and Talas.
As of 2020, there were around 4,000 Catholics in the republic, according to the papal charity Aid to a Church in Need.
Many local Catholics live far from parish churches and meet to pray in private homes, where they are periodically visited by foreign missionaries.
Talas Church was reopened in 2019. This is the first church to be re-consecrated since Kyrgyzstan declared its independence in 1991.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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