To Russia with Nuns (Roman Catholic)

RAYTOWN, Mo. — Although Christianity can now be freely practiced in Russia, the effects of more than 70 years of communist rule have left a deep wound on the spirituality of Russians.

Forty percent of Russians are baptized, yet less than 1% attend church. Drunkenness is a common problem, as is abortion and the abandonment of children. The average Russian woman has seven to eight abortions in her lifetime.

The problems are significant, and in some places, the Church has limited resources for re-evangelization.

But in the Kansas City, Mo., area a recent development may have far-reaching effects in at least one part of Russia. A new community of sisters has been launched in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, after receiving the approval of Bishop Robert Finn to receive the canonical status of private association of the faithful. Members of the Sisters in Jesus the Lord, a budding five-member community, may now have the Blessed Sacrament reserved in their Raytown, Mo., convent, publicly wear a habit and use religious names.

The establishment of the community is the latest milestone in the 18-year history of the mission of Most Holy Mother of God Church in Vladivostok, Russia. The sisters have already begun visiting the mission and assisting in its apostolates, and plan one day to permanently establish a convent in Vladivostok itself. The Missouri convent’s purpose is to recruit and train sisters for the mission.

The far-eastern Russia port city of 600,000, 30 miles from China and less than 100 miles from North Korea, is a major shipping and fishing center and is home to a large Russian naval base.

When religion was allowed to flourish again in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Fathers Myron Effing and Daniel Maurer, both Americans, were looking to establish a religious community and learned that there was a need for priests in Vladivostok. They visited the city at the invitation of the diocesan bishop — at that time in Novosibirsk, Siberia, 2,300 miles away — and founded the community of the Canons Regular of Jesus the Lord.

They began their ministry at an early 20th-century Polish Gothic church, Most Holy Mother of God, one of the few houses of worship that had not been destroyed (although it had been used for secular purposes for decades).

Christianity came to Russia 1,000 years ago, but penetrated the Russian Far East only 180 years ago, said Father Maurer. However, it was virtually wiped out after three generations of Soviet communist rule. Christians — both Orthodox and Catholic — were persecuted, with an estimated 7,000 Catholics in the region martyred.

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