Parish of St. Michael Archangel

Parish of St. Michael Archangel,
Roman Catholic Church in Murmansk.

The presence of Catholics in the Kola Peninsula dates back to the times of tremendous last century construction projects in the region, namely, industrial port, the navy and the city of Murmansk proper. The area was inhabited by the natives who used to live mostly on fishing, hunting and plant-picking that were highly abundant in the tundra.

The workers and engineers engaged in the construction had to be carried and gathered from all Russian regions. The problem was solved at the expense of the convicts and the exiled of different backgrounds and nationalities: Poles, Belorussians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians еtс. There were a lot of Catholics among them.

The city was constantly growing and flourishing. Many people from all over Russia came to live and work in Murmansk in hope for the well-off future.
Thus, Murmansk and the region as a whole is still a multinational community with different religious beliefs. In early 1916 the priest of the Catholic Community in Petrozavodsk (Karelia) appealed to the local government bodies, asking for a permission to build a catholic chapel for people engaged in the construction of the railroad, the port and the city itself, about 400 of them. However, it was a vain hope because the Revolution burst out.

How the Parish Started.
Parish of St.Michael Archangel in Murmansk started on June 18, 1991. However, its activities were strictly limited due to many reasons. About once a year a priest from St.-Petersburg arrived in Murmansk to hold public worships and baptize children.
The parishioners are of different nationalities, mostly descendants from the “pioneer”-builders, elderly people whose living standards are not high enough. Though, the number of parishioners is growing. For the time being there are about 300 people in the community. Grandmothers are usually followed by their grandchildren, some people get to know about the existence of the parish accidentally from their friends.

The believers appealed the Archbishop Thaddeus Kondrucevich in Moscow to let them have the priest permanently residing in Murmansk, who could have provided church services and ceremonies as the Roman Catholic Church demands. The appeals resulted in the appointment of Father Juan Emilio Sarmiento as a parish priest on April 17, 2000. Since then the parish has worked in Murmansk on a permanent basis. It has got its legal status at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and undergoes registration procedure yearly, submits tax reports and reports on payments to the non-budgetary funds.
Having no chapel of its own, all the ceremonies, sacraments and church services were held in rented apartments that could not fit them. Nowadays Father Juan and brother Joseph dwell in the apartment that is the parish property, while services take place in a separate apartment.
As far as in 2001 the parish priest applied to the local government on a very important matter: on the possibility of getting a plot of land that could be used for the construction of a Catholic Chapel in Murmansk. It was years’-long red tape to have a plot of land and start the construction.

What we expect.
Many of our parishioners live in Murmansk region. It takes them a lot of time to get to a Sunday service. They come from Apatity, Nickel, Monchegorsk, Kandalaksha and Severomorsk.
Catholic Chapel in Murmansk will enable a lot of Catholics to learn how the parish lives and works, thus giving an opportunity to share the sacraments properly. Besides, it will involve them in the activities of the community and will make them more confident and outgoing. Moreover, it will serve the goal of developing the feeling of kindness and mutual understanding within the community and will make its tribute in the upbringing of the youth and children with real Christian values in mind.

It is going to be the only Catholic Chapel in Murmansk area. That is why the priests and congregation as a whole fully realize what they are responsible for.
Catholic Church must serve the example in all respects. First of all it implies the behaviour of all the parishioners and who it may concern, i.e. they must be sympathetic, cooperative with other denominations, helpful to the indigent, caretaking of people and nature around us.
For the Roman Catholic Church these goals are a priority and the construction of the Chapel in Murmansk serves the same idea.