The coming of the Holy Cross. Roman Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Kazan)

Approximately 146 million people live in Russia today. Such a large number of people preach different faiths. One of the religions widespread in Russia is Catholicism. The exact number of Catholics is unknown and varies from 200 to 600 thousand people. That is why almost 500 parishes have been opened, which actively participate in the social, cultural and charitable life of our country. So, for example, in Tambov, there is the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

History of the Catholic Church in Tambov

By the end 19th century in the city itself there were 682 Catholics and in 1896 the representatives of the community decided that it was necessary to build a temple. The construction of the Catholic Church began after 2 years and proceeded at a rapid pace. The first divine service, despite the fact that the repair inside the building was not completely done, took place already in 1903. The temple, like most similar parishes, was built in the Gothic style, had a rich decoration and was built of red brick. Next to the main building of the temple, a two-story building was erected, which housed the Catholic community, the library and the rector's apartment.

With the advent of Soviet power, the persecution of religion touched both this temple and 1935 it was closed, and the abbot was repressed. After the end of the war, it was decided to move the organ from the temple building, but after it was dismantled, they could no longer assemble it. The building of the Catholic Church was empty for a very long time, and as a result it was transferred to the Tambov Repair and Bearing Plant. After the work of the factory within the walls of the temple, the latter was badly destroyed and lost its former grandeur.

The revival of Catholicism in Tambov fell on 1996 when the community was restored, and already in 1997 the building was returned to the Catholic Church. After that, active restoration work began and in 1998 services were resumed.

Catholic parish today

Currently, daily holy masses are held in the temple building, and organ music concerts are held every last Sunday of the month. In addition, meetings are held in the temple for everyone who is interested in Catholicism as a religion.

In the summer of 1907, the Catholic community presented to the construction and technical department of the Vologda province a plan for the construction of a stone church building, according to the project of the architect I.V. Padlevsky. The city authorities allocated a site to the community on Galkinskaya Street. In August 1909, the first work on laying the foundation was completed; in the spring of 1910, the foundation was consecrated.

On October 19 (November 1), 1913, the provincial technical and construction commission examined the completed church building and gave permission for its operation. The act of the commission was considered by the Construction Department of the Vologda Provincial Board and approved by the vice-governor on October 23 (November 5), 1913 (minutes No. 480). October 27 (November 9), 1913 Canon Konstantin Budkevich, rector of the church of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg, solemnly consecrated the temple in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

The main facade of the building had a massive semi-circular portal lined with granite and topped with a stepped pediment, as well as a low tower, which had slots for narrow windows and ended with a gable roof with small stepped pediments on the sides. On the plan, the building had a cruciform appearance. The naves located on the side of the wall were cut through by two pairs of windows on two tiers: from above - with a semicircular completion, from below - with a rectangular one. The arms of the transept, which also had a stepped top, have two rectangular windows at the bottom, and a large semicircular window at the top. On the side of the altar component of the building, across the entire width of the transept, there is a two-story building intended for service needs, which is in perfect harmony with the temple. The annex served as a priest's residence, a parish house and a sacristy. The rear end of the two-story extension was decorated with a stepped pediment. The general appearance of the temple was compact and elegant, which still distinguishes it from the background of urban development. Built in 1913, the temple did not last long - until 1929. In 1911-1926. the rector of the parish was Father Jan Vorslav, in which he was arrested in the late 1920s. Fathers Vyacheslav Gluzinsky and Friedrich-Josafat Giscard helped him. In 1925-1926. a priest from Kostroma, father Jozef Yuzvik, came to the parish, who at the same time bordered the parishes of Kostroma, Arkhangelsk, Yaroslavl and Rybinsk. The size of the community has decreased significantly, because. many Polish families left for their homeland.

During 1917-1922, a large number of the city's Catholics were repressed. In 1929, a decision was made to liquidate the Catholic community and close the church. The temple was given to the city Young Pioneers Club. In the 1970s-1980s. The building was abandoned and was slowly falling apart. In March 1989, after repairs carried out by the Public Catering Trust, the Miskolc restaurant was opened in the temple. In Vologda in 1993 a Catholic community and the Parish of the Assumption of the Mother of God were formed. The Catholic parish of Vologda has repeatedly appealed to the authorities with a request to return the building. From the windows of the parish chapel you can see the temple building, one of the most unusual buildings in the city. In the winter of 1991, a lease agreement was signed for a building that used to be a temple. On September 9, 1993, the building was privatized and it became the property of Miskolc LLC, which has been independently restoring and rebuilding the building since 2012. During these years, the building was resold and rented out (including to the CULT nightclub).

At the moment, the building houses the Miskolc entertainment center (named after the third largest city in Hungary, known as a settlement since the Paleolithic era that has preserved traditional medieval culture and buildings, or the Hungarian women's basketball team of the same name), as well as a restaurant. The building is certified as an identified architectural monument, as an object of the cultural heritage of Russia. For twenty years the Catholic community has been unsuccessfully fighting for the return of the church to the parish. On September 15, 2014, Archbishop Pavel Pezzi visited the parish of the Assumption of the Mother of God in Vologda, which celebrated the centenary of the construction of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The parish has priests called verbists, the Congregation of the Society for the Word of God (SVD), founded in 1875 by St. Arnold Janssen. There are concerts of classical music, including organ. In the summer vacations are organized for the children of the parish, and pilgrimage trips are made.

Question: Recently I was walking along Ostrovsky Street and saw an original church near Basket Hall, not like our churches. What is this temple?

Konstantin

Answer from a student of the Institute of Social Technologies Tatiana DUNYASHEVA:

At the intersection of Ostrovsky and Aydinov streets is the Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This temple attracts the attention of not only the Catholics of our republic, but also pilgrims from different cities of Russia and even the world. Of particular interest to them are the Christian shrines stored in it - the miraculous statue of the Fatima Mother of God and a particle of the Cross of the Lord.

Tourists are also attracted by the very history of the emergence of a Catholic church in Kazan. It is worth clarifying that Catholics, as a rule, Germans by nationality, have lived in the Volga region since the 18th century. The construction of this temple took three years. The grand opening took place on August 29, 2008.

A permanent Catholic parish in Kazan appeared in 1835. The premises where the liturgy was celebrated and where the priests lived were at first located in the building of the city magistrate (currently house 3 on Bauman street), in 1847 the parish was moved to the Lebedev house (currently house number 19 on Karl Marx street), then to the house of Kiselevsky (currently house 68/25 on Bolshaya Krasnaya Street), later - to the house of Yanovsky (now not preserved).

In 1856, the issue of accommodation was officially resolved, and soon a stone building of the temple was built and consecrated according to the project of Alexander Ivanovich Peske, a wooden house for clergy, a little later - a wooden wing of the service. The constructed buildings were repaired as the city improved. After the decree of Nicholas II of April 17, 1905 "On Tolerance of Religions", restrictions on the appearance of churches of Christian confessions were abolished. Now they could be built in the form of temples. Catholic symbols of the temple could also be introduced, bell towers could be erected. Then the parish began work on the expansion of the temple. The restructuring project was drawn up free of charge by the provincial engineer Lev Kazimirovich Khrschonovich, and the appearance of the building changed beyond recognition. On September 14, 1908, the church was consecrated and opened for worship.

This was the church in the 1930s

After the establishment of Soviet power, the parish continued to work, but only for a while. In 1921, his activities were stopped. Later, the building of the church was transferred to the Kazan Aviation Institute (currently - KNRTU-KAI named after A.N. Tupolev) for the aerodynamic department. Only a small chapel at the Arsk cemetery remained active.

The Catholic parish in Kazan was restored and registered in 1995. Due to the difficulty of moving the wind tunnel from the historic Catholic church in 1999, the Kazan mayor's office decided to allocate a site in the city center at the intersection of Ostrovsky and Aidinov streets to Kazan Catholics for the construction of a new church. Construction began in 2005. The cornerstone consecration mass took place on September 11, 2005.

To date, the life of the community has been established: with the help of sisters and active parishioners, catechesis is carried out for children, youth and adults, youth meetings are regularly held, choir classes, foreign language lessons, theater performances are organized. Charitable foundation "Caritas", apostolic movement "Legion of Mary" work at the temple. The parishioners publish the newspaper Our Parish.