Published March 25, 2005
Magadan women to join church at Easter vigil
Two women in Magadan, Russia, are among the thousands of people around the globe who are preparing to become Catholic this Easter weekend.
Ludmila Pak and Valentina Ivanova are going through the RCIA, or Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, program at Nativity of Jesus Parish in Magadan, the only Catholic parish in this city of 150,000 people about halfway up Russia’s east coast. Two American diocesan priests, Father Michael Shields of Anchorage and Father David Means of St. Louis, lead the 200-member parish.
According to Father Shields, pastor of Nativity of Jesus since 1994, Pak and Ivanova have chosen to become Catholic in an environment that bears little resemblance, culturally, to Alaska or the rest of the United States.
Historically, Orthodoxy has been Russia’s dominant religion, with about 80 million members there compared with 600,000 Catholics. And for most of the 20th century, all religious faiths were suppressed to varying degrees by the communist government.
Father Shields interviewed Pak and Ivanova and translated their remarks for the Anchor.
Ivanova and Pak told Father Shields that when they share a meal or spend holidays visiting with non-Catholics, they are frequently asked why they are joining the Catholic Church instead of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Over the past year, Ivanova and Pak have gained lots of practice answering that question.
"I read, thought and asked, and realized the Catholic Church was the true church," Ivanova told Father Shields. "I can’t say the Orthodox isn’t true, but here there is love preached and lived. Here in the Catholic Church, I see (God) is a father who cares for his children."
In Russia, there is still a "crowd mentality," Father Shields said, adding that this probably stems from the decades under communism when "if you stood out, you might get arrested."
For Pak, who was a child in the 1950s and ’60s when "atheism was the norm," fate rather than faith was the guiding force in her life, she said.
The culture began to change under General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, who came to power in 1985 and introduced "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize communism. Those policies changed the face of the Soviet Union and, in 1991, it splintered into 15 independent republics.
After the breakup, Pak said her friends and relatives quickly sought baptism into the Russian Orthodox Church. However, when she asked questions about the religion, believers had little information.
"They were honest and told me that they didn’t really know anything about being Orthodox," she told Father Shields.
Then, a year ago, Ivanova and Pak were invited to the Palm Sunday Mass at Nativity of Jesus.
"I will never forget that day," Pak said. "I felt like I had come home. The Stations of the Cross had started and people were praying so beautifully," she recalled.
Pak’s mother died when she was 3, and she was sent to a Soviet-run orphanage at age 7. She said she has found comfort in the Catholic faith.
"I find here what I didn’t receive enough of in my childhood: love. God is here and God is love," Pak said with tears in her eyes, Father Shields said.
Ivanova said Pope John Paul II had a big influence on her life. She remembers watching on television as the pope kissed the hand of a traditionally dressed Eastern European woman.
"There is a real person who is so huge in stature in the world yet so beautifully simple in gesture," Ivanova told Father Shields. She said she was also amazed when the pope asked that the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches forgive one another for past wrongdoings.
For the last year Pak and Ivanova have been delving into the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church through RCIA. They meet with the parish’s head catechist Sundays after Mass and have joined a small group of parishioners for a weekly apologetics course.
They have been reading Scripture, documents from the Second Vatican Council and the "Catechism of the Catholic Church," and discussing social issues in a Catholic context, according to Father Shields.
And, they’ve been learning about the religious history of their own country from their American priest.
Father Shields created pamphlets that explain the differences between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches and that detail the history of the Catholic Church in Russia, he said.
"The Orthodox faith is often mixed up with nationalism," he explained. "If you are Russian, (the perception is) you have to be Orthodox."
In fact, Catholicism and other faiths have also been part of Russia’s history, despite the 70 years of religious repression under communist rule.
"Catholics have been here — in minority of course — but have been in Russia for a long time," Father Shields said.
Ivanova and Pak told Father Shields that the year of preparation has changed the way they relate to others.
"We can’t judge now and have to forgive as we have been forgiven," they told him.
Pak said she wants to continue her faith education after the Easter vigil in order to help her "face the doubts that arise in the journey toward God."
"I will keep finding greater treasures by studying my faith," she said. "I will always be grateful to God for this long journey home."
The Nativity of Jesus Parish was officially recognized by Soviet authorities as a religious congregation in 1991 after Anchorage Archbishop Francis Hurley visited Magadan and celebrated the first public Mass ever in the port city. Archbishop Hurley has since retired.
The parish welcomed its first pastor, an American, in 1991 and has been led by Father Shields since 1994. Since its inception, the parish has received 230 people in baptism, Father Shields said.