Catholic Church in Turkmenistan

Contents

The Catholic Church in Turkmenistan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.

History

All Catholic infrastructure in the country was destroyed by Soviet revolutionaries in the 1920s.[1] In 1997 a request was made to recognize the local Catholic community, but was refused since the local church was not headed by a Turkmen.[1] In July 2010, the Catholic Mission received official government recognition and plans were started to both ask permission to build a Catholic church, and to reclaim a Catholic Armenian church in Turkmenbasy that still stands in the west of the country, as well as a church building in Sendar.[1] In the early 2000s, Mass was started to be celebrated at the apostolic nunciature in the capital and at parishioners' homes.[2]

In 2026, there were 3 priests in the country, serving 300 Catholics in one chapel.[3] From August 22, 2026 the Ordinary of the country (a priest with the authority of a Bishop) is Fr. Pawel Janusz Kubiak OMI. The former Ordinary was Fr. Andrzej Madej OMI.

References

  1. 1.[1.2][1.3]Fides Staff (2010-07-15). "ASIA/TURKMENISTAN - Local Catholic Church receives official government recognition". Fides. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  2. 2.Fides Staff (2006-09-15). "ASIA/TURKMENISTAN - Minute Catholic community in a land of first evangelisation, despite little religious freedom and no place of worship, dreams of building its own church one day soon". Fides. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
  3. 3.Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08