Church of the Holy Teresa of the Infant Jesus (Pavlodar)

Practicing Catholics in Pavlodar and Pavlodar region were from the XIX century , but their number increased especially during the war years, when Stalin’s repressions brought here large masses of population - Volga Germans , as well as the population of the Caucasus , Ukraine ^[2] . Among the deportees and those serving prison sentences in the camps of the Karlag and the labor armies were the priests. During the periods of their rare visits to the north of Kazakhstan, they also visited the city of Pavlodar, gathering believers in secret, in apartments, in order to hold a divine service ^[2] . One of them was the priest Alexander Ben ^[2] from Kustanai , who rallied the faithful of the region into a community, the other about Fr. Anton Sheshkyavichus , who served a prison sentence in the camp of Slavgorod ^[2] .

At the root of the Catholic community were its active members: Dieser Maria, Beech Eugene, Leinweber Ella, Mager Ella, Maer Regina, Russman Adolf, Lang Klara, Beilman Alexander, Schmalz Thomas, Remesh Konstantin and many, many others. Services and prayers were held in the villages of the region: Krasnoarmeyke , Shcherbakty , etc.

1978 year. Building, registration

The Catholic population of the city in the 20th century grew mainly due to the resettlement of many Volga Germans, who were Protestants and Catholics, to this area during the deportations of the Germans of the USSR . In 1978 , a church was housed in one of the private houses in the sector of private development, bought with funds raised by believers. In the same year, the parish in Pavlodar was registered, a priest from Latvia began to work, Marian was Fr. Franz Megnis ^[2] .

Being in Kyrgyzstan , in Bishkek , where Fr. Michael Keller, oh. Franz learned that there is a Catholic community in Pavlodar and it so happened that after registering the community and its members, he came to the city of Pavlodar, where he worked until 1983 ^[2] . On the city cemetery the remains of Fr. Franz, who until the last days of his life devoted himself to pastoral work in the parish of St. Theresa of the Baby Jesus ^[2] .

It is known that the authorities created many difficulties for the believers; a lot of them fell to the lot of each priest. Some of the lay people and the clergy have undergone much, but, nevertheless, the community has not ceased to exist until today ^[2] .

1997-2000. Construction, Modernity

On April 25, 1997, the parish “moved” to a new place, and St. Mass was held daily in the basement of the temple under construction. The temple was built on donations received mostly from various church organizations in Germany: Ren Trois , Munich and Cologne dioceses , Kirche in Not , Missionsprokur Nurnberg , as well as donations from parishioners ^[2] .

Currently, the church building is completely finished (construction was completed in 2000), the buildings of the women's monastery are being built on the adjacent territory. The building has a permanent exhibition exposition illustrating the history of the development of Catholicism in Pavlodar region, which the community hopes to transform into a museum in the future.

The community currently spiritually nourishes the city itself and the 15 neighboring villages where there are no communities of their own. Ministries are held in the homes of believers, and in one case, in the premises of the village club, in the village of Krasnoarmeika since 1979, there is a chapel-chapel . The community is served by nuns from the Congregation of the Sisters of the Franciscan Family of Mary .