Representatives of foreign media outlets visited the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Astana as part of a press tour, Report 's correspondent in Astana informs.
Participants were briefed on the history of Kazakhstan's Catholic community and the cathedral, which serves as a center of Catholic life in the capital.
The history of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan is closely linked to the resettlement and deportation of Poles, Ukrainians, Germans and representatives of other nationalities to the republic.
Initially, believers gathered for prayer in private homes. Later, the community was able to officially establish a parish and acquire a prayer house on the outskirts of the city.
According to a clergyman, active work to develop the parish and prepare for the construction of a new church began in 1988, following the arrival of the first permanent parish priest.
The current cathedral was built and consecrated in the late 1990s. In 1999, Pope John Paul II established an Apostolic Administration in Astana, and the church was granted cathedral status.
The parish 's main shrine is the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, after which the cathedral is named.