See - "Oblates committed to Turkmenistan"- a report from OMI INFORMATION
Central Asia is truly the new mission field of the Church. Where such areas as Africa, China and India have for centuries been fields of missionary activity, Central Asia was effectively closed by the arrival of Islam in the eighth and ninth centuries from the west, by the masses of Chengis Kahn later from the East, and the Bolsheviks from the Northwest in the 1920's.
Germans had come to what was essentially a nomadic Moslem region early in the century, along with many Russian Orthodox. More were detailed there under the heavy hand of Stalin who closed the rare church. Only in the last 10 years have the so called "newly independent states" of the region been founded and the possibility for Christian religious activity arisen.
The Catholic Germans and some Polish descendants have returned to their home countries. But priests, especially from Poland, have moved east-ward and Christian communities long bereft of the Eucharistic ministry have found new life.
The situation however is quite diverse according to the particular region. The vast reaches of Kazakstan now have some 60 priests and it is reported that there are a few Catholics in most towns, especially among the young people. Other countries of the region, previously part of the USSR, are Kazakstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The latter, as perhaps the most difficult mission, has naturally been confided to the Oblates, who entrusted the work to the Polish and the American Provinces. The territory consists of a huge desert bordered by inhabited regions on its north and on the south, which in turn borders on Iran. Arable land is diversely estimated at only 1-2% of the area. Oil and gas are the only resources, but their export is blocked for geo-political reasons. Of the total population of roughly 5 million, 10 % live in the capital city, Ashkabat or Ashgabad. Except for one teacher training institute, Ashkabat is home to all of the higher education of the country. It is a safe city inhabited by a friendly population. The people are approximately a diminishing 15% Russian and an emerging 70% Turkman with some other nationalities.
There were simply no priests in the country. The "Polish" Church built early in the century was removed in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the Polish population was largely assimilated into the Russian speaking section of the population. After an exploratory visit by George F. McLean, OMI in November, 1996, and Andrzej Madej OMI and Jef Johnson,OMI in January, 1997, Fr. Andrzej moved to Ashkabat along with Fr. Radoslav Zmitrowicz OMI in Oct. 1997. Both had studied Russian reluctantly in Poland during Soviet times and Fr. Andrzej had spent over three years in the Ukraine. Nevertheless, developing a more adequate Russian and especially learning the Turkmen language has been a significant challenge.
Moving through a succession of three other domiciles, they have now come to adequate space for living and their present work. The government requires that Churches be registered, but the requirements are such that thus far only the Islamic and the Orthodox communities are registered. The Holy See has designated as Nunzio Apostotico the Nunzio of Turkey and Fathers Andrzej and Radoslaw are present on Vatican passports as the Vatican cultural attache and Assistant, respectively.
In these circumstances there is a tacit allowance of a private liturgical life which can be joined by friends. Concretely, this means a very active Oblate community prayer life with an hour and a half of office, meditation and Mass each morning and a holy hour each afternoon. On Sundays there is a congregation of some 30 to 35 for Mass in English, with a largely Embassy, Peace Corps and Filipino congregation. This might expand to 60 on some feast days. There is also an afternoon prayer service in Russian for another 20 to 30 persons, which on feast days could reach 60, many but not all with Polish roots. During the week two sessions are held for people interested in Jesus with prayer and a progressive explanation of points of religious faith and practice. This is extended through various personal and family contacts during the week.
The cultural mission is yet to be defined and is a special interest of Fr. McLean who joined the community for two months. He has been developing a network of teams of scholars across Central Asia with some books already written in Uzbekistan and Kazakstan where a conference was held in December 98. In Ashkabat cooperation is being explored through the university, the Ministry of Education and the National Party.
The intent of this approach is actively to engage the centers of the cultural formation of the country with a view to evoking attention to its cultural and religious roots and applying these in the present process of social change. This responds to the supremely delicate national challenge to define itself in terms of its Islamic cultural roots as distinct from Russia while neither falling into fundamentalism itself or being subject to fundamentalist subversion from the Taliban on its borders with Afghanistan.
In these circumstances preaching the Gospel is quite really to be a candle moving about in a gas field. The Apostolic Nunzio is intent on the foundation of a Vatican Cultural Center which could prove a fruitful means of communicating the religious life and history of the Church throughout the world to this people, long subject to intensive Soviet atheistic propaganda.
Turkmenistan is generally considered the most centralized of the post-Soviet Republics, but life is certainly changing and will continue to do so. In terms of Vatican II the Oblate Mission is to meet the Spirit at work in the heart of this people, to fan the sparks it generates and to enable these to light the way into the new millennium. .
from OMI Information - November 1997
It's likely that most will need a map to locate the country to which our Congregation recently committed itself. Turkmenistan is in Central Asia, on the southeast coast of the Caspian Sea. Ashkhabad, its capital, is less than 50km from the Iran border - the Kopet Mountains rising over 9500 feet. Distances, as the crow flies, are Teheran, Iran - 600km southwest; Karachi, Pakistan - 1600km southeast; Kabul, Afghanistan, 1000km east; Ankara, Turkey, 2200 km west; Moscow, 2600 km northwest. Bordering countries are, clockwise, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran.
Until 1990, Turkmenistan was one of 15 Republics that made up the USSR. The region, with a Turkish-speaking Muslim population, had been conquered by Russia in the 1860's. When the USSR broke up, Turkmenistan became independent (1991), becoming part of the Community of Independent States (CIS). It serves as a buffer between Iran and Uzbekistan, where the memory is kept alive of the great Turkish conqueror Tamerlane (1370-1405), in Samarkand. A significant decision was taken on January 1, 1996: the Latin alphabet - official in Turkey since 1928 - replaced the Cyrillic used for the Russian language.
Turkmenistan has an area of 488,100 sq. km, the equivalent of Spain without its islands; 2/3 of it is occupied by the desert of Garagum with its nomadic peoples. The population is only about 4.2 million (9 per sq.km). Ashkhabad, the capital, has 540,000 inhabitants. Turkmen make up about 70-80% of the population, the other groups being Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Russians, etc. The last named arrived here for economic or political reasons (deportations, etc.). The Turkmen language is closely related to Turkish. The people are 87% Sunni Muslim and 11% Orthodox. The country has huge reserves of oil and natural gas, and it exports cotton as well.
In April 1991, the Holy See appointed an Apostolic Administrator "for the Catholics of the Latin rite in Kazakhstan." He also had jurisdiction over the other four Republics of the region. New jurisdictions were set up recently "To help provide adequate religious care for the Catholics in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the Holy Father has established 3 missions sui juris in those countries of Central Asia, which until now have been under the Apostolic Administrator of Kazakstan. At the same time the Holy Father appointed ecclesiastical Superiors for these missions: for Turkmenistan, Fr. Andrzej Madej, OMI from the Polish province. It is worth noting that Turkmenistan established diplomatic relations with the Holy See on July 10, 1996.
A sui juris mission (also called autonomous mission) has been established in each of these 3 countries. The Canon Law doesn't supply a definition of the designation. The 1997 Annuario Pontificio mentions 7 such missions referring to islands in the Atlantic or Pacific, or in Nepal and Mongolia. Such a circumscription, in fact, is set up either as the very first stage of a local Church in territories where Catholics are few, or where the political status of the territory is disputed - like the Falkland Islands. The ecclesiastical superior of a sui juris mission has, according to canonists, powers similar to those of a prefect apostolic and therefore possesses "ordinary" power. His immediate reference is to the Holy See.