The international conference “Mogilev Roman Catholic Archdiocese: testimonies of living memory. 1783–1939. The 235th anniversary of the establishment of the Mogilev archdiocese” took place in St. Petersburg, December 6 to 9.
The conference was held with the blessing of Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, Metropolitan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, with the participation of the State Museum of the History of Religion. The main organizers were the parish of St. Stanislaus and the Catholic Higher Seminary "Mary the Queen of the Apostles."
In his speech, Metropolitan of Minsk-Mogilev Archbishop Tadeush Kondrusiewicz emphasized the fundamental role that the Mogilev Archdiocese played in the development of the Catholic Church in both the Russian Empire and Post-Soviet states, noting that "The modern structures of the Catholic Church in Russia are not a new creature, but a continuation of its glorious and at the same time tragic history adapted to modern conditions. It is still not well understood and has many "blind spots". Therefore, new research is needed in this area. ”
The Mogilev Archdiocese was established by Giovanni Andrea Archetti’s canonical act, on December 8, 1783, according to the old style, i.e. on December 19. The conference featured scientific reports highlighting the history of the Mogilev Archdiocese and other aspects of the existence of the Catholic community in Russia. The priest Christopher Pozharsky, rector of the St. Stanislav Parish, presented a report on Metropolitan Stanislav Sestrantsevich-Bogush and his grand-nephew, priest Stanislav Parchevsky, who was a friend of the poet Adam Mickiewicz.
The conference opening coincided with the publication of a colorful brochure with brief biographies of fourteen Metropolitans of Mogilev (1783–1939) and their portraits, the originals of which are now kept in the State Museum of the History of Religion. In the future, it is planned to publish the conference materials, as well as archival documents related to the beginning of the existence of the Mogilev Archdiocese in tsarist Russia.
The conference was attended by the chief bibliographer of the Bibliography Research Department of the National Library of Belarus, Andrei Baranovsky, who noted the high informational richness of the conference, its diverse cultural program, and also stressed the importance of strengthening the traditional Russian-Polish-Belarusian religious relations.
We are grateful to the conference organizing committee for donating to the library national documents, literature and information materials.
All materials are provided by the Bibliography Research Department.
