Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
photo Ol’ga Dubjagina
by Chiara DommarcoMoscow/Rome (Agenzia Fides) – “There are places from which young people have not been able to come, for reasons known to us,” Pope Leo said at the end of the Youth Jubilee in Tor Vergata. This also applied to many young Russian Catholics, due to the significant increase in travel costs and bureaucratic difficulties. But their desire to participate in the events of this Holy Year was too strong. Thus, 90 young pilgrims of hope gathered in Moscow from July 23 to 27, while two of them flew to Rome for the Jubilee of Catholic Influencers (July 28-29).The young people who gathered in the Russian capital came from various cities of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God, and some also from the suffragan dioceses of St. Clement and St. Joseph. Divided into three groups, the young pilgrims walked through the streets of Moscow, alternating between visiting the city’s Catholic churches in the three Catholic parishes. They met in the evening at the cathedral to participate in a shared Mass and share their experiences of the day. They were accompanied by Bishop Nikolaj Dubinin. “We wanted the young people to get to know the cultural richness and peculiarities of each parish and the Catholic reality in the capital, since not all of us have the opportunity to come into contact with vibrant communities or Catholic monasteries and convents where we live,” Roman Andreev, head of youth ministry in the archdiocese, explained to Fides.During the various encounters, the young pilgrims learned about the spirituality of the Franciscans, the Salesians, Opus Dei, and Verbum Dei. They also visited the Jesuit Institute of St. Thomas and the Convent of the Missionaries of Charity, and learned about the history of the Greek-Catholic rite communities. “We, too, were able to feel like pilgrims of hope and part of the universal Church. When we return home, we will take this spark of hope back to our parishes and to the entire country,” Roman added.However, Liza and Andrej weren’t with the young people in Moscow: they flew to Rome as media representatives of the Catholic Cathedral of Moscow to participate in the anniversary of digital missionaries and influencers, along with over 1,000 creators from 76 countries and several thousand others who were connected online.”What I will remember most,” Andrej told Fides, “is the incredible unity of the universal Church that we were able to experience during these days. Thousands of smiling faces from dozens of countries singing hymns of praise to the one God. For Catholics from a small Russian community, this is an incredible experience.”During the two eventful days, the content creators from Moscow participated in masses and Eucharistic adoration, dedicated their mission to the Virgin Mary in the Vatican Gardens, discussed in working groups, visited the Apostolic Palace, and received a surprise greeting from Pope Leo.”Every time I thought, ‘It couldn’t get any better than what I’m experiencing now,’ something surprising happened,” Liza says. “A very special moment for me was the Eucharistic adoration: imagine St. Peter’s Basilica just for us (influencers, editor’s note), in the presence of Jesus. And even though we came from different countries and spoke different languages, we were united by the same faith in Christ. It was a uniquely beautiful moment in which I experienced the unity and closeness of God, his love and mercy.”A celebration for those who decide to put their social media talents at the service of others, not with the goal of popularity, but with the desire to create content that brings young and old closer to God. And Liza and Andrej wanted to try this too, despite all the difficulties. “When we decided to come here (to Rome, editor’s note),” Andrej continues, “we did so because we wanted to meet other digital missionaries from countries where the voice of the Catholic Church is weak, and by chance we met Daniel, a young Catholic from Tokyo. When we heard his story, we realized that the situation of Catholics in Russia is, in some ways, very similar to that of Catholics in Japan: so many problems and so many hopes in common.” “We have received so much inspiration from talented young people from all over the world,” Liza concludes, “and we return home with a great desire to get to work and share what we have experienced and learned with others.”The Ecclesiastical Province of the Catholic Church in Russia consists of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow and its three suffragan dioceses: the Diocese of St. Clement in Saratov, the Diocese of St. Joseph in Irkutsk, and the Diocese of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk. Catholics in the Russian Federation represent less than 1% of the total population: they are mostly small or very small parishes, where a priest is present only rarely throughout the year. (Agenzia Fides, 5/8/2025)
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