MOSCOW, Sep 24, 02 (KESTON/CWNews.com) - Construction of a Catholic church in the western Russian town of Pskov has been resumed, the Keston News Service has reported, after a long delay which local Catholics attribute to the intervention of Russian Orthodox leaders.
Local government authorities in Pskov ordered a halt to construction of the Catholic parish church in April-- shortly after they had given their approval for the project. That abrupt change in government policy was announced shortly after the Orthodox Archbishop Yevsevi expressed his opposition to the plan for a «grandiose» Catholic church in the town. (The building will accommodate 500 worshippers, with additional room for office space outside the sanctuary.)
Keston News Service reports that Catholic and Orthodox authorities in Pskov engaged in a heated debate during the summer months over the proposed size of the church building. Orthodox leaders said that the building was disproportionately large, given the small number of Catholics in Pskov. (Orthodox and Catholic spokesman also disagreed on the number of Catholics living in the town.) Catholics said that the Orthodox protesters had based their protests on inaccurate reports about the size of the proposed church.
In any event, on September 19 the local Catholic pastor, Father Kryzysztof Karolevski, told Keston that the parish had received approval to resume construction of the parish church.
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24. september 2002