On January 23-27, 2018, Friar Jacek CIUPIŃSKI, the Assistant General for the Federatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO), made a fraternal visit to the Order’s presence in Kazakhstan.
The Kazakhstan community is comprised of three friars from different Jurisdictions: Friar Miha MAJETIČ is from the Province of St. Joseph in Slovenia; Friar Roberto PERETTI is from the Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua (Northern Italy); and Friar Paweł BLOK is from the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gdańsk).
The friars provide pastoral services at a small parish on the outskirts of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. In addition to doing parish ministry, they work a lot with young people, teaching them music and the English language. They also serve as confessors for various religious communities and carry out certain cultural and pastoral projects in the Archdiocese of Astana.
This visit was an opportunity to discuss the friars’ current lives and talk about the future of the mission.
Finally, the Assistant General, together with the friars, visited the Most Reverend Tomasz PETA, Archbishop of Astana.
Friar Jacek CIUPIŃSKI, Assistant General for the FEMO