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Faithful reconstructing Roman Catholic church in Rahachow

Restoration work is carried out at a ruined Roman Catholic church in Rahachow, Homyel region, ahead of the church’s 100th consecration anniversary to be observed in August 2012, BelaPAN reports.

The walls and roof of the St. Antonius Patavinus have already been reconstructed since the work began in 2003.

Catholic believers from across Belarus are working there on a volantarily basis. They plan to reconstruct a tower this year and then get down to the replication of the interior.

Meanwhile, the local Catholic priest, Andrey Shut, conducts services in a small chapel (photo 4).

“If the church opens, the number of parishioners will surely increase,” he says. “A church is not a museum or theater but a prayer house and it should be reconstructed exactly for this purpose.”

Built in 1912, the church operated only until the end of the 1930s. The Soviet authorities used it as a grain storage facility, manufacturing workshop, fire station and bakery. The building was seriously damaged by a fire in 1940 and bombings during the liberation of Rahachow from the Nazis.