RU 51/2010 - EASTERN EUROPE, SWEDEN

EASTERN EUROPE (ru, Dec. 27th, 2010). Rev. Fr. Karl Stehlin, Superior of the SSPX of Poland, communicated the following news concerning the state of the mission of the SSPX in the countries of Eastern Europe (translated and summarized by our editorial staff):

“- In Estonia, a country which is at 90% protestant, there are only 3000 Catholics, very few of whom are practitioners. Since 7 years our priests Society has a small chapel in the 4th floor of a building in the centre of the capital, Tallinn. The 50 faithful consist mainly of young families. We have a very intense contact with about 15 Lutheran pastors, horrified by the excesses, covered by their hierarchy, of gay marriages and other scandals. These pastors are very interested in the catholic Tradition. This finds an expression in their assiduous assistance to retreats that Fr. Stehlin is preaching there almost every 2 months. Since a few months, these pastors also invite some of their faithful to these conferences, and thus a good group participated in the retreat session of Saint Ignace in summer 2010. Some pastors are preparing seriously their conversion, but such a procedure is very long and complicated if one considers their situation and the multiple family problems and economic problems which they have. They know that they may be rejected very soon by their superiors This is why they are doubling their efforts to bring their followers to the Catholic faith. Our projected construction of a true church is for them a great comfort. They think even to build one day around this future centre of the Tradition a catholic school where they could exercise their profession as catechists and teachers, because many parents, even without religion, wish at least a good education for their children. By this way we could attract entire families to the faith. The license to build the new church building is in its final stage. The financial means will come from our donors. We have to see, in all that, the tender hand of Our Lady who has not forgotten that the ancestors of our dear pastors had devoted their country to her, calling their country  'Mariamaa," Land of Mary.
- In the south of Estonia is located Latvia, where we work with Fr. Valerijs, of the greek-roman Catholics, who invites us to look after a dynamic group of faithful of latin rite. Fr. Pezzutti, who is in charge of Estonia and Latvia, has begun to publish a bulletin "Immaculata » with the help of two Studite sisters faithful to the Tradition, who are also known for their ability to paint beautiful icons.
- The last Baltic country is Lithuania where we have, at Kaunas, our priest house Saint Casimir with 3 priests: the Fathers Boesiger (Belarus and Russia), Pezzutti (Estonia and Latvia), and Persie, the prior, who is in charge of the two chapels of Lithuania. By the edition of about 20 books in the Lithuanian language we are in touch with a good part of the clergy and a group of educated faithful. By friend priests we learn that our apostolate is well appreciated among the clergy, but this support remains invisible because they are all afraid of their hierarchy which is very hostile to the Tradition. The motu proprio freeing the traditional mass is straightly ignored. The only priest who celebrated that mass, was mishandled by his bishop, which fact brings him closer to our Society which he wants now to join. He already has led to our priory a full group of young people, and one of them, in fact the first one who came to see us, prepares to enter our seminar in 2011. Please pray for those generous souls.
- Passing by the Belarus, we arrive to Ukraine, where the Tradition is represented by the priests Society Saint Josaphat (YSF), of the catholic greek-roman rite, whose chief superior is our General Superior Mgr Fellay. The 17 priests of this Society hold a score of churches and chapels, especially around Lviv (ex Lemberg, as it was called at the time of the Austrian domination), with several ten thousands of faithful. Unfortunately, the liberalism and the materialism of the West are horribly causing a genuine devastation of the youths. Yet there is a small number of courageous seminarians in their seminar of the Immaculate Heart Mary where several priests of  our Society, under whom Fr. Laroche of the seminar of Zaitzkofen in Germany, provide courses of philosophy, moral, theology and dogmatic. Fr. Stehlin has been able to form a few priests of the YSF to preach the retreat of Saint Ignace, which are in principle totally unknown among the Greek Catholics. This summer, these priests preached for the first time 5 retreat sessions with 83 participants. Thanks to these retreats, the community of 15 Basilian sisters, of the Tradition, who are related to the YSF, have two new postulants.
- For finishing our overview , let’s see Poland. The SSPX has two priories: the priory Saint Pius X in Warsaw, with its beautiful church of the Immaculate Conception, with 5 priests, 3 brothers, 2 pre-seminarians, l primary school of the Holy Family with 30 students, 1 secondary school Saint Thomas Aquinas with 40 students who are partly lodged in a boarding house of boys and a boarding house of girls. Thanks to these schools, many families came closer to the SSPX and the number of faithful of the priory of Warsaw has almost doubled. The present school is only in the stage of one third built of its final capacity. The final project is: 1/ 3 boys, 1/3 girls, 1/3 chapel and common services. Here also the generosity of donors is required. The priory of Warsaw cares in addition about the chapels of Lublin, Lodz, Krakow, Katowice, Tarnow, Rzeszow and Lubatowa. The priory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Gdansk, with 3 priests and 1 brother, is also in full expansion. This priory serves the chapels of Szcecin, Torun and Bajerze. The organizing of retreat sessions is essential. In the house of retreat of Bajerze as well as at the priory of Warsaw are preached every year 8 to 10 times the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignace and 3 times the Marian retreats according to Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort. Most participants, about 15 for each retreat session, are new and young people. The reason is that, since the Holy Father’s motu proprio in 2007, there are now 62 places where the traditional mass is celebrated in Poland, often with the help of the SSPX and thanks to the traditional books which it publishes. On last October 6th, in Warsaw, Archbishop Tissier officially presented his biography of Archbishop Lefebvre in polish language. This book is currently at its 3rd edition.” In order to carry on all these projects, Rev. Fr. Karl Stehlin, responsible SSPX in Warsaw, needs your help. You can join him through the email address pater.stehlin@piusx.org.pl for further information. Thank you in his name!

SWEDEN (ru, Dec. 27th,  2010). Our Swedish correspondent provided us the text (in Swedish) of the message that the bomber of the attack of December 11th in Stockholm wrote before his ‘sacrifice’ in a commercial centre of the capital. His name was Taymour Abdel Wahab. He was aged 29, was born in Iraq, had immigrated in 1992 to Sweden, was married to a Swedish of eastern origin with whom he had 3 young children. Some extracts of his letter (our translation): "On behalf of the merciful God and the Prophet Mohammed - Peace be with him - and of the merciful God the Father. Short message to Sweden and the Swedes. Thanks to Lars Vilks and his caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, to your soldiers in Afghanistan and your silence on this: may your children, daughters, brothers and sisters die, as our brothers, sisters and children are dying! Now our group Islamic State will execute what he has promised you. We are now here in Europe and in Sweden, we are a reality, and not a chimera ; I shall not say more, because our actions will speak by themselves, if you don’t stop your war against Islam and your degrading attacks against the Prophet and your support for the stupid pork Lars Vilks. I say to all Muslims living in Sweden : stop running behind a degrading life far from the Islam; help your brothers and sisters, and fear no one and nothing except God whom you worship. And my family, try to forgive me. I could not sit and look at all the injustices made against Islam and the Prophet Mohammed when the pork Lars Vilks did what he has done. I am sorry for my lies. I never went to the Middle East for work or for earning money, but for the jihad. I hope that you can understand me one day… My dear wife and my children: I love you, I'll love you always… In the end I greet all the moudjahin, do not forget me in your prayers. Pray for me here in Sweden where Muslims are so degraded, to the point that they pray in their mosques for non-Muslims. I say to all the mudjahidine in Europe and in Sweden: it’s now time to stand up, without further delay. Come with what you have under your hand, why not a knife, I know that you will find knives. Don’t be afraid, don’t fear prison, don’t fear death. I ask God to forgive me and to forgive yourself, my brothers and faithful". To our knowledge this message - yet extremely revealing - has not been disclosed in France. It demonstrates that Islamic terrorists are true Islamic faithful.

-  O.A.M.D.G.  -