New Bishop of Karaganda: “Mission means reaching out to those who have yet to encounter Christ or whose faith has faded away”

Piotr Pytlovany described mission as reaching out to people who have not encountered Christ or those whose faith has weakened ahead of his episcopal ordination on October 10 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima, Mother of All Peoples in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. In an interview with Agenzia Fides, Pytlovany stated that mission involves more than organizing events and can include priests traveling long distances to celebrate Mass and listen to people.

Pytlovany, who was born in Poland, has served in Kazakhstan since 1995 when he arrived as a fidei donum priest. He previously served as the rector of the Interdiocesan Major Seminary of Karaganda from 2011 to 2018, as the parish priest of the Cathedral in Astana, and as the spokesperson for the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Central Asia.

The Diocese of Karaganda covers approximately 711,000 square kilometers in eastern Kazakhstan. The Catholic community includes about 8,500 faithful served by roughly 20 priests and 30 women religious across 20 parishes. The territory was established as an Apostolic Administration in 1991 and became a diocese in 1999.