The Church of the Nativity at Magadan in the Russian Far East serves local Roman Catholics, many of whom survived Joseph Stalin's forced labor camps set up in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s to exploit gold in Kolyma's harsh subarctic climate. Today the church stands both as a monument to the millions who died or suffered in the camps and as a source of inspiration for the local population.
The church was built largely through the efforts of Father Michael Shields of Anchorage, Alaska who went to Magadan in 1994 specifically to care for those who had suffered in the camps. There are close contacts between Magadan and Anchorage, its twin city. The church also serves the local Polish community.
The parish has about 250 registered parishioners, with 50-80 attending Sunday masses regularly.[1]
History
In January 1991, Anchorage Archbishop Francis Hurley helped a small group of Russians establish the first Roman Catholic parish in the city of Magadan. For many years parishioners worshiped in a renovated apartment room. In 1994, Father Shields became pastor of the Parish of the Nativity but was seriously threatened in 1997 when the local authorities tried to prevent his work on the grounds that he was not Russian. Shields took the matter to court and, perhaps rather surprisingly, won the case.[2]
In early 2001, Father Shields and his assistant Father David Means of St Louis found a piece of land suitable for the construction of a church. As a result of donations received after Fr Shields appeared on EWTN, the Catholic television network, the new building, which cost some $750,000, started to take shape. There were serious difficulties with some of the building contractors who had to be replaced before work could continue.
The central part of the structure was completed in 2002, just in time for Christmas mass to be celebrated there. Work on the interior continued in 2003 leading to the church's consecration by Bishop Kirill Klimovich of Irkutsk in 2004.
At January 2019, Father Shields was disallowed to enter Russia because of visa status complications.[1]
Martyrs of Kolyma, Magadan
Remembering the Martyrs
The church is closely linked to the Kolyma labor camps and those who died there. This is apparent in the icons created by Russian artist Svetlana Ryanitsyna (Светлана Ряницына, Moscow)[3] especially those in the Martyrs' chapel entitled New Martyrs of Russia and Martyrs of Kolyma. The latter contains all the elements of the traditional Orthodox icon but the figures depict the new martyrs of the twentieth century. Further examples of the icons and artwork can be seen at the church's own website.
Other missions
The Church of the Nativity contributes much to the Magadan community where it continues to serve former prisoners and other less fortunate residents, particularly alcoholics through its own Alcoholics Anonymous sessions. In addition, it has a mission in the coastal village of Ola, Russia, 35km to the east, where it offers support to the indigenous people who are largely unemployed. There is also a mission in Sokol, near the local airport, offering help to those without employment, including ex-employees of bankrupt Magadan airways.
Magadan is a port town and the administrative center of Magadan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the isthmus of the Staritsky Peninsula by the Nagaev Bay; it serves as a gateway to the Kolyma region.
Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Asia-Minor.
Kolyma or Kolyma Krai is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. Kolyma Krai was never formally defined and over time it was split among various administrative units. As of 2023, it consists roughly of the Magadan Oblast, north-eastern areas of Yakutia, and the Bilibinsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
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Dalstroy, also known as Far North Construction Trust, was an organization set up in 1931 in order to manage road construction and the mining of gold in the Russian Far East, including the Magadan Region, Chukotka, parts of Yakutia and parts of present-day Kamchatka Krai.
Eduard Petrovich Berzin was a Soviet soldier, Chekist and NKVD officer that set up Dalstroy, which instituted a system of slave-labor camps in Kolyma, North-Eastern Siberia, one of the most brutal Gulag regions, where hundreds of thousands of political prisoners died or were murdered in subsequent decades.
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December 25 – Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar – December 27
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Serpantinka is the informal name for the place of detention and execution at the times of Stalinism. Though never officially found by any expedition it is believed to be located somewhere in the Kolyma region. It was under control of Sevvostlag, and the local NKVD troika used it as the second major place for the enforcement of their death sentences during the Great Terror. The few survivors recall "Serpantinka" as one of the most brutal sites, even among Stalin's camps in the Kolyma area.
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