"The highest priority for the Catholic Church in Russia, after the Communist Revolution of 1917, which destroyed its organisational and spiritual structure, was the search for people of Catholic origin to be gathered into a community again". This was mentioned by the president of the Russian Bishops Conference, mgr. Joseph Werth, as he spoke at the plenary session of the assembly of Ccee (Council of European Bishops Conferences), which ended yesterday, October 8th, in Saint Petersburg. One further priority, he went on, is "the search for priests", since "the Catholic clergy had been completely eliminated, and we needed to look for help outside our country". Even today, however, "great importance is attached to the education of priests, who are trained in Novosibirsk and Saint Petersburg". As he spoke of laity, the bishop remarked that "while in the past, when there were no priests, the Church relied on the work of the lay, their presence is still essential"; this is why, "courses to train them in the announcement and catechesis are held in all the dioceses of the territory". According to mgr. Werth, equally important "not just in our country, but all over the world, is what Benedict XVI mentioned after he was appointed: ecumenism made of good relations among Christians of different confessions".
