Almost twenty years after the "fall of the Wall” and the end of Communist persecutions of believers, the account of martyrology in Eastern countries is still arousing emotion. It happened this morning at the auditorium of the synod at the Vatican, where Msgr. Antons Justs, bishop of Jelgava, Latvia, recalled the numerous cases of antireligious persecutions suffered from his faith brothers. Among other things, he recalled the moving case of a priest, Father Viktors, arrested because the Soviet political police had found out that he owned a Bible. At the time of the arrest, the policemen threw the Bible on the ground said Msgr. Justs trampling on it and swearing. Then the priest got down on his knees and kissed the Holy Book. For this reason, he was immediately tried and given a ten-year lager sentence. On going back to his community, ten years later, still under the Soviet dominion, Father Viktors had not relinquished his faithfulness to Christ added the Latvian bishop -. During the celebration of the Mass, offered underground to a small group of believers, he dared to raise the Bible again, proclaiming its indestructible power and risking prison again, if the police had learnt about that. At that point, in the auditorium of the synod, this morning, many people wept tears of emotion, said the spokesman, Father Giorgio Costantino.” “
