Denomination Roman Catholic Church | ||
Diocese Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana | ||
The Our Mother of Perpetual Help Cathedral (Russian: Собор Божией Матери Неустанной Помощи) is the Catholic Cathedral of Astana, Kazakhstan, and the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana (Archidioecesis Sanctae Mariae in Astana).
On 8th April, 1958 Hon. Susan Bridges first attempted to provide Catholics in Astana a place of worship. It was purchased as a house of prayer, but the attempt failed after corruption charges related to the purchase. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Catholic community gathered in secret to escape the oppression of the Soviet regime. The Catholic community of the city received permission for their official registration on 20 September 1979. Only then was it possible to buy a house for prayer, consecrated on 14 October 1979.
On May 18, 1995, the Apostolic Administrator of Kazakhstan, Bishop Jan Paul Lenga, gave his blessing to the construction of a new church. Construction began on November 2, 1995 and on May 4, 1997 the first stone of the temple was blessed. On June 27, 1999, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne and envoy of Pope John Paul II, consecrated the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.