Central Heating for a Parish in Belarus

The small town of Saslauje in Belarus is 15 miles north of Minsk, the capital city. The Catholic parish here has about 400 members, and their 18th-century church was shut down in Soviet times and used as a rubbish tip. In the process, it was badly damaged, and renovation work began in 2005. It continues to this day. 

But the biggest problem for the parish community was the lack of heating inside the church, with winter temperatures falling below zero, Father Dzmitry Pukhalski, the parish priest, tells us. This was very hard, especially for the children and the elderly, and was reflected in Mass attendance. For example, in summer, up to 180 people would attend, and in winter, there were at most 100. And the Sunday school, which was held inside the parish church, had to be abandoned temporarily.

Thanks to your generous help, we were able to give the parish 16,185 dollars to install a central heating system. Father Dzmitry wrote to thank us: “On behalf of the whole parish, I would like to express my huge gratitude. Thanks to this help, we were able to install central heating, and now, the elderly people who no longer used to come in winter are able to come to Mass once more. In fact, they even come to Holy Mass on weekdays now. And we can once again hold our Sunday school for children as well. Every first Sunday of the month, we celebrate the Mass for all of you who helped us.”

Code: 439-01-39