Latvia’s elderly kept faith alive
during years of repression
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| St.James' Cathedral, Riga, Latvia. |
Pope Francis is visiting St. James’s Cathedral in Riga,
Latvia on September 24 where he will address the elderly among others. Fr.
Pauls Klavins of the cathedral spoke to Vatican News about the event.
By Robin Gomes
Pope Francis who is on a 4-day visit to the Baltic states,
will visit St. James’ Cathedral in the Latvian capital Riga on Monday, day
3. The Holy Father is scheduled to deliver a discourse there.
Fr. Pauls Klavins the administrator of the cathedral spoke
to Janis Evertovskis of Vatican News on the papal event there.
He said that among the 260 people who will be present in the
cathedral during the Pope’s visit, will include parishioners, representatives
of charitable and social organizations, representatives of those who
suffered repression during the Soviet occupations and those who are
active in parishes through ecclesial movements such as the Legion of
Mary.
The elderly kept faith alive
Fr. Klavins also spoke about role of the elderly in keeping
their Christian faith alive during the 5 decades of Soviet and Nazi
occupations, when religious literature was not freely available. They
passed on their faith to the younger generations.
Most of Latvia’s population today who were born during or
after the World War II, went through much hardship. They suffered
political and religious repression, including deportation, under the Soviet
regime. So the Latvian generation of today is part of those people who
have been very dedicated to their faith through the years of suffering.
Bridging generation gap
Fr. Klavins hopes that Pope Francis, during his visit to St.
James’ Cathedral, will urge Latvia’s older and new generations to come closer
to each other. He pointed out that it is not easy for the older
generation to accept the values of the younger generation in today’s changing
culture dominated by the media.
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