January 18, 2013
(Romereports.com) Alejandro Burgos is a Spaniard who was born in the city of Valladolid. But now, he's better known by his Russian name of Otests Aleksander. For ten years now, the Spaniard priest has been living in St. Petersburg.
He actually asked to be transferred. The first option was to go to the country of Kazakhstan, because of its lack of priests, but then things changed.
FR. ALEKSANDER BURGOS-VELASCO
Pastor, St. Petersburg (Russia)
“I
offered to go to Kazakhstan, but in the end that didn't turn out. So I
asked my bishop, 'What now? Where do I go? So we agreed that the next
option was Russia.”
Before staring this new
chapter, he decided to first stop in Rome, to receive a blessing from
John Paul II. Just like that, his life changed. He left the Spain's sun
behind and instead welcomed Russia's snow.
FR. ALEKSANDER BURGOS-VELASCO
Pastor, St. Petersburg (Russia)
“I
remember my first day there. I took the subway to go to the Cathedral,
where I was going to meet the bishop. We bought a bottle of Coca Cola
and during that short trip from the metro to the church, the coke
actually froze. It was minus 15, or 16 degrees. So we definitely weren't
prepared for that.”
Otests Aleksander says there is
no official data on the number of Catholics in Russia, but it's
estimated that the number ranges from 600,000 to 1 million, so about point six percent of the population.
FR. ALEKSANDER BURGOS-VELASCO
Pastor, St. Petersburg (Russia)
“The
Russian government had its list of people it was keeping an eye on.
First on the list were the Chechens and then, the Catholics. It was a
tense environment and when you went there, the tension was noticeable.”
That
tension was quite direct. In fact his parish, St. John the Baptist, was
confiscated by the government and at one point it was used as a storage room.
FR. ALEKSANDER BURGOS-VELASCO
Pastor, St. Petersburg (Russia)
“When
we first arrived, the parish was in a difficult situation. The church
was built in 1811. The Soviets eventually confiscated it and turned it
into a storage room for bikes. Then in 1984 when a reconstruction came
about, called the 'Perestroika,' the church was made into a classical
music concert hall, which was much better. In 1991 they slowly began to
allow religious celebrations there. But then the government kicked the
parish priest out and took the keys. So we had to fight a little to get
them back.”
Currently Father Aleksander is also the pastor of another church in Komi,
a federal republic that's dependent on Russia. Progress is slow, but
real. Each year less than a dozen people from that area convert to
Catholicism.
FR. ALEKSANDER BURGOS-VELASCO
Pastor, St. Petersburg (Russia)
“There
have been many, but I guess it all depends on how you see it. At least
for the heart of a pastor there are many, but not enough. It's a good
way to actually see how an evangelization should be carried out
effectively. About ten people have converted per year. It's a beautiful
thing. We've had all types of people. From people getting baptized, to
people converting from the Orthodox and Protestant Church.”
There
are many more priests like Father Aleksander, who have left their home
country to spread the message of the Gospel in a non Christian country. Instead of promoting the New Evangelization, in a way they find themselves teaching the 'first' evangelization.
BR /KLH
AA
JM
-PR
U-KLH 
