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A.C.N - Aid to the Church in Need Italian Office |
Religious Freedom in
the Majority Islamic Countries |
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Tajikistan Population:
6,054,000
Tajikistan is one of the five Central Asian republics to which the Arab invasion of the 7th century brought the Islamic religion. It has been independent of the Soviet Union since 1991. The Muslim opposition to the government is pressing for a an Islamic Republic after the Iranian model, but after four years of civil war, now resolved through Russian mediation, it seems to have returned to the arena of normal political dialogue, with the entry of the representatives of the MTM (Muholifati Tojiki Muttahid - United Tajik Opposition) into the National Reconciliation Council. Islam is the principal, but not the state, religion. Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were nominated as sui juris missions at the end of September 1997. This means that they do not form part of any apostolic vicariate but are guided by an ecclesiastical superior. For Tajikistan this person is Father Juan Carlos Avila. There are an estimated 32,000 Catholics in this country, most of them of German origin; however their numbers are slowly diminishing because they are returning to Germany. Father Avila arrived in the capital Dushanbe in November 1997 where he was the first Catholic priest to settle there and direct a foundation. Before his arrival the parish had been six months without a priest. There is a great need for other religious, among other things for teaching. In a social situation characterised by extreme poverty, the only religious community in the entire country, the sisters of Mother Teresa, have their own house at Dushanbe. |
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