American Jesuit to lead Church in Kyrgyzstan
August 30, 2017
Pope Francis has named Father Anthony Corcoran, SJ, as apostolic administrator of the Church in Kyrgyzstan, a central Asian nation that was once part of the Soviet Union.
The nation of 6.0 million is 80% Muslim and 17% Russian Orthodox.
Born in 1963, Father Corcoran entered the Jesuit order in 1985 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1996. Since 1997, he has served as a missionary in Russia, first in Siberia, and then as Jesuit superior in Moscow.
“Several decades of state-imposed policies of aggressive atheism resulted in a truly wounded society,” he said in a 2014 interview.
“Likewise, here—as elsewhere—the two most recent decades of exposure to a highly globalized and often uncontrolled free-market economic system, with little sense of social responsibility, continues to inflict damage,” he added. “The observation of many is that these systems have bred a cynicism and skepticism in modern human society and in the hearts of many individuals.”
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Further information:
- Resignations and Appointments (Holy See Press Office)
- With God in the Russian Mission: Q&A with Father Anthony Corcoran, S.J. (America)
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