Catholic Church in Russia to be returned

The cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Smolensk that had been turned into a state archives department will now be turned over to the Catholic Church once more. The Russian agency Interfax reported that officials in Smolensk are discussing with Poland a plan to restore the church after the archives are removed.

The governor of Smolensk Oblast, Sergey Antufyev, said, "After we are through with the construction of a new building for the state archives next year we will be ready to discuss with Poland a plan to restore or repair the Catholic church." He noted that Poland has expressed the desire to participate in the restoration of the cathedral.

The neo-Gothic cathedral was constructed through the donations of parishioners, and was completed in 1897. Services ended when it was taken over for the archives department in the 1930s.