ALMATY, Kazakhstan (UCAN) -- The young pilgrims were amazed by the size of the cathedral being built in Karaganda.

The 12 Catholics, aged 15-21, largely from outlying villages around Almaty, 790 kilometers southeast of Karaganda, stood outside looking at the construction and scaffolding after their long minibus ride.

"It is amazing how big this church is. I am grateful to the Lord that I could see it," Victor Kaidanovich, 21, told UCA News.

The building, which will replace the existing St. Joseph Cathedral at the same site, will be the biggest Catholic church building in Kazakhstan and all of Central Asia.

Even incomplete it was the highlight of the pilgrimage that took the young Catholics 2,000 kilometers in this Muslim-majority country the size of western Europe. Catholics number about 40,000 in Karaganda diocese, with another 210,000 belonging to the archdiocese, diocese and apostolic administration that cover the rest of Kazakhstan.

"Previously I thought that only in Europe were there such churches. But after our pilgrimage, I learned that Kazakhstan has many churches that amaze us with their beauty," Tatiana Repina, 16, told UCA News.

She and her companions from the five parishes of Most Holy Trinity diocese in Almaty visited four churches outside their diocese and took part in recollections.

Starting from Almaty, the youths from the city, the town of Talgar and the villages of Zhanshar, Amangeldy, Bayandai and Bazargeldy traveled the 980 kilometers northwest to the capital, Astana, where Most Holy Mary archdiocese is based. They visited Karaganda on the return trip, arriving home from their six-day journey on June 24.

Father Eduardo Jose Stefani, an Almaty diocesan priest from Slovakia, and Franciscan Sister Jarmila Sumilasova, from Argentina, served as their spiritual guides and drove the two minibuses.

In addition to the distances covered, the summer heat and sometimes restricted pace on the two-lane highways through the steppes tested the group's patience.

"The trip was very difficult, but everybody withstood it," Sister Sumilasova told UCA News. "I am sure the pilgrimage and recollections will be fruitful."

St. Francis of Assisi Church in Balkhash, about 430 kilometers northwest of Almaty, was the first stopover for Mass. The town lies along the shore of Lake Balkhash, the country's largest lake. Around 50 people attend Mass there on Sundays, primarily ethnic Russians, Ukrainians and Koreans.

In Molodezny village, 100 kilometers from Astana, the pilgrims participated in recollections with Jan Papcho and Eva Shtirova, two lay missioners from Slovakia. As the priest comes to the parish only once or twice a week, Shtirova, who arrived in 2003, and Papcho, who arrived in 2006, prepare adults and children for the sacraments and do other pastoral work.

For the young pilgrims, the spiritual contemplation, focusing on sin and forgiveness, complemented the physical journey.

"What I got from all this was that God loves us all," said Kazimir Kardasz, 19.

Another pilgrim, Kristina, had a different insight: "I had not thought before these recollections that sin is an illness that affects not only me but contaminates others through me, and this became a real discovery for me."

On June 21, the young Almaty Catholics visited Our Mother of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Astana where Archbishop Tomasz Peta gave them his blessing.

In Astana, Olga, 21, was "surprised" to see nuns wearing different habits than they do in Almaty, where the School Sisters of St. Francis are the only congregation of Religious women. She said the nuns told the pilgrims about their work, arousing some interest among the girls.

Franciscan and Incarnate Word priests work in Almaty diocese.

On June 23, the youngsters set off for Karaganda, where they visited the current and future cathedrals, the Carmelite nuns' convent and Mary, Mother of the Church Seminary, the only Catholic major seminary in Central Asia.

Practicing Catholics are very few in the other four Central Asian countries, numbering about 500 in Uzbekistan and less in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. All five Central Asian countries gained their independence in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, erected that year in Karaganda, served the entire region until 1997.

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