Bishop Emerged from Hiding to Consecrate a Church – Bishop Schneider
“There were times when we had gatherings like this, but we had to close the windows and the doors because we were checked by the secret police, and we had to hide priests.”
He recounted the story of Bishop Alexander Chira (1897-1983), a clandestine Greek Catholic bishop whom Soviet authorities urged “not to deny Christ, but only to become Orthodox,” thereby breaking communion with Rome.
“He refused,” Bishop Schneider said, and, as a consequence, he was imprisoned in “several concentration camps called gulags.”
Afterward, Bishop Chira lived under house arrest in Karaganda, concealing his identity as a bishop to avoid being sent back. “He could not reveal his identity as a bishop,” Bishop Schneider said. “Otherwise, he would be sent back. So he could only say to the people, ‘I am Father Alexander.’”
Catholic priests celebrated Mass in private homes under constant restrictions.
As the community grew, they sought permission to build a church. Communist officials refused: “It’s impossible. We are in a communist, atheist society. You cannot build churches.” Permission came only after local German Catholics warned they would emigrate to Germany if it was denied.
The authorities required the church to resemble an ordinary hall and limited its height. The faithful responded by digging downward, creating a spacious underground church adorned with “frescoes in the ceiling, gold, side altars, beautiful, really, with such love.”
When it was completed, the faithful wondered who could consecrate it, believing no Catholic bishop remained among them. On June 29, 1980, Father Alexander appeared in episcopal vestments, revealing his identity for the first time.
“The people started to weep,” Bishop Schneider recalled. An elderly woman later told him there “were more tears than holy water at the inauguration.”
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