Russia's autonomous republic of Tatarstan is creating the first inter-faith pilgrimage centre for Orthodox and Catholic Christians at a rebuilt cathedral housing a revered and historic Virgin Mary icon donated by St John Paul II.
"This miraculous icon of the Mother of God, especially revered in the Christian world, is the special pride of Kazan – the need to rebuild a majestic temple for it has always been present," Tatarstan's 83-year-old, Muslim former president, Mintimer Sharipovich Shaimiev, told a local Orthodox news agency. "Implementing this project is already helping strengthen inter-religious and inter-ethnic harmony in our republic. I hope we will all witness a great event in the near future, as the icon of the Mother of God from the Vatican finds its place here".
The Our Lady of Kazan icon, brought to Kazan from Constantinople in the Thirteenth Century, was hidden from Tatar invaders and given the title of Holy Protectress after being credited with helping save Russia from Polish and Swedish attacks and Napoleon's invasion of 1812.
It disappeared after being stolen in 1904 from the city's Theotokos Monastery, on the river Volga 450 miles east of Moscow, in what was seen as a sign of disasters to come. However, a 16th century copy, sold off cheaply with other religious objects by Russia's Bolshevik rulers, was bought by a Catholic organisation and donated in 1970 to the Portuguese shrine of Fatima, which passed it to the Pope in 1993 with a view to having it restored to Tatarstan.
In August 2004, having been barred from returning it in person by Russia's Orthodox Moscow Patriarchate, John Paul II exhibited it for veneration on the altar of St Peter's Basilica and had it presented unconditionally to Patriarch Aleksi II, who returned it to Kazan, Russia's six largest city, on the Virgin Mary's feast day a year later. During their historic February 2016 meeting in Cuba, Aleksi's successor, Kirill I, presented Pope Francis with another copy of the Kazan icon, versions of which are housed in Orthodox cathedrals in Moscow and St Petersburg, and at churches across Russia.
Ex-president Shaimiev, who assured St John Paul II in 2004 the icon's return would also "strengthen bonds of mutual understanding" between Muslims and Christians, has overseen reconstruction of Kazan's cathedral, blown up by the Bolsheviks in the 1930s, which is expected to become Russia's first ecumenical pilgrimage centre once the icon, currently in the city's Holy Cross church, is permanently housed there.
The move coincides with efforts to reassert Islam in the mostly-Muslim republic, which is also restoring its Tatar language and building dozens of mosques.
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