Catholics of Rostov-on-Don in 1944—1952: Unequal Struggle for Existence and Its Outcome

Abstract

This article analyzes the concluding stage of the radical transformations period of the 1920s — 1950s, as they concerned the Roman Catholic Church in the Soviet Union, based on the example of the only temple remaining in the post-war period in Rostov Oblast, the Last Supper Church in the city of Rostov-on-Don. The analysis of the ego documents included in the only available source describing the life of the church, which is the registration record kept in the State Archive of Rostov Oblast, in the collection of the Authorized Council for Religious Affairs at the USSR Council of Ministers for Rostov Oblast, reveals the opening episode of the church in 1944, the ethnic composition of its parishioners, the peculiar features of the commune’s internal life, the search of a presbyter, and the closure. The cessation of the activities of the Catholic church and the further demolition of its building resulted from the implementation of the Soviet State’s policy related to religious organizations, with that policy starting to change drastically in the post-war period and reaching the climax in the first half of the 1960s.