St Thérèse of the Child Jesus Parish (Kamianyi Brid)

This small settlement in the Zhytomyr region lies in a forest and is reached by a stony road. A porcelain factory stands at its centre. Only the oldest residents remember the parish’s beginnings. It is known that a chapel once stood here but was destroyed in the 1930s. After the war, a small chapel was built in the forest. Priests travelled from Zhytomyr to celebrate services and secretly visit the sick in their homes. During the persecution of the Christian faith, the chapel was destroyed in 1958. Pastoral work in the area began to be reorganised during Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership and the collapse of the USSR. At first, priests came from nearby Novohrad-Volynskyi and, with no chapel available, celebrated services in the cemetery. A group of parishioners then took responsibility for reviving their own parish. After painstaking efforts, the parish was registered.

The Pallottine Fathers, who initially travelled from Dovbysh, celebrated their first service in Kamianyi Brid on 30 September 1990. At the beginning of winter, the local authorities allowed services to be held in the community hall. Sisters Servants of Jesus accompanied the priests, teaching Polish and providing catechesis. At the same time, a chapel was being built. It was blessed on 24 August 1991 by the diocesan bishop, Jan Purwiński. From Christmas 1992, Fr Stanisław Firut SAC began living here and became pastor of the parish. He lived in rented accommodation until 1996 and then moved into a newly built house. In October 1994, Pallottine Sisters came to work in Kamianyi Brid, catechising children, visiting the sick and undertaking other parish duties.