Mūsdienu katoļu misijas sākums Igaunijā (1921–1930)
The Beginnings of the Present-Day Catholic Mission in Estonia (1921–1930)

Summary/Abstract: The following article is an excerpt from the book “…une vie singuliere, avec de nombreuses bonnes pensees. Henri Werling et la mission catholique en Estonie” […a most singular life, filled with many good thoughts. Henri Werling SJ and the Catholic Mission to Estonia] (2016), written by Philippe Henri Blasen and Antoinette Reuter. In the book, we trace the life of Henri Werling (1879–1961), the eldest son of an upper-class family from Luxembourg, who made the unusual choice of becoming a Jesuit priest. Having been trained in the German province of the Society of Jesus, he was sent to East Prussia in 1921, and from there to Estonia in 1923. This part of the book, which was kindly translated into Latvian by the editorial board of the journal, focusses on the beginnings of the Catholic mission to Estonia. The Holy See had for a long time contemplated spreading the Catholic faith in Russia. After World War I, when the Russian provinces around the Baltic Sea became independent, it considered Estonia to be a good starting point for such a mission. During the winter 1921/1922 a Jesuit priest, Antonino Zecchini, made an apostolic visitation to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Both the Bishop of Riga and the representative of France to Estonia were hoping that a Jesuit mission would be established in Estonia.

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