“The Lord called bishop Nicholas Messmer, apostolic administrator to Kirghizstan, to Himself. May the Lord grant him eternal rest in His Kingdom!”. With these words, today the Moscow diocese too announced the death of the apostolic administrator of the Republic of Kirghizstan, a small Central Asian country bordering with China, an ex USSR country. Bishop Messmer was born 61 years ago in Karaganda from a Catholic family of German descent, who had suffered Stalin’s deportations. In 1975, mgr. Nicholas joined the Society of Jesus and in 1989 he was ordained. From 1997 to 2006, he was rector of the seminary of Novosibirsk, Russia, with a break in between when he went to study at the Gregoriana. The website of the German province of the Jesuit fathers reports that the bishop died in Bischkek, the capital of Kirghizstan, yesterday morning, just before he had scheduled surgery. Two of the bishop’s brothers were members of the Society of Jesus too, and one of them, Otto Messmer, was killed in Moscow on October 27th 2008 when he was father superior of the Russian province. Details of the bishop’s funeral service have not been revealed yet, but the Catholic news website of Kirghizstan, credonews.ru, writes that Holy Mass for the repose of the bishop’s soul will be officiated in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima, Mother of all Peoples, in Karaganda, at 7.00 pm tonight.