The annual meeting of the religious who live and work in the Diocese of Saratov, south European Russia, is coming to a close today, on the Day for Consecrated Life. The meeting began on 31 January at the parish of Christ the King, in Marx, at the invitation of Bishop Clemens Pikel. The 63 attendees, “brother and sister monks from across the Diocese”, the website of the Diocese reads, focused on the subject of catechesis, inspired by the speeches of Sister Teresa Kanakri, from the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of Mary, and of another Franciscan, Brother Jose M. Vegas. In the exchange of views, attention was drawn to the factual situation in Russia and the challenges it poses for catechesis. The meeting will end with a Mass presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio to Russia Mgr. Celestino Migliore. The Diocese of Saratov is home to about 45 million people, 22,000 of them Catholics, living in the six deaneries into which the Diocese is divided. It has 26 parish communities and is served by 120 religious men and women.