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SCOTLAND & BELARUS: Seminarians kitted out for the kick-off
By John Pontifex
Seminarians from Grodno Seminary in their Celtic strips
Kick-off time won’t be the same again in a small corner of Eastern Europe after soccer-mad seminarians each received Celtic football shirts – thanks to a little bit of help from their Scottish friends.
Celtic Football Club supporter Neil Murray packed up nearly 20 of the classic green and white-striped shirts and posted them off to Grodno Seminary, Belarus.
Neil has been a leading light in efforts to support the seminary, working closely with his parish of Saint Patrick’s Church, Shieldmuir, Lanarkshire and Aid to the Church in Need.
Neil sent the shirts to Belarus after an idea came to him following a tribute to former Celtic manager Tommy Burns in which thousands of fans left shirts at their home ground in Parkhead, Glasgow, as a mark of respect.
Neil contacted the club afterwards to ask if any shirts were available in continuation of the charitable work which has been a hallmark of Celtic for so many years.
He duly received two boxes full of shirts and arranged for them to be sent to Grodno Seminary. Not long after, Neil received a letter back from the seminary thanking him for the football shirts.
Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need from his home in Craigneuk, not far from Saint Patrick’s, Shieldmuir, Neil said: “When I sent the parcel off to Grodno, I wasn’t sure it would ever get there so I was very pleased to get the letter from the seminary saying how happy they were with the tops.
“I know that the boys at the seminary have very little and many come from very poor families and, because Celtic is a very well-known team, I thought they would be glad to have the shirts.
“I hear the inter-seminary rivalry at football matches is very strong so it seemed a very natural thing to do to send them the shirts.”
Neil’s own connection with Celtic is very personal because his daughter, Ann-Frances, a hairdresser living in Hamilton, Lankarshire, is married to Rudi Vata, who played for the club in the 1990s as well as for the Albanian national side, appearing in international matches including World Cup qualifiers.
Aid to the Church in Need's Scottish Administrator Dermot Lamb said: “Celtic have done very badly and are already out of the European competition for this year. Thanks to what Neil has done, it is good to see the Celtic colours will still be visible at least in one part of Europe.
“Neil and everyone at Saint Patrick’s have been such wonderful supporters of the seminary and it’s great to see that shared commitment to Christ and the Church bear fruit in this way.”
Last year (2008), Aid to the Church in Need paid out nearly £355,000 in project support for the faithful in Belarus, of which help for Grodno Seminary forms a key part.