State Dept demands Belarus authorities let Catholic head into the country
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: media.voltron.voanews.com
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded that the Belarusian authorities allow the re-entry of the head of Belarusian Catholics, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk-Mogilev, who was not allowed to cross the border of the Republic the day before.
“Belarusian authorities should allow the re-entry of Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, so he can tend to his flock during the ongoing protests,” Pompeo wrote on his Twitter.
The head of the State Department stressed that the leader of the Belarusian Catholics and all Belarusian people "must be allowed to exercise their fundamental freedoms, including freedom to worship."
As the UOJ reported, on August 31, 2020, Belarusian border guards did not allow the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, who was returning from Poland, into the country. The next day, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that Abp. Kondrusiewicz "received certain tasks" in Poland, and therefore he was blocked from entering the republic.
Read also
DESS: The number of communities joining OCU in 2024 is half of last year’s
Over a year, 232 communities of the UOC changed their jurisdiction.
Scale of internal damage to UOC cathedral in Zaporizhzhia shown online
The video allows viewers to assess the damage endured by the main Orthodox church of the UOC in Zaporizhzhia.
Ex-MP UOC protodeacon Novinsky declared suspicion of high treason
The former MP is accused of "ensuring that a significant part of Ukrainian society, who are believers of the UOC, remain under the direct influence of the leader of the ROC".
St Andrew’s icon survives under the rubble of UOC cathedral in Zaporizhzhia
The icon was painted by nuns of the St Nicholas Monastery in Patras (Greece) and consecrated on the relics of St Andrew the Apostle.
RF missile strike destroys St Andrew's Cathedral of UOC in Zaporizhzhia
The fragments damaged the roof of the building, dome, ceilings, cut windows and disfigured classrooms.
Media shows conditions in which persecuted communities of Volyn have to pray
After their churches were seized, UOC faithful are compelled to pray in poorly equipped facilities.