Catholic priest Anatoly Parakhnevich, arrested by the Belarusian authorities, has suffered a heart attack. According to the outlet Katolik.life, the 65-year-old cleric remains in a pre-trial detention center in serious condition.
As far as Belarusian believers know, Parakhnevich is accused of “treason against the state.” There is no information on the specific charges. It is assumed that the priest is being held in a KGB detention facility.
More than a month ago, he was detained by unidentified masked men in several vehicles, and his home was sealed.
As LF reported, the detained Catholic priest Anatoly Parakhnevich is the rector of a parish in Olkovichi, Vileyka District.
Earlier, state propaganda media mentioned the priest in a negative context following his participation in a reception for Poland’s Constitution Day held at the Ukrainian embassy in Minsk, attempting to portray this as something suspicious.
In Belarus, a Catholic priest and two evangelical presbyters have been detained.
As LF reported, two Polish Catholic priests who had served for many years in the Brest Region were forced to leave Belarus.
As LF reported, in Belarus, by decision of the KGB, the property of Catholic priest Heinrich Okolotovich is being seized and sold. The clergyman was convicted of “treason against the state” and released two years later following a petition by the Vatican.
It is known that in the Brest Region the authorities have liquidated all parishes of the Greek Catholic Church. The court decision cites an alleged “threat to national interests.”
Earlier we wrote that in Belarus, following re-registration in accordance with new legislation, the number of religious communities has decreased. In the Mogilev Region, after re-registration, half of the Catholic parishes ceased their activities. In the Vitebsk Region, 85 Roman Catholic communities remain instead of the previous 94, in the Brest Region, 60 instead of 66.
As LF reported, the authorities did not allow the former rector of the Catholic parish of the Red Church in Minsk, priest Vladislav Zavalnyuk, to hold a service at the sarcophagus of the church’s founder, Edward Voynilovich.
