Three Catholic priests, citizens of Poland who have served in Belarus for many years, are being forced to leave the country. The authorities have refused to extend their permits for further ministry.
This was reported by Katolik.life.
All of them served in the Vitebsk diocese. One of them is a well-known priest, Father Stanislav Mzhyhlud, a Salvatorian who for many years headed the parish in Braslav, the diocesan church of Our Lady of the Lake.
Among them is one of the first Polish missionaries, the Soleitian priest Zianon Shchonhar. Recently he served as vicar of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish in the town of Vidzy in the Braslav district, and he arrived in Belarus in 1990.
The Franciscan priest Valdemar Kuyava, vicar of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish in Udzel in the Hlybokaye district, was also denied permission to minister.
According to the outlet, believers assume that several more Polish priests of the Minsk Mogilev archdiocese may also be forced to leave Belarus.
As LF reported, the Catholic priest Anatoly Parakhnevich, rector of the parish in Olkovichi in the Vileyka district, has been detained.
Earlier, state propaganda media mentioned the priest in a negative context after his participation in a reception for Poland’s Constitution Day held at the Ukrainian embassy in Minsk, attempting to present it as something suspicious.
It soon became known that Anatoly Parakhnevich had suffered a heart attack. The 65 year old cleric remains in a 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 remand prison.
Earlier in Belarus, a Catholic priest and two Evangelical presbyters were 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 the Catholic priest Henryk Okolotovich is being seized and sold. The clergyman was convicted of treason and released two years later at the request of the Vatican.
As is known, in the Brest region the authorities have eliminated all parishes of the Greek Catholic Church. The court decision refers to an alleged threat to national interests.
Earlier we wrote that in Belarus the number of religious communities decreased after re registration in accordance with new legislation. In the Mogilev region, half of Catholic parishes ceased to operate after re registration. In the Vitebsk region, 85 Roman Catholic communities remain instead of the previous 94, and 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, Father Vladislav Zavalnyuk, to hold a service at the sarcophagus of the church’s founder Edward Voinilovich.