Despite risks, Iraqis want Pope Francis to go ahead with visit
- Mar 4, 2021
Belarus’s Catholic archbishop pledged to remain active in national life after handing over administration of the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev to a temporary successor.
The most obvious conclusion is that the Vatican, in effect, made a deal with the devil: Allow Kondrusiewicz to return, and we’ll take his job away so that he has no official standing to challenge you anymore.
Pope Francis on Sunday accepted the resignation of Minsk’ archbishop who had been blocked for months by Belarusian authorities from returning to his homeland after criticizing a crackdown on anti-government protesters there.
After his return from a 4-month exile, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk used his Christmas liturgies to plead for unity, reconciliation, and forgiveness amid his country’s ongoing political upheaval.
After a nearly 3-month exile over his criticism of Belarusian leaders, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk will be allowed to return to his archdiocese for Christmas thanks to a personal plea from Pope Francis.
A Belarus church spokesman defended Catholics during the current crisis after a bishop was threatened with prosecution for “inciting hatred against government officials.”
A Catholic bishop in Belarus accused President Alexander Lukashenko of “insult and slander” after the government official charged the church’s exiled leader with planning to “destroy the country” and called for a bar on foreign clergy.
A Belarusian archbishop who has been denied entry back into his own country said the Vatican was doing everything in its power to resolve the situation and help him return.