For these working stiffs, ambivalence rather than amore from the Pope
- Apr 18, 2021
The president of the Belarusian bishops’ conference has been barred from reentering his country from abroad, after warning in a pastoral letter that the nation’s worsening crisis could spill into civil war.
Belarus’s authorities on Monday detained a factory strike organizer and a leading opposition activist, part of a methodical effort to stifle weeks of protests against the country’s authoritarian leader after an election the opposition says was rigged.
Catholic leaders in Minsk protested after law enforcement agencies blocked the entry of Sts. Simon and Helena Church and later arrested protesters who had fled inside to avoid police.
WARSAW, Poland — Bishops in Belarus demanded an end to repression and confirmed Catholic clergy and laypeople were beaten and jailed during street protests following disputed Aug. 9 elections. “The beating of peaceful demonstrators who want to know the truth, their cruel treatment and inhumane detention, is a grave sin
Catholic leaders urged dialogue and restraint in Belarus, amid violent street clashes following a contested Aug. 9 presidential election.
A U.S. official praised Belarus for releasing a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that Russia wanted extradited.
Although Catholics in most East European countries have backed measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic, for some it has also revived painful memories of communist rule. Sensitivities over church closures have also surfaced in Western Europe, where some Catholics have questioned the right of civil authorities to prohibit religious worship.
Catholic and Orthodox leaders condemned the bulldozing of memorial crosses at a site of communist-era mass executions.