Belarusians praying for Catholic Church

16 June on the Day of Belarusian Solidarity 150 people gathered at the building of the former Bernardins’ monastery in Minsk. A common prayer was made for returning the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church to the congregation, for disaffirmation of the law on religion and for equal rights of believers of all confessions in Belarus.

Militiamen were watching the action at a several meters’ distance. The vehicles for carrying the detained as well as patrol cars were parked in the yards next to the church. Among the participants there were many university candidates who are now taking their entrance exams. For this reason the decision was made not to provoke detainments but to disperse right after the prayer.

It is known that there is an authorities’ project of turning the church and the monastery into the hotel. The hotel is to be financed and built by the construction firm of one of the Arab countries. The Belarusian Catholics actively struggle for the church: every day prayers are made near the temple for returning the church to the congregation. Around 10 thousand signatures under the appeal for not demolishing the church but for returning the holy place to the catholic congregation have been submitted to Alyaksandr Lukashenka .In the struggle for the temple not only Catholics but Orthodox Christians and Protestants and representatives of other confessions take part.

The group of Greek and Roman Catholics, public and cultural figures of Belarus addressed the open letter to His Holiness Pope of Rome Benedict XVI asking for his support in preserving and returning the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church to the congregation.