The president of Belarus has accused his country's “enemies” of attempting to stir up Catholic civil resistance and divide its predominant Orthodox church, after the dismissal of an Orthodox archbishop for speaking up against human rights abuses sparked widespread outrage.
“They've tried to shake us and break us – not just to bring us to our knees, but to ensure we disappear as a state and people,” said Alexander Lukashenko. “Unfortunately, the churches were also connected with this. There was an attempt to draw in Catholics, which many succumbed to, and then we saw certain vacillations among the Orthodox , which the church and its leader have coped with.”
The controversial ruler was addressing Orthodox representatives at Zhirovichi Monastery in western Belarus, as the European Union and United States imposed new sanctions on his regime. He said his country was witnessing “turbulent times”, as opposition groups sought to make its predominant Orthodox church switch allegiance from Moscow to the Ecumenical Patriarch, adding that “everything must be done” to preserve inter-faith peace and resist “attempts to break Orthodoxy”.
“They are following the proven path – a call for autocephaly, letters to Constantinople, letters to our patriarch,” said Lukanshenko, whose monastery speech was carried by Belarus's Telegram TV channel. “After these failed attempts to break up our country, external forces have resorted to a powerful information attack and economic strangulation. The last stage remains – intervention”.
Lukashenko’s allegations follow the dismissal of the Orthodox archbishop of Grodno–Volkovysk, Volodymyr Artemiy, announced in a mid–June Synod statement, after he criticised government–backed repression and warned churches against staying “silent and indifferent”.
The sacking of the 69-year-old, who was also ordered to leave his western see, was protested in several Orthodox petitions, and follows parallel criticism of Belarus's minority Catholic Church for failing to react to continued arrests and imprisonments during 2021.
Reacting to the president’s remarks, the ecumenical Christian Vision organisation said his visit to the monastery has been preceded by a heavy security sweep, including the deployment of roof snipers on the adjoining cathedral, adding that Lukashenko appeared intent on “crushing Orthodoxy under his power”.
“In building its national unity, the regime regime is also following a proven path, with a repressive machine of arrests, torture, sackings, intimidation and denial of justice,” the group said in a weekend statement. “Why do bishops and priests agree to serve the authorities, refusing an independent authentic voice, ignoring evangelical principles, remaining silent and closing their eyes to violence and lawlessness?”
The EU tightened sanctions against the Belarus regime on 25 June in response to human rights violations since Lukashenko’s disputed August 2020 re-election, and the forced landing of a Ryanair commercial flight in May.
Interviewed on Sunday by the independent Poland-based Belsat news agency, the US ambassador, Julie Fisher, said her own country was “very worried” about Lukanska's “criminal-style actions”, adding that Western sanctions would remain in place until all political prisoners, currently put at more than 500, were freed, and fresh elections held after a “national dialogue with all parties”.
In a mid-June statement, the Holy See’s press office director, Matteo Bruni, said the Vatican was “closely monitoring” the situation in Belarus “and the steps taken by various stakeholders”, while maintaining “its commitment to achieving democratic and peaceful ways to implement the legitimate demands of the Belarusian people”. He added that the Pope had briefly mentioned his concern about the country last summer.
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