Patriarch Filaret  promises to pray for Belarusian political prisoners

The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate supports Belarusians.

Heorhy Dzmitruk, the co-head of the organizing committee to create Belarusian Christian Democracy party, took part in the second Ukrainian prayer breakfast held in the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Radio Svaboda reports.

The Christian Democratic Union of Ukraine was among organizers of the event, held under aegis of the Verkhovna Rada and its chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn. The BCD co-head met with Ukrainian political and religious figures during the breakfast. According to Heorhy Dzmitruk, Patriarch Filaret promised to pray for Belarus and Belarusian political prisoners, especially for Christians.

“There was a national prayer breakfast in Ukraine attended by representatives of almost all confessions and groups of the Ukrainian Parliament as well as by foreign guests – representatives of the European Parliament, the US Senate and the German Bundestag. We had a dialogue with the patriarch as part of the conference. I told him about Belarusian political prisoners. An expression of his face changed as he heard it. He said he would pray for them. I also said that the there were many of the political prisoners were religious people belonging to different confessions. The patriarch promised to pray for them.”

Anna German, an aide to the president of Ukraine,  talked to Heorhy Dzmitruk, expressed her concerns about the situation in Belarus and emphasised the necessity of cooperation and mutual understanding. Representatives of Ukraine and European countries promised to help to organise a similar prayer breakfast in Belarus so that politicians and representatives of different confessions and NGOs could discuss their cooperation.