Pavel Seviaryniec: Catholic Church bewares repressions against Catholics in Belarus

Vatican’s leadership is compelled to be very careful in negotiations with official Minsk.

A political prisoner and a co-chairman of the organizational committee for the creation of the party Belarusian Christian Democracy Pavel Seviaryniec stated that in an interview to Radio Racyja. This is how he commented on Lukashenka’s gratitude to Vatican for ‘supporting the re-establishment of the relations with the European Union’.

According to the politician, the leadership of the Catholic Church is compelled to be careful because one and a half million Catholics live in Belarus.

“Lukashenka can take repressive measures. The Catholic Church and Catholics understand that. That is why they behave quite carefully in Belarus. The Catholic Church must under no circumstances be condemned for talking with Lukashenka. It may be trying to ease the position of Catholics. From the other side, I think that they understand in Vatican that there is the issue of moral. Such a dialogue and such a conversation is like a mine field”, - the political prisoner said.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s statements will hardly precipitate the Pope’s visit to Belarus.

“The issue of a visit will be decided not by Vatican and Lukashenka, but by Vatican and Moscow”, - Pavel Seviaryniec said.

We would remind that the dictator today thanked Vatican for the assistance in re-establishing the relations with the European Union and invited the Pope to Belarus.