Polish priests debarred from work in Belarus

Authorisation for religious activities in Belarus for the year 2009 haven’t been extended for three Polish Roman Catholic priests in Hrodna diocese.

Catholic priests Yan Bronowski from the village of Halynka, Hrodna region, Yan Skoneczny from the settlement of Porazava, Svislach region and Andrzej Krawczyk from Slonim, who are living in Belarus for many years, are said to stop their work in the country before January 1, 2009.

In an interview to BelaPAN the head of the religious affairs department of the office of the Religious and Ethnic Affairs commissioner Maryna Zvilik said that the reason for denial to extend permissions was the fact that “Catholic priests do not speak the state languages of the Republic of Belarus”.

Commenting on the situation, the parish priest of Hrodna Roman Catholic parish of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn (Vostraya Brama), the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Mercy, Fr Alyaksandr Shemet noted that the state shouldn’t dictate a religious organisation the language of liturgy. “As far as I know the priests, for whom permits for religious activities haven’t been extended, they have a command of the state languages at approximately the same level as other Belarusian Catholic priests and officials. And I do not see a necessity for the priests and their parishes where services had been held in Polish for many years, to pray in Belarusian or Russian,” Fr Alyaksandr said.

According to unofficial reports, extending of permits for religious activities can be denied for a number of other foreign Roman Catholic church persons, including those priests and nuns from Minsk-Mahilyou archdiocese who are also citizens of Poland.