Day of Belarusian solidarity near St Joseph Church

The Day of Belarusian Solidarity is traditionally marked in Belarus and abroad.

On September 16, youth organizations start daily continuous actions to return Church of St Joseph to church members.

It was recently announced by co-head of the organizing committee for forming Belarusian Christian Democracy party Paval Sevyarynets, Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich, and youth activist Franak Vyachorka.

“We gather at 7 pm September 16. Every day we plan to hold different actions: a concert of songwriters, a plein air festival, a lecture on the history of churches, a quiz. It will be a series of actions with a message “return the church to church members,” Sevyarynets said.

On September 16, people are going to gather near the church with portraits of missing oppositionists Viktar Hanchar, Anatol Krasouski, Yury Zakharanka, journalist Zmitser Zavadski, and killed founder and director of charter97.org Aleh Byabenin.

The Church of Saint Joseph is a sample of Baroque architecture of the 17th century. Members of St Joseph Roman Catholic community have been organizing daily evening prayer services to return the church to believers since March 19, 2005.

On July 15, 2009, Leanid Hulyaka, the official responsible for religious and national affairs in Belarus, said the church of Bernardines in Minsk couldn’t be given to church members because archives of literary history were kept in the building and couldn’t be removed to another place.