Catholic Bishops Of Belarus To Meet With Pope Francis

The last such visit took place in 2009.

The traditional visit of the Catholic Bishops of Belarus Ad limina Apostolorum to the Vatican will take place from January 31 to February 7, 2018.

This was announced during the 67th plenary meeting of the episcopate in Rome on November 22, catholic.by reports.

The visit of the Belarusian bishops to Rome within the framework of ad limina Apostolorum will be the fourth in the history of modern Belarus. The last time such a visit took place in 2009.

The culmination of the visit will be a meeting with the Pope. In 2017, the Pontiff made changes in the protocol of visits to the Ad limina - now the meetings of the bishops with the Pope are held behind closed doors.

"We introduce our Church: who we are, where we came from, how we live, what problems we have? We speak openly about our problems. For example, about the issue of signing a concordat or agreement between the Conference of Bishops and the state," – Metropolitan of Minsk-Mahiliou Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz explains the purpose of the future trip.

During the visit, the bishops will perform the Mass in four large Roman basilicas: St. Peter, outside the walls of St. Paul, St. John Lateran and St. Mary Major (Saint Maria Maggiore).