Belarusian Priest Andrei Parfenchyk Passed Away

In 2011, the priest was praying for political prisoners.

Belarusian orthodox priest Andrei Parfenchyk died from a serious, incurable disease, being very young. He was not even forty. He was the rector of the parish of St. Alexander Komansky in Palermo (Italy). Prior to that, he served as abbot of the Kletsk church for 9 years, nn.by reports.

Andrei Parfenchyk was born in Minsk and belonged to a pleiad of young clergymen who had grown up in independent Belarus and valued their Belarusianship.

In the autumn of 2018, Italian doctors diagnosed Father Andrei with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, stage 4. The doctors did everything possible to save the priest’s life, but lately they could only alleviate the suffering of the patient. Andrei Parfenchyk's family decided to bring him to his homeland, to Belarus, to continue treatment at the Republican Cancer Center in Barauliany. The cost of transportation was 5,000 euros. The Italian medical insurance did not cover the costs, and there was no longer a possibility to apply for a Belarusian insurance.

The required amount was raised in five days. On March 1, Father Andrei returned to Minsk, but he did not live long.

Iryna Khalip wrote a week ago: “Friends, I want to ask you for help to a very good person. His name is Andrei Parfenchyk. Father Andrei. When we met, he was the abbot of the church in Kletsk. It was summer 2011, I was just released from prison, my husband was transferred to a colony. And one evening, Father Andrei called me. At first, I could not understand why the Kletsk priest was interested, since I had no relation to Orthodoxy. But he called just to support. He prayed for political prisoners together with his parishioners in the church. He brought me farm vegetables and fruits from his parishioners. After our evening telephone conversations, I understood that I had a wonderful friend who voluntarily assumed the function of a psychotherapist as well. Without it, it would be much more difficult for me to cope with the nightmare of that time.”