Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz Attended A Service One Month After His Heart Surgery
- 24.08.2026, 9:45
Photo: Church of Our Lady of Ruzhantsova and St. Dominic in Rakov
The 80-year-old hierarch made his first pastoral visit since recovering from an illness.
Archbishop Emeritus Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz took part in a church service one month after undergoing heart surgery and rehabilitation. This was reported by the Telegram channel Katolik.life.
The 80-year-old prelate made his first pastoral visit since his illness—to the parish in Rakove.
“On August 23, the parish choir celebrated its 30th anniversary here. To mark the occasion, the parish invited the archbishop to preside over the celebration at the church. He even joined the choir in singing,” the public group reported.
As a reminder, news of Kondrusiewicz’s deteriorating health became known when he was unable to attend the parish celebration in Novolukoml on July 25. The archbishop sent a congratulatory letter to the parish, in which he noted that, due to his health and at the doctors’ request, he was forced to remain under medical supervision.
On July 26, the hierarch was also unable to attend a celebration for the elderly at the Minsk Cathedral—participants were informed that he was in the hospital.
It later became known that the situation was serious, but doctors detected heart failure in time and prevented another heart attack. After his condition improved, the 80-year-old hierarch underwent another heart surgery. In August, he was discharged from the hospital and underwent rehabilitation in Aksakovshchina.
Earlier, in February 2023, Archbishop Kondrusiewicz underwent surgery to remove a tumor, and in May 2024, he had heart surgery following a heart attack. The priest underwent chemotherapy, and in March 2025, he reported that the cancer had metastasized to his lungs.
Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz had served as Metropolitan of Minsk and Mogilev since 2007 and was the leader of the Catholic Church in Belarus. During the 2020 protests, he condemned the authorities for the bloodshed, violence, and mass arrests, and called for negotiations with the protesters. On August 31, 2020, as Kondrusiewicz was returning to Belarus from Poland, border guards denied him entry without explanation, even though he is a Belarusian citizen. The next day, Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Kondrusiewicz had allegedly “concealed his other citizenships, engaged in anti-state activities, and received a certain assignment in Warsaw.” Two weeks later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that Kondrusevich’s passport had been declared “invalid” following a verification of his Belarusian citizenship, though he had not been stripped of his citizenship. In November, Lukashenko claimed that Kondrusiewicz “traveled to Poland and received advice on how to destroy the country.”
In December 2020, Apostolic Nuncio Claudio Gugerotti visited Belarus and delivered a message to Lukashenko asking him to resolve the situation. Shortly thereafter, the Nunciature reported that it had received information indicating there were no obstacles to Kondrusiewicz’s return. Just two days later, on Christmas Eve, December 24, the archbishop returned to Belarus. A week later, on January 3, 2021, he announced that he was stepping down from his post upon reaching the age of 75. The position of Metropolitan of the Minsk-Mogilev Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus was filled by Joseph Stanevsky.
Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz now holds the title of Archbishop Emeritus—a term used to describe priests who, due to advanced age, have been relieved of some of their daily ministerial duties.
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