Dictatorial paranoia Belarus | 03 November 2022

Belarus: Authorities ban Catholic and Pentecostal church activities in Minsk

The forced closure of the Catholic church on 26 September came less than 24 hours after “police banned Minsk's New Life Pentecostal Church from meeting for worship in the car park of the church building from which the authorities expelled it in February 2021.

 

Show: false / Country: Belarus /
As reported by Forum 18 on 13 October 2022, the authorities in Minsk banned all worship and religious activities at the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Simon and Helena on 26 September directly after a small fire broke out in an annexe. On 5 October 2022, the building agency responsible for damage repairs ordered all church property to be removed by 12 October 2022. Forum 18 reported that the forced closure of the Catholic church on 26 September came less than 24 hours after “police banned Minsk's New Life Pentecostal Church from meeting for worship in the car park of the church building from which the authorities expelled it in February 2021. A Minsk court fined two pastors for leading the Church's worship meeting in the church car park the previous Sunday”.

World Watch Research analyst Rolf Zeegers gives some background information: “During the days of the Soviet Union, the prominent Catholic church in central Minsk was confiscated by the authorities and although Roman Catholics have been allowed to rent it for worship from 1990 onwards, it has remained state property. Attempts by the church to regain ownership have been made over the years, but - as in similar Soviet church confiscations in Mogilev, Grodno and Bobruisk -  these have been to no avail. It would seem that the government does not want Catholic Christians to have a firm footing in the country.”

Rolf Zeegers continues: “Article 293 of the criminal code is being used to come down hard on all unregistered activities. According to Forum 18 the authorities still have the New Life Pentecostal church building (which was converted into modern church premises after its purchase in 2002) legally designated as a cowshed (Forum18, 7 September 2022) which is why they have been pushing for eviction since 2013. The state seems to be using every excuse to make life difficult for Christian faith communities in the country.”
 

 

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