The Belarusian Orthodox Church has received a warning from the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs. The relevant document was posted in the blog of the Russian publicist and blogger Protodeacon Andrei Kurayeu.
Protodeacon Andrei Kurayeu published in his blog a letter from Metropolitan Veniamin of Minsk and Zaslaul to Archbishop Artemy of Hrodna and Vaukavysk. The letter says that the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs issued a warning to the Belarusian Orthodox Church.
The church received a warning from the authorities on November 27. But the letter does not mention the claims of the authorities and what became the basis for the warning. The head of the Orthodox Church reminds the archbishop that “the text of the warning received indicates the strict obligation of religious organizations to comply with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Belarus regulating their activities.”
Metropolitan Veniamin asks Archbishop Artemy to ensure the observance of Belarusian legislation, as well as “the decisions and positions of the Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church” in the diocese entrusted to him.
During the August violence of the security forces, Archbishop Artemy of Hrodna and Vaukavysk criticized the violence in the country.
