On January 7, Alyaksandr Lukashenka visited the memorial church of All Saints in Minsk and lit a candle at the icon of St. Alexander Nevsky.
In the church, the Belarusian leader was met by Pavel, Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl.
During the divine service, Alyaksandr Lukashenka stressed that celebrating Christmas was always more than a Christian tradition for the Belarusian people. He wished all Belarusians ‘health and fertility’.
“May children be born in our land. It is very important to us that there should be many children. Let them have a happy childhood and long, interesting, bright lives – and these things entirely depend on us. And our beautiful and strong Belarus will always be flourishing thanks to our working with our minds and hands,” he promised.
Interestingly, Lukashenka, who regularly attends church on religious holidays, calls himself an ‘Orthodox atheist’.
