Roman Catholic Archbishop and Belarusian citizen Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz denied entry to country
On Monday, Belarusian border guards have not allowed Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, Head of the Roman Catholic Church of Belarus, to enter the country. The prelate was returning from Poland, where he was on a business trip.
“The border guards of the Republic of Belarus denied Head of the Belarusian Roman Catholic episcopate entry to the country without any explanation at the Kuznica-Bruzhi border crossing point,” the official statement on catholic.by reads.
It should be noted that Archbishop Kondrusiewicz has Belarusian citizenship.
“Our press service has no comment on this particular situation,” Anton Bychkouski, spokesman for the Belarusian State Border Committee, said when reached by belsat.eu.
On August 15, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz called on the Belarusian authorities, including president Alyaksandr Lukashenka, to put an end to growing police violence in the country. According to him, the bloodshed in the streets of Belarusian cities, as well as battering and ill-treating protesters are nothing but a ‘heavy sin on the conscience of those who give criminal orders and do violence’.
Last week, dozens of protesters who are seeking the resignation of the incumbent head of state found shelter from OMON riot police in the Red Cathedral, one of the main Roman Catholic churches in Minsk.
As reported earlier, Pavel (Ponomaryov), Orthodox Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslauye, was removed from office on the back of his appeals to stop violence, as well as visiting hospitalised people who were injured during the dispersal of peaceful rallies.
