‘Tasks from Poland’. Lukashenka about entry ban on head of Roman Catholics in Belarus
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz got into the list of banned persons (which is common for Belarus and Russia), Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on Tuesday when asked about reasons for the Roman Catholic prelate’s being denied entry to Belarus.
According to him, Kondrusiewicz suddenly left for Warsaw ‘for consultations’ and, received ‘certain tasks there. He is not the only one banned, he is just a better known person, Lukashenka stressed.
It should be noted that Archbishop Kondrusiewicz has Belarusian citizenship.
“It does not matter whether he is the main Catholic, the main Orthodox, or the main Muslim. He has to live by the law. If you mix church and politics and call for believers, Catholics, who are wonderful people, there is double responsibility for that,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes him.
There is no persecution of the Roman Catholic Church and its members in Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka added.
A day earlier, Belarusian border guards did not allow 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.
In mid August, Kondrusiewicz called on the Belarusian authorities, including president Lukashenka, to put an end to growing police violence in the country. In his opinion, 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’.
