Reopening of Minsk’s Red Church Postponed Again, Now Until Spring 2027
Reform.news Editorial Team · 28 September 2026, 20:25
https://reform.news/en/reopening-of-minsk-s-red-church-postponed-again-now-until-spring-2027/Four years have passed since the parish of Saints Simon and Helena was evicted from Minsk’s Red Church on September 26. Ahead of the latest anniversary of the church’s closure, parishioners learned that its reconstruction will not be completed in January 2027 as planned, Katolik.life reports.
The church’s owner, the state enterprise Minsk Heritage, had promised that the main works would be completed by the end of 2026 and that the building would be commissioned in January.
However, parishioners have now noticed that the date on the construction information board has been changed. The completion date is now listed as April 30 rather than January 31.
The church’s former parish priest, Father Uladzislau Zavalniuk, spoke about the first months after the closure in an interview marking the anniversary.
The priest confirmed that a broken window preceded the fire that was used as grounds for evicting parishioners from the church. This and a number of other details may contradict the official account that the fire was caused by faulty wiring; the blaze may have been deliberately set from outside.
The findings of the investigations into the fire and the broken window have never been made public.
“The parishioners were forced out, thrown out of the church,” Zavalniuk said. He also recounted that Archbishop Ante Jozić, the former Vatican representative in Belarus, sent a mini power station from the nunciature for the parish. It was used while Father Uladzislau Zavalniuk and parishioners held prayer vigils in the rectory, the priest’s house next to the church. The building had been disconnected from electricity, heating and water.
However, the use of the mini power station was later prohibited, as was the use of a wood-burning stove. The parishioners thus endured two winters, and eventually, “out of obedience to the respected Metropolitan Archbishop Yuzaf [Staneuski],” the parish priest and parishioners “withdrew from the church and rectory.” The priest has now urged them not to lose hope and to continue praying for the swift completion of the reconstruction and the return of parishioners to the church.
In September 2022, a fire broke out in the church. Minsk authorities prohibited the building’s use, and the municipal enterprise Minsk Heritage terminated the lease agreement. The Catholic community was ordered to vacate the building for repairs.