Five Polish Priests and a Monk Denied Extension of Ministry Permits in Belarus

Five Catholic priests and one monk of the Minsk-Mahiliou Archdiocese holding Polish citizenship have been denied extensions of their permits to serve in Belarus, Christian Vision writes.

According to the outlet, permission to continue ministry was denied to:

• parish priest of St Alexius Parish in Ivenets, Father Lech Bachanek;
• dean of the Stoubtsy Deanery and parish priest of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Nalibaki, Canon Marian Shershen;
• dean of the Myadzel Deanery and parish priest of St Nicholas Parish in Svir, Canon Bogusław Madziejewski;
• parish priest of St Andrew the Apostle Parish in Narach, Father Paweł Lyalita;
• parish priest of St Francis Parish in Salihorsk, Father Sobesław Tamala;
• Capuchin monk serving at St Casimir Parish in Maladzyechna, Brother Wojciech Wróblewski.

All of them had served in Belarus for many years. Father Lech Bachanek has served in Ivenets since 2000 — for more than 25 years. During that time, he implemented youth projects and founded the “Music Workshop”. Ten years ago, in 2016, he had already been denied an extension of his permit, but after public attention the authorities reversed the decision and issued a new permit.

This is already the third such case. Earlier, extensions were denied to three Polish priests of the Vitsyebsk Diocese and two priests of the Pinsk Diocese.