More than 10 Polish priests of the Minsk-Mahiliou Archdiocese may be forced to leave Belarus. According to information from Christian Vision, 11 priests have either not received approval to continue their religious activities or have received permission for only a minimum period.
According to the outlet, Metropolitan Archbishop of Minsk-Mahiliou Iosif Staneŭski appealed to Aliaksandr Lukashenka with a request to extend the ministry permits for these priests. Their names have not been disclosed so far.
One of the priests who is already due to leave Belarus is Polish Dominican Roman Schulz. He was bid farewell on Aug. 15 during a solemn Mass at the Mahiliou Cathedral. The service was attended by Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus Archbishop Ignazio Ceffalia, Iosif Staneŭski and Auxiliary Bishop of the Minsk-Mahiliou Archdiocese Alaksandr Jaszeuski, its vicar general.
Schulz served in Belarus for nearly 20 years. He was administrator of the parish of St. Casimir and St. Jadwiga in Mahiliou, organized the annual Rosary Congress and took part in other Catholic projects.
Katolik.life confirms that Schulz did not receive permission to continue serving in Belarus. A similar situation had already arisen in 2016, but at that time the decision not to renew his permit was overturned and the priest continued his work.
After his departure, the Dominicans will not be able to continue independently providing pastoral care to the Mahiliou parish. As the publication notes, at least two friars are required for the monastic community to continue its activities.
“The friars will continue providing pastoral care to the community for some time, but will then be forced to hand it over. There remains hope that the bishops will be able to find priests who will take over the parish and continue promoting the devotion to Saint Queen Jadwiga,” the article says.
