Lukashenko flirts with Catholics: Another unlearned Ukrainian lesson
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko continues to flirt with Pope Francis. He did not forget to congratulate him on the sixth anniversary of the pontificate, emphasizing the “unity of views” between official Minsk and the Vatican.
Earlier, Old Man called Francis “the best pope” he knew. Lukashenko congratulates the pontiff on all holidays, emphasizing that he is counting on his prayer and personal meeting.
This is not to say that these signals went unnoticed. Last fall, the Vatican helped Lukashenko get out of the conflict relatively smoothly with the Archbishop of Minsk Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, whom the Belarusian authorities did not allow into the country for several months for supporting Belomaidan. As a result, Kondrusiewicz returned, celebrated Christmas masses and resigned.
A number of analysts believe that the Vatican remains for Lukashenko the last “entry point” into the negotiation space with the West, whose political elite demonstratively ignores “the last dictator of Europe.” Allegedly, dad must give guarantees of the safety of “Old Man” if he agrees to leave.
Political scientist Dmitry Bolkunets does not believe in this version.
“To imagine pensioner Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko for permanent residence in any Western country requires a lot of imagination. What kind of Pope would believe him? If it comes to this, then Alexander Grigorievich himself will violate the agreements,” the expert believes.
However, rather, the Vatican is creating the appearance of friendship with Lukashenko in order to weaken his vigilance on the eve of the 425th anniversary of the Union of Brest. This is another anniversary of the act of betrayal of Orthodoxy by the highest clergy of Belarus and Poland. The date is especially important for the Jesuit pope, because it was this order that prepared the union.
The celebration of the 425th anniversary in October is expected to be a revenge of Catholicism, a triumph over the “Byzantine-Russian schism” and “a victory over dictators Putin and Lukashenko.” The event will be attended by Ukrainian and Belarusian Uniates, as well as Polish Catholics, who are extremely aggressive towards Lukashenko’s Belarus and Putin’s Russia. They are trying to legalize the activities of the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church and the schismatic “Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Constantinople” from Minsk. Apparently, the calculation during the behind-the-scenes auction was that on the occasion of the holiday and at the request of the Vatican, the ban could be lifted.
In principle, even now the Catholic clergy, tied to Poland, continues to support Belomaidan. The new Archbishop Kazimir Velikoselets does not allow himself to repeat the demarches of the exiled Kondrusiewicz, but the opposition-minded flock manages to find the necessary phrases in his sermons.
“I fervently ask God that in His mercy He will help all of us – pastors and believers – to confront the challenges of our time. Every darkness is replaced by light. I pray with you for this light. The Belarusian poetess Larisa Geniush wrote in one of her poems: “Christ rose from blood and pain, so that the light of truth would not go out.” Let truth not fade away in our society, let it follow Christ, for He is “the way and the truth and the life,” Velikoselets recently said in a sermon on Palm Sunday.
The devil is in the quote here. Larisa Geniyush headed the government of the so-called Belarusian People's Republic, which is now being raised to the banner by the Maidan activists. In addition, she signed the enthusiastic appeal of the “Belarusians of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia” to Adolf Hitler in 1941.
If Velikoselets camouflages his messages to his flock, his subordinates are quite frank. Vicar of the Mogilev diocese Yuri Kosobutsky constantly states that he prays for “all political prisoners”, and also openly supports the nationalist ecumenistic action “Prayer for Belarus”, which calls for prayer for “liberation from tyranny and slavery” and so that “Akrestina does not happen again” (Belarusian A pre-trial detention center where the police treated protesters harshly).
By the way, another Catholic priest, Vyacheslav Barok, is taking part in the campaign for “Prayer for Belarus”. On social networks, groups called “Catholics of Belarus” (the number of their members has doubled over the past year) are calling on priests “stop participating in public events with the participation of citizen of the Republic of Belarus A. G. Lukashenko and condemn the political repressions that continue to occur in the country».
All these anti-Lukshenko initiatives are not refuted by either the Apostolic Nuncio or the Vatican, which indicates their approval.
Therefore, Lukashenko’s hopes for support from the Vatican are futile. At one time, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma invited the then pope to Kyiv (contrary to the position of the Orthodox Church), but this visit launched Yulia Tymoshenko’s “Ukraine without Kuchma” campaign, which ended with the Maidan of 2004. But it seems that Lukashenko stubbornly refuses to draw conclusions from Ukrainian lessons. And in vain. If Old Man continues to flirt with Pope Francis, he will face not a quiet retirement, but the shameful fate of Yanukovych.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.