The Vatican has appointed a new head for Belarusian Catholics - “the master of Ukrainian songs”
Joseph Stanevsky was appointed the new archbishop of the Minsk-Mogilev archdiocese.
This was reported by the Vatican press service, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
He is 52 years old, originally from the Grodno region. He studied at the Military Technical Academy, and then at the Grodno Theological Seminary and the Lublin Catholic University in Poland. Until recently, Stanevsky was a suffragan bishop of the Grodno diocese.
Józef Stanevski is known for his talents in poetry and music. At one of the Catholic holidays, he performed the Ukrainian “Song about the towel,” which he himself translated into Belarusian.
Both the government and the opposition welcomed the appointment. The site “Strong News”, blocked in Belarus, recalls Stanevsky’s sympathies for Belomaidan.
“In August 2020, Jozef Stanevski compared the events in Belarus with the fratricide of Cain by Abel.
“Why does God speak to us directly? What are WE doing with the sons and daughters of our Mother Belarus,” Stanevsky wrote in his blog,” writes “Strong News” on its Facebook.
Political scientist Alexander Shpakovsky, close to the administration of the Belarusian president, believes that the appointment of the archbishop is “a logical continuation of the unspoken road map agreed upon last fall between the Belarusian authorities and the Vatican.”
“Belarusian policy is aimed at cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church, subject to the depoliticization of the church and blocking Polish influence, for the spread of which Warsaw is trying to use its position in the RCC. In general, the Vatican agrees with this formulation of the issue. The goals of the Church are much deeper than the petty aspirations of Poland, and even more so of the Belarusian nationalist elements,” Shpakovsky wrote in his Telegram channel.
On January 3, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, who was not allowed into the country for several months by the Belarusian authorities for supporting Belomaidan, resigned from his post as head of Belarusian Catholics. Bishop Casimir Velikoselec was appointed temporary apostolic administrator.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko constantly emphasizes his loyalty to Pope Francis. He called him “the best pope” he has ever known and congratulates the pontiff on all holidays, emphasizing that he counts on his prayer and personal meeting. A number of analysts believe that Lukashenko wants to restore ties with the West through the Vatican.
The Holy See agreed to hush up the incident with Kondrusiewicz, because it is important for it to properly celebrate the 425th anniversary of the Union of Brest, which became an act of betrayal of Orthodoxy by the highest clergy of Belarus and Poland. This date is especially important for the Jesuit pope, because it was this order that prepared the union.
It is expected that the event will be attended by Ukrainian and Belarusian Uniates, as well as Polish Catholics, who are extremely aggressive towards Lukashenko’s Belarus and Russia.
In general, the Catholic clergy of Belarus continues to support the opposition.
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