Press releases

MINSK, 23 May (BelTA) – Replicas of the Zhirovichi and Budslav icons of the Mother of God have been donated to the Orthodox Cathedral of Three Saints Doctors in Paris, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Embassy in France.

The press service said that on 20 May, the Orthodox Cathedral of Three Saints Doctors in Paris hosted an event that celebrated two most respected Belarusian Christian relics, the Zhirovichi and Budslav icons of the Mother of God.

As he greeted the guests of the event, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to France, Permanent Representative of Belarus to UNESCO Pavel Latushko pointed out that historically Belarus is a country of interreligious and interethnic concord and mutual respect. He read out a letter of welcome from Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus. The participants also received words of greeting from Bishop Nestor, the head of the Diocese of Chersonese that includes France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal.

After the event, the Cathedral of Three Saints Doctors celebrated a solemn mass to mark the day of the Zhirovichi icon of the Mother of God celebrated on 20 May.

Another event was held at a bookstore in Paris. Its participants learned about the Belarusian tradition of celebrating the icon of the Mother of God of Budslav. The tradition has been nominated for the inclusion into the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the press service explained.

Both events took place in Paris as part of the Days of Belarusian Culture in France.