Press releases

MINSK, 3 March (BelTA) - Secretary of State of His Holiness the Pope Pietro Parolin will pay an official visit to Belarus on 12-15 March, BelTA learned from the Belarusian Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will visit Belarus on the invitation of the Belarusian authorities. “By this the Pontiff wants to expresses his deep respect for the people of Belarus and meet, through his closest aide, with Belarusian Catholics in prayer and communion of hearts,” representatives of the church said.

During his visit to Belarus, Cardinal Pietro Parolin will consecrate the first stone of the new building of the Apostolic Nunciature in Minsk and hold talks with representatives of government bodies. He will also meet with Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl Pavel, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, members of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus, and Belarusian Catholics.

The representatives of the church noted that this visit symbolizes Pope Francis's benevolence towards the Belarusian Roman Catholic Church. “Honoring the anguished history of Belarus and sharing its hopes for the future, the Pontiff commended the country's role of being a meeting place for the parties to the dramatic conflict that has rocked the region,” the Belarusian Roman Catholic Church emphasized.