Belarusian President wants Orthodox-Catholic summit in his country

Minsk, September 24, (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said he would like the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Pope to meet in Belarus.

"I would very much like a meeting of the Moscow Patriarch and the Roman [Catholic] Pope to take place here in Belarus, in the center of Europe and at a meeting point of Orthodoxy and Catholicism," Lukashenko said in an interview with the Western media.

The president, however, admitted that "it is impossible today for certain known reasons."

In spite of this, "we, following the principles of hospitality and respecting our Catholics, have invited this great person [the pope] to visit Belarus," he said.

"I strongly regret that the incumbent pope's predecessor - John Paul II - did not come to Belarus. He wanted very much to visit our country. He loved Belarus absolutely sincerely," Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian president said he sees no reasons for religious conflicts in his country.

"It will never happen in Belarus. We have proclaimed a principle: everyone has to find his own path to the Church, if he wants to follow this path," he said.

In Belarus, "an Orthodox church and a Catholic cathedral are situated across the street from each other," the president said.

"We have never seen any confrontations, any reproaches, or wry glances between Catholic and Orthodox believers. And we will not see them," Lukashenko said.

And just a day later...

September 25, 2008 (Forum 18) - Belarus has banned a Christian music festival, initiated by Catholics, minutes before it was due to begin, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. The organisers had obtained written state permission for the festival. But, ten minutes before the first concert was to begin, local Ideology Department head Lyudmila Gornak arrived at the festival and announced that it was banned. Gornak refused to explain to Forum 18 why the event was banned, claiming - falsely - that she had told the organisers of unspecified “mistakes.” Asked repeatedly by Forum 18 for examples of the “mistakes,” she would not name any. During a recent visit to Belarus, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone gave the government the thanks of Pope Benedict XVI “for the religious liberty that Belarus enjoys,” and praised the 2002 Religion Law as “a good law.” However, Belarusian Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant human rights defenders have collected a 50,000 signature petition against the Law. Taking note of the human rights defenders’ concerns, the European Parliament passed a resolution observing that the 2002 Law “contravenes international principles of religious freedom and human rights, including those laid out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).