We remind you that on the night of September 26 and 27, an extraordinary incident occurred in the church, which the firemen called a fire.

As a result, the church was closed for visits, rites and prayer meetings.

The authorities of the Curia appointed Father

Yuriy Sanko

as the administrator of the parish to conduct matters related to the repair and construction work in the parish sanctuary, as the official representative of the parish and the Minsk-Mohyli Metropolitan Curia in negotiations with the state authorities.

Father Yury Sanko is the press secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus.

Father Yuri Sanko

The conduct of parish activities will temporarily take place in the parish of the Name of the Most Holy Virgin in Minsk, we are talking about the arch-cathedral on Svoboda Square, 9.

At the same time, in the parsonage at the church of St. Simon and St. Elena (13 Savetskaya St.), a parish office will be open, where you can get information about the parish's activities.

At the end of November, it became known that the pastor of the Red Church, closed by the authorities, works as a janitor at the church.

The church committee of the parish approved the corresponding request of the priest.

According to the publication katolik.life, the parish published pictures with the caption: "Our parish priest - priest-canon Vladislaus - is currently experiencing not only "black" days, but also "white" ones..."

Vladyslav Zavalnyuk

  • The Red Church was closed to believers and priests by the authorities after the fire incident on September 26.

    Not long after, the authorities decided to take the building away from the parish, citing the need for repairs.

  • Already by October 12, the parish had to take its property from the building.

    But believers and the priest are not allowed into the church building.

  • On October 11, master priest Vladyslav Zavalnyuk was praying on the porch near the closed doors of the Red Church, when uniformed policemen approached him and tried to forcefully pull him away with the demand: "Come through!".

    The priest asked them not to touch him, and the policemen stopped touching him.

    Security forces prevented the prayer and other people who gathered near the shrine.

  • On October 11, the Catholic community sent an open letter to Lukashenka with a request to allow authorized representatives of the parish to inspect the fire-damaged buildings of the Red Church in Minsk.

    A copy of the letter is posted on the parish website.

  • Parishioners also stated that the fire in the church was not accidental, and sent a request to the Investigative Committee to provide information based on the results of the investigation.

  • On October 13, Edward Vainilovich, the founder of the church, turned 175 years old.

    Vainilovich, economic and political figure, memoirist, was born in 1847.

    In 1905–1910, Vainilovich's money was used to build the Red Church in Minsk in memory of his children, Simon and Alena Vainilovich, who died prematurely.

  • In early November, the Minsk City Executive Committee responded negatively to the parishioners' appeal, forbidding them to pray closer than 200 meters from the church.