We tell you what problems believers voiced at the convention and what solutions were proposed.

Regular services in Belarusian in eight cities of Poland

53 people from different cities of Poland and Lithuania gathered for the convention.

Among them were priest

Vyacheslav Barok

from Rasoniv and priest

Dmitri Pristupa

from Lyakhavichy, who left Belarus after 2020 due to persecution.

The theme of the congress was "Church.

Belarus.

Emigration".

Today, there are already Belarusian communities in eight cities of Poland, where services in Belarusian are held regularly.

These are Warsaw, Gdańsk, Krakow, Poznan, Wrocław, Białystok, Lodz and Lublin.

In total, these pastorates are visited by more than a thousand people.

Representatives of each told about themselves.

Work in groups during the convention

The "oldest" community is in Gdańsk, it appeared in 2019.

The youngest is in Poznań, since the beginning of 2023.

The most events take place in Warsaw and Gdańsk.

They not only hold services there, but also hold Bible meetings, meetings for different groups of believers, religious classes for children, vacations at the church.

In some communities, services are held several times a week, in others - once a month.

Both Belarusian priests who left Belarus after 2020 or stayed after studying in Poland, as well as Polish priests who once worked in Belarus and know the Belarusian language, serve.

The meeting was also attended by Belarusians from those Polish cities where there are still no Belarusian religious services.

"It is not true that people will return to Belarus"

The Belarusian bishop from Vitebsk, Aleh Butkevich,

joined the video conference with the participants of the meeting for a few minutes

.

He welcomed the participants and answered several questions.

"He blessed us with this and emphasized that what we are doing is good, the Church supports it," commented one of the organizers of the convention

Artyom Tkachuk

from Lida, who now lives in Warsaw.

Artem Tkachuk in a red shirt in the center

Bishop Oleg Butkevich went on a video call with the participants of the convention

Artem is convinced that the wave of migration will not turn back.

Even after the changes in Belarus, in his opinion, far from all will return.

That's why we should take care of religious communities for Belarusian emigrants in the long term.

"It's not like something will change in Belarus, and the need for Belarusian pastoral care will disappear.

This is not true, people will not leave or return after a very long time.

That is why the creation of Belarusian pastorates abroad is one of the priorities," he is convinced.

The great wave of Belarusian migration has become a challenge for the Catholic Church and believers, the organizers of the convention believe.

Who needs Belarusian Catholics abroad?

Who should take care of them?

Can believers preserve Belarusianness in a foreign country?

How to do it?

Where to get money for the development of your communities?

How to finally bring people together?

Such questions were discussed by the participants of the meeting.

Lack of official status

In fact, there is a community, but it is not legally established.

The participants of the meeting say that the activities of Belarusian pastors have only the verbal permission of the local church authorities.

"Actually, nobody cares about Belarusians now.

All the services depend on is the good will of the priests.

Every priest who currently serves Belarusians has other responsibilities, parishes.

He sends services in his free time," says Artyom Tkachuk.

Artem Tkachuk

The participants of the congress discussed that it would be good if there was a decree that establishes the duties of a certain priest to serve Belarusians at a certain parish.

Now, not a single priest serving Belarusians in Poland has such a document.

It is more like a hobby for them.

The danger lies in the fact that no one on paper is responsible for Belarusian pastoral care.

If the local Polish bishop transfers the priest to serve in another city, the pastoral care may fall apart.

This question was voiced by one of the participants of the convention, Maryush, in an online conversation with Bishop

Butkevich

.

Mariusz is a Pole who visits the Belarusian community in Warsaw, teaches and teaches the Belarusian language.

Bishop Oleg replied that he would try to contribute to the solution of this issue.

However, Belarusian hierarchs have no power over the fate of Belarusian pastorates abroad.

The decision depends on the Polish bishops.

Participants of the congress of Catholic Belarusians in Warsaw

A good way out of the situation would be to create a common Belarusian pastoral ministry in Poland, so that the Polish bishops would appoint a priest responsible for Belarusian Catholics, explains Artyom Tkachuk.

"Belarusian pastoral care depends on lay people.

No puppeteers, no methods, no unknown funding.

Just people who wrote to each other, chatted, said: "Let's try to organize mass in Belarusian."

It was not the priests who said it, the laity themselves wanted it.

Now the task is to bring it into the ecclesiastical and legal dimension," Artyom Tkachuk sums up.

A small number of visitors

All communities face this.

One of the congress participants expressed the opinion that the reason is that it is inconvenient to remain a Belarusian-speaking Catholic abroad.

It is more comfortable to go to a nearby church at a convenient time for a Polish-language service, send children to Polish-language religious classes, choir, vacation, than to travel across the city at a not-so-convenient time.

It takes more effort not to assimilate with the local population.

"The church, not only as a religious, but as a social organization, is very useful from the point of view of Belarus, because it gathers Belarusians together, reminds them to preserve their Belarusianness.

It is also useful from the point of view of the local society, because the church helps people to feel good about themselves, to find meaning and support," says Artyom Tkachuk.

The theme of the convention is "Church.

Belarus.

emigration"

According to the meeting participants, there are cities in Poland where Belarusians would like to attend Belarusian services, but the community still needs to be established.

In many places there is a problem with Belarusian-speaking priests.

They are absent, they are busy with other duties, so they are not able to fully deal with Belarusians.

In many pastorates, there is still no structure that would help develop the community.

This is a council made up of activists.

For example, there are councils in Warsaw and Gdańsk, they meet on average once a month and decide which events should be held, what it is better to spend the collected money on, who to invite as a guest and give a speech.

So, the other day musician

Andrus Takindang

came to the Warsaw community with a concert .

Another important person to choose in the pastoral care is the treasurer, who is responsible for the money.

Belarusian pastorates abroad, as well as inside Belarus, are not financed in any way.

All the money that the community has is given by donors - ordinary people who want to support a worthy cause.

How to organize the process of collecting money and what the treasurer does was also discussed at the meeting of Catholics.

The congress ended with a divine service

Belarusians also collected money for the organization of the congress

"Lunch, coffee, tea, canapés are about 2,500 zlotys for all.

Those from the communities who could, supported.

For me, this is something unimaginable.

For example, I cannot go, but I will give 100 zlotys.

Again, no puppeteers, methodical girls.

It's like before, the whole village gathered one person for a pilgrimage, loaded a cart, collected food and went out to pray for the whole village," Artyom Tkachuk explains how activists on the ground act today.

Father

Dmitri Pristupa

proposed holding a one-day prayer meeting of all Belarusian Catholics in the center of Poland, for example in Lodz, where he himself serves.

This could become a regular event that encourages believers to gather together, the priest suggests.

Father Dmitri Pristupa

Politicization

A heated discussion broke out at the congress about the question of the politicization of Belarusian pastors.

In particular, the fact that in some churches a white-red-white flag hangs during mass, believers sometimes take a picture with it, and also sing the spiritual hymn "Mighty God" at services.

Both of these things can raise questions for the Belarusian security forces and become grounds for detention.

Some in the discussion considered national symbols an obstacle, because people who live and work in Poland, but continue to go to Belarus, fear for their own danger, that they are being watched, and therefore do not come to such services.

The other party argued that it is a normal practice even in Polish churches to display their national Polish flag.

Priest Vyacheslav Barok

explained that the Catholic Church is not against national flags.

Father Vyacheslav Barok

Many questions raised at the congress have not yet been resolved.

However, the organizers of the meeting promised that they will hold congresses in the future.

Activists from different cities will continue to keep in touch with each other.

"I can't be surprised: it's 2023, 53 Belarusians from Poland are traveling 5-6 hours one way by train on their day off at their own expense to meet other Belarusian Catholics and think about how we can develop the Belarusian pastoral ministry.

For me, this is an absolute miracle!

How many people feel the desire to be together!

I would not consider it in a narrowly religious context, it is a social phenomenon," Artyom Tkachuk is convinced.

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