Pope Benedict XVI grants audience to Belarusian bishops
MINSK, 18 December (BelTA) – During a visit of a group of Belarusian Catholic bishops to Rome, Pope Benedict XVI granted an audience to Bishop of Vitebsk Vladislav Blin and Head of the Belarusian Uniat Church Sergei Gaek. Pope Benedict XVI also met with all members of the Belarusian Catholic delegation. During the audience, the bishops invited Pope Benedict XVI to pay a visit to Belarus, BelTA learnt from Alexander Amelchenya, spokesman for the Secretariat of the Belarusian Catholic Bishops Conference.
During the audience, the Pope urged the Belarusian bishops to preach the Word, strengthen the unity of the Church, develop catechetesis and take care about new believers. The Pope also noted the importance of profound training of the clergy and the cooperation with the brotherly Orthodox Church for the sake of the common good of all believers.
Pope Benedict XVI noted the importance of his meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko which took place this year. The sides announced about their intention to conclude a cooperation agreement. The Pope assured that the Apostolic See was ready to cooperate with the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of Belarus to promote the prosperity of the Belarusian people.
After the audience with the Pope, Bishop Vladislav Blin met with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
“All in all, the third visit ad limina of the Belarusian Catholic bishops to Vatican has allowed us to feel the unity with the successor of St. Peter and get answers to the questions we are concerned about including those on how the Church will be developing in the future,” Alexander Amelchenya noted.
