A Belarusian bishops’ spokesman downplayed a police raid on Minsk’s Catholic cathedral, although a prominent lay Catholic warned arrests elsewhere suggested the move could signal further police action. “We don’t really know what the police were seeking,” Father Yuri Sanko, spokesman for the Minsk-based bishops’ conference, told Catholic News Service July 8, four days after police arrived at Minsk’s Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral after the main Sunday Mass. “Although they spoke with the cathedral clergy, no one was arrested and nothing confiscated, and we haven’t heard of other similar incidents.” On July 3, President Alexander Lukashenko had warned Catholics against singing a hymn, “Magutny Bozha” (“Almighty God”), which has been a symbol for anti-regime protests.
Belarusian president warns against singing of decades-old hymn
Belarusian president warns against singing of decades-old hymn
