Court Rules Against New Life Church

New Life Church Time may be running out for the New Life Church inMinsk, Belarus as they endeavour to prevent the forced sale of their church building. The Minsk City Economic Court ruled on July 21 that the church must sell their converted cowshed for a small fraction of its estimated value. On August 4, the church filed its final appeal. They also published an open letter to the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, asking him to intervene. Also on August 4, the church's pastor, Vyacheslav Goncharenko, was fined one million rubles ($523 CAD) for organizing an unsanctioned church service. This fine is thirty times the minimum monthly wage in Belarus.

For more information on the persecution of Christians in Belarus, go to the Belarus Country Report.

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Belarus News

  • Another Church Leader Arrested
    The priest Anatol Parakhnevich is raising a communion cup.
    Father Anatol Parakhnevich
    Photo: Katolik.life
     

    On March 16th, masked security officials arrested Anatol Parakhnevich, a 65-year-old Catholic priest, at his parish in Alkovichi, Minsk Region. During the arrest, officers searched his home as well as the church building. Following the raid, both premises were sealed, with the keys being returned one week later.

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  • Priests Pardoned by the Nation's Presidential Leader
    Father Henryk Akalotovich and Father Andrzej Yuchniewicz are standing with Archbishop Ignazio Ceffalia and Archbishop Iosif Stanevsky.
    Father Henryk (second from left) and Father Andrei
    (second from right), along with two archbishops.
    Photo: Catholic.by

    Two Catholic priests who had been convicted and sentenced to more than 10 years in prison were pardoned and freed from a Belarusian labour camp on November 20th. State media claimed that the church leaders, who were granted clemency by President Alexander Lukashenko, had been "convicted of serious crimes against the state, as well as other crimes."

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  • KGB Declares Religious Freedom Group "Extremist"
    A church is seen between two trees.
    An Orthodox Church in Belarus.
    Photo: Pexels

    Amidst the ongoing oppression of Christians in Belarus, an organization was established in 2020, bringing together leaders from multiple churches in an effort to monitor and publicize persecution in the country. The organization was registered in neighbouring Lithuania as "Christian Vision for Belarus."

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  • New Religious Restrictions Pass into Law
    President Aleksandr Lukashenko
    President Aleksandr Lukashenko
    Photo: Wikipedia / Tatarstan.ru (cc)

    On December 30th, President Aleksandr Lukashenko officially passed into law new religious regulations, finalizing a bill that had initially been introduced in September 2023. For more details, see this page. The policies are scheduled to take effect on July 5th and, while the legislation carries various new stipulations, the most significant is the requirement that all religious communities must re-register within one year of the law coming into effect.

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