“We consider it very significant that the new pontiff was elected on the day in which the Byzantine Church according to the Julian calendar celebrates the memory of St. Methodius, one of the two Apostles of the Slavs”, said the Apostolic Visitator for the Greek-Catholics of Belarus, Archimandrite Sergio Gajek, in a briefing to SIR. In a special message addressed to the faithful, Father Gajek writes: “We have received the first words of the new Pope with great attention and wish to be “a more courageous Church” that “looks with serenity to the past and has no fear of the future”. Our young people have responded with profound gratitude to ‘the affectionate embrace’ of Benedict XVI and with great hope are preparing for the meeting with him on the occasion of the forthcoming World Youth Day in Cologne. All the Greek-Catholics of Belarus are already praying that the new Pope may visit Belarus in the near future”.
