A special “Day of Prayer and Solidarity with the Holy Father” is to be celebrated in the Greek-Catholic community in Belarus on Sunday, 8 October. It marks the 410th anniversary of the Union of Brest (23 December 1595), which sanctioned the reconciliation and full communion between the Greek-Catholic communities of Ukraine and neighbouring areas and the Church of Rome, then led by Pope Clement VIII. “In the blessed time of the 410th anniversary of the Union of Brest, – says Archimandrite Sergio Gajek, Apostolic Visitator – we Greek-Catholics of Belarus wish to express our deep gratitude to the Roman Pontiffs for their paternal solicitude for our Church through the centuries”. The Greek-Catholic community also intends to participate, together with the Bielorussian faithful of the Latin rite, in the celebrations of 11 and 12 November at Vitebsk, marking the annual feast of St. Jehoshaphat, at which the new president of the Catholic bishops of Belarus, Bishop Aleksandr Kaszkiewicz of Godna, is expected to be present for the first time. On this occasion the life and work of Monsignor Ceslav Sipovich, Apostolic Visitator and co-founder of the Bielorussian programme of Vatican Radio, will be commemorated on the 25th anniversary of his death.
