As reported in an official communication of the Vicar General, Bishop Juryj Kasabucki, Archbishop Kondrusievicz was refused re-entry into Belarus on Monday (August 31). The communication went on to explain that the archbishop, who has Belarus citizenship, was stopped by border guards at the Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing and turned away “without explanation” when he attempted to return from a business trip to Poland.
Magda Kaczmarek, ACN’s head of projects in Belarus, explained, “We have to remember that the archbishop is 74 years old and no longer in the best of health. This kind of treatment could certainly have a negative effect on his health.”
According to the Internet portal of the local Church in Belarus, unknown persons changed the locks to the offices of the parish of St. Simon and St. Helen in Minsk without giving the priest and his staff prior warning. It was further reported that on August 23 the electricity supply to the parish buildings was disconnected and on August 26 the entrance to the church was blocked by security officials. In August, Archbishop Kondrusievicz had publicly criticized police violence against peaceful demonstrators.