US Secretary Mike Pompeo on October 13, 2020, joined a growing chorus calling for Belarus to allow Archbishop of Minsk, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, to return to the country.
“More than 40 days have passed since Belarusian authorities prevented a fellow citizen, Catholic Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, from re-entering the country, on the spurious notion that faith leaders should not publicly challenge injustices,” Secretary Pompeo said in a public statement. “Their action is itself an injustice and an affront to religious freedom. Faith is not merely a private endeavor. I urge the Belarusian government to right this wrong and allow the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus back into his country.”
The Archbishop of Minsk traveled to Poland for celebrations in honor of Our Lady of Częstochowa at the end of August. He has been unable to return to Belarus because of a prohibition issued by the Belarusian authorities against the prelate.