Minsk hosts meeting of Council of Episcopal Conferences

1 октября 2017

This week, Minsk hosted a meeting of the Council of Episcopal Conferences. This is the main event of the year for the Roman Catholic Church in Europe. 45 countries participate in the assembly. The Belarusian President met with representatives of the clergy. The focus of the talk was on tolerance, the integration of the Church into social issues, and the future of the European continent.

The President emphasized that the visit of the Catholic clergy to Minsk serves as the recognition of the policy of peace and harmony that Belarus conducts both domestically and internationally. The time and place for the meeting are quite fitting, too. This year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Belarus and the Holy See.

In Belarus, representatives of 26 denominations live peacefully. Therefore it is logical that Minsk has become the platform where global issues can be discussed. After their historic meeting of the Pope and the Patriarch in Cuba, the heads of the two churches did not rule out that they would continue the dialogue. Alexander Lukashenko proposed organizing this meeting in Minsk.

The final event of the assembly was a joint festive mass in the Holy Trinity Church. After that, the resolution of the Conference was read out. The final message speaks of the unity of Europe. The church of the continent does everything to strengthen spiritual ties. Among the priorities is the issue of youth, it was also reflected in the final communiqué.

The final document of the Council of Episcopal Conferences will be presented to all the Catholic clergy of the world. The next meeting of the Council of Episcopal Conferences will take place in Poznan, Poland.