Number of Belarusian Catholics decreases after meeting of Tarcisio Bertone with Lukashenka
The state press referred to the results of the last census and claimed that there were 14% of Catholics in Belarus before the meeting of “the deputy Pope” with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Newspapers started referring to a new poll on Saturday. According to it, there are only 10% of Catholics in Belarus. Tarcisio Bertone, Cardinal Secretary of State of Pope Benedict XVI, visited Minsk this week. The visit was important not only for Christians, but for all inhabitants of our country. How did mass media cover the visit of “the deputy Pope”? This is the topic of our today’s “Press review”.
Despite of the importance of the event, the majority of Belarusian mass media did not pay much attention to the visit of the Cardinal. They simply reprinted information provided by information agencies BelTA and “Interfax”. Editorials of state and independent mass media informed about the visit of Tarcisio Bertone after his meeting with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The leader of the state offered a working partnership to the Vatican, invited the Pope to Belarus and said that Archbishop Tadeush Kondrusevich was “a prodigal son”. However, the latter did not get to newspapers and was only mentioned in some TV reports.
The editorials of Saturday issues of “Zvyazda” and “Narodnaya Hazeta” are identical – they are dedicated to the meeting of the Cardinal with the Belarusian President. The newspapers did not try to invent anything; they simply reprinted the information provided by the press service of the leader of the state. “Sovetskaya Belorussiya” tried to be different. The state newspaper reported about “the extreme importance” of the meeting pompously. According to the edition, the dialogue did take place and “things were moving”.
“Speaking about practical issues that were solved, it is necessary to mention the acceleration of the process of allocating land for construction of new buildings for the nunciature, the diocesan administration and Roman-Catholic Churches in Minsk. Other issues were also discussed. The interlocutors understood each other. The dialogue did take place. In the end, Alyaksandr Lukashenka invited Pope Benedict XVI to Belarus”.
”SB” also mentioned Archbishop Tadeush Kondrusevich, however, it was done in somewhat spiteful way.
“Alyaksandr Lukashenka confessed that he valued “warm personal relations with the administration of the Roman-Catholic Church in Belarus”. The metropolitan of Minsk and Mahileu, Archbishop Tadeush Kondrusevich was sitting to the right of the Pope’s state secretary, he was smiling in a contented way...”
Why did “the deputy Pope” visit Belarus? Independent editions got interested in the issue. “Nasha Niva” recalls that Tarcisio Bertone has already visited our country before.
“Bertone visited Belarus in 1997 but he did not occupy the position of the Cardinal Secretary of State back then”.
The newspaper thinks that the visit of “the deputy Pope” is preparation for the visit of the pontiff.
“Many people considered the visit of Bertone as preparation for an official visit of the Pope as the head of the Vatican to Belarus. One more important issue that could be discussed is signing a concordat between Belarus and the Vatican in order to define the legal norms of the states’ relations in different fields. When the concordat is signed, it will strengthen the position of the Catholic Church in Belarus. Only Lithuania has such a concordat with the Vatican out of all post-Soviet countries”.
”Radio Liberty” quotes a political scientist Alyaksandr Klaskouski who thinks that the concordat will only make it easier for the state to influence the domestic Roman Catholic Church.
“If the concordat is signed, the possibility of exercising influence on the domestic Roman Catholic Church and on certain electors will increase. Second, the Belarusian administration does not exclude that it could help normalize relations with Europe”.
Experts of “Radio Liberty” are divided in opinion whether the Pope will visit Belarus. Some of them think it may be impossible due to Lukashenka’s regime and the existence of political prisoners, but Alyaksandr Milinkevich reminds that “Pope John Paul II visited Cuba where there is a much more repressive regime and it improved the situation in that country”.
By the way, there is something more interesting about it. The state press referred to the results of the last census and claimed that there were 14% of Catholics in Belarus before the meeting of “the deputy Pope” with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. However, “Sovetsakya Belorussiya” referred to some BSU survey according to which there are only 10% of Catholics in our country in its Saturday issue…
Despite of the importance of the event, the majority of Belarusian mass media did not pay much attention to the visit of the Cardinal. They simply reprinted information provided by information agencies BelTA and “Interfax”. Editorials of state and independent mass media informed about the visit of Tarcisio Bertone after his meeting with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The leader of the state offered a working partnership to the Vatican, invited the Pope to Belarus and said that Archbishop Tadeush Kondrusevich was “a prodigal son”. However, the latter did not get to newspapers and was only mentioned in some TV reports.
The editorials of Saturday issues of “Zvyazda” and “Narodnaya Hazeta” are identical – they are dedicated to the meeting of the Cardinal with the Belarusian President. The newspapers did not try to invent anything; they simply reprinted the information provided by the press service of the leader of the state. “Sovetskaya Belorussiya” tried to be different. The state newspaper reported about “the extreme importance” of the meeting pompously. According to the edition, the dialogue did take place and “things were moving”.
“Speaking about practical issues that were solved, it is necessary to mention the acceleration of the process of allocating land for construction of new buildings for the nunciature, the diocesan administration and Roman-Catholic Churches in Minsk. Other issues were also discussed. The interlocutors understood each other. The dialogue did take place. In the end, Alyaksandr Lukashenka invited Pope Benedict XVI to Belarus”.
”SB” also mentioned Archbishop Tadeush Kondrusevich, however, it was done in somewhat spiteful way.
“Alyaksandr Lukashenka confessed that he valued “warm personal relations with the administration of the Roman-Catholic Church in Belarus”. The metropolitan of Minsk and Mahileu, Archbishop Tadeush Kondrusevich was sitting to the right of the Pope’s state secretary, he was smiling in a contented way...”
Why did “the deputy Pope” visit Belarus? Independent editions got interested in the issue. “Nasha Niva” recalls that Tarcisio Bertone has already visited our country before.
“Bertone visited Belarus in 1997 but he did not occupy the position of the Cardinal Secretary of State back then”.
The newspaper thinks that the visit of “the deputy Pope” is preparation for the visit of the pontiff.
“Many people considered the visit of Bertone as preparation for an official visit of the Pope as the head of the Vatican to Belarus. One more important issue that could be discussed is signing a concordat between Belarus and the Vatican in order to define the legal norms of the states’ relations in different fields. When the concordat is signed, it will strengthen the position of the Catholic Church in Belarus. Only Lithuania has such a concordat with the Vatican out of all post-Soviet countries”.
”Radio Liberty” quotes a political scientist Alyaksandr Klaskouski who thinks that the concordat will only make it easier for the state to influence the domestic Roman Catholic Church.
“If the concordat is signed, the possibility of exercising influence on the domestic Roman Catholic Church and on certain electors will increase. Second, the Belarusian administration does not exclude that it could help normalize relations with Europe”.
Experts of “Radio Liberty” are divided in opinion whether the Pope will visit Belarus. Some of them think it may be impossible due to Lukashenka’s regime and the existence of political prisoners, but Alyaksandr Milinkevich reminds that “Pope John Paul II visited Cuba where there is a much more repressive regime and it improved the situation in that country”.
By the way, there is something more interesting about it. The state press referred to the results of the last census and claimed that there were 14% of Catholics in Belarus before the meeting of “the deputy Pope” with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. However, “Sovetsakya Belorussiya” referred to some BSU survey according to which there are only 10% of Catholics in our country in its Saturday issue…
