BREAKING Vatican Helps Secure Release of 2 Priests Imprisoned in Belarus Due to Alleged Crimes Against the State



Catholic Bishops' Conference of Belarus reports on the release of imprisoned priests
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko pardoned two Catholic priests convicted of alleged crimes against the state.
The press service of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Belarus, in its Message, expresses its gratitude to everyone who contributed to the release of the imprisoned priests from the colony: Father Henryk Akalotovich and Father Andrzej Yuchniewicz OMI.
" Show mercy to your servant, that I may live, and keep your word "
( Ps 119:17).

Dear brothers and sisters.
Encouraging the celebration of the Jubilee Year of Christianity 2025, in his bull Spes non confundit ("Hope Does Not Disappoint"), Pope Francis called for making the Holy Year 2025 a time of forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the historical custom of the Church.
The Roman Catholic Church in Belarus welcomes the positive trends of the state in the international order, the resumption of dialogue between the Republic of Belarus and the United States, as well as the strengthening of contacts with the Vatican.
We are pleased with the visit to Belarus of the High Representative of Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Claudio Gudgeroc, in October 2025 , and the agreements reached. He is a long-time friend of the Republic of Belarus, who has done a lot for the Catholic Church in our country, as well as for the development of state-church and interfaith dialogue.
His visit gave a positive impetus to further contacts, an important result of which was the decision of the President of the Republic of Belarus, as a sign of mercy and respect for the Pope, to pardon and release Catholic priests serving sentences in prison.
The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Affairs of the Oriental Churches , Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti , the Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic of Belarus, Ignazio Ceffalia, and the Chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus, Archbishop Iosif Stanevsky, took a direct and significant part in the process .
Thanks to the Head of State and representatives of the Apostolic See, the positive dynamics of bilateral relations based on traditional values, brotherhood, religious tolerance, and respect for believers are maintained.
Press Release from the Secretary of the CCBB, Priest Canon Yuri Yasevich

Vatican News Excerpt: Oblates of Mary

The news of Father Andrzej Juchniewicz's release was also reiterated this morning by the Oblates of Mary in Poland, who recalled that the priest, in addition to being the Superior of the Oblates in Belarus and parish priest in Szumina, also served as President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious Orders of Men and Women in that country. He was arrested on May 8, 2024, for political reasons and charged first with subversive activity and then with various criminal offenses. On April 30, 2025, after a lengthy detention, he was definitively sentenced to 13 years in prison, which he was serving in a penal colony. The statement recalled that the Oblate missionaries of Mary Immaculate returned to Belarus in 1992 and that construction of a new church and parish center in Minsk began in 2020.
Detained despite illness
Father Akalatovich, of Polish origin, was born in Belarus and is a Belarusian citizen. Ordained a priest in 1984, he served as parish priest of the Church of St. Joseph in the Valozhyn District of the Minsk Region until his arrest on November 16, 2023. During his long pre-trial detention, there were serious concerns about his poor health. Shortly before his arrest, he had suffered a heart attack and was recovering from stomach surgery for cancer.
https://www.vaticannews.va/it/chiesa/news/2025-11/belarus-chiesa-cattolica-liberazione-sacerdoti.html

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