VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis on Sunday accepted the resignation of the Archbishop of Minsk, who has been blocked by Belarusian authorities for months from returning to his homeland after criticizing protesters against the government there.
Monsignor Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, head of the diocese of Minsk-Mohilev, only returned to Belarus on December 24, just in time to celebrate Christmas. It was almost four months after he was denied entry when he returned from a religious visit to Poland. The cul-de-sac ended last month after Francis sent a former Vatican ambassador to Belarus to Minsk to meet with the country’s authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko.
According to church rules, bishops must submit their resignations before their 75th birthday, and the Vatican said Kondrusiewicz, who turned 75 on Sunday, did so. The pope immediately allowed him to retire. Popes often allow bishops to stay on for 75, even years.
The day after Kondrusiewicz tried to return to Belarus, Lukashenko accused him of “digging into politics and dragging believers.” Weeks of massive protests have sent Belarussian citizens into the streets in the daily protests demanding Lukashenko’s resignation.
The victory of the president after an election on August 9 is widely considered fraudulent. Demonstrations continued in the wake of a brutal police riot that killed more than 30,000 protesters.
Francis appointed an apostolic administrator to head the archdiocese for now, Monsignor Kazimierz Wielikosielec, who served as auxiliary bishop in the diocese of Pinsk.