His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia was on a primatial visit to Byelorussia from May 18 to 20, 2000.

HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH ALEXY II OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA VISITS BYELORUSSIA

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia was on a primatial visit to Byelorussia from May 18 to 20, 2000.

At the Minsk airport, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was met members by the Synod of the Belorussian Orthodox Church led by Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch for All Byelorussia, and the Belorussian Prime Minister G. Novitsky. The welcoming party also included deputy Prime Minister V. Drazhin, Belorussian Presidential Staff deputy head S. Knyazev, Minister of Culture L. Gulyako, Chairman of the Council of Ministers’ Committee for Religious Affairs and Nationalities S. Buko, and Russian Ambassador in Belorussia V. Dolgov.

A brief press conference was held at the ladder. His Holiness Alexy II said that the major event of the visit would be the blessing of the House of Mercy in Minsk, built through the efforts of the Belorussian Orthodox Church and the Belorussian state. His Holiness stressed that the creation of the House of Mercy was a model of church-state cooperation in social sphere.

His Holiness the Patriarch proceeded from the airport directly to the House of Mercy. He inspected the facilities of this first multifunctional social center of the Orthodox Church to be built in the CIS. This compound will host 13 charitable projects intended to give spiritual, medical and social aid to the poor and disabled.

Already now, over 50 people receive free hot meals at the House’s public canteen, and the Orthodox Fellowships of Physicians and Sisterhood of Charity give qualified aid to seriously ill and lonely people. There is also a literature workshop for young disabled authors, a public center of mental health, a center for distribution of humanitarian aid, a Sunday school, and an icon-painting shop. The House will accommodate 150 people. There are facilities for icon-painting, embroidery, singing and drawing.

Then the Patriarch and his retinue went to the Victory Square. They laid a wreath at the memorial and sang “Eternal Memory” to the defenders of the Fatherland who fell in the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War.

The next point on the patriarchal program was the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. The Primate venerated the shrine of the church, the Minsk Icon of the Mother of God, and the relics of St. Sophia, the Princess of Slutsk. Metropolitan Filaret addressed His Holiness on behalf of the Belorussian flock.

At the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, His Holiness also saw the newly-restored facilities for the Minsk Theological Academy, which is to move in soon from the Zhirovitsy monastery.

After that His Holiness met with Belorussian Prime Minister G. Novitsky at the Government’s House. They discussed cooperation between the Church and the Belorussian state in the task of social protection of people, especially those who were affected by the Chernobyl disaster. In this connection, Mr. Novitsky noted that the authority of the Orthodox Church was growing steadily in Belarus in many ways thanks to her social service. The Belorussian Orthodox Church, he said, “has played the most important role in the spiritual revival and development of society as it helps to form noble civil and moral qualities in people and forms a basis for confessional peace and social stability in the republic”.

His Holiness, in his turn, underlined that while the Church is separated from state by law, it cannot be separated from society and the people. His Holiness expressed the conviction that state and church should be partners and allies in common efforts for the benefit of the individual and society. Among possible areas for cooperation he singled out concern for people’s moral health and efforts to preserve peace and accord in society, to solve social problems and preserve architectural monuments. His Holiness also said that church-state interaction was needed in overcoming such “diseases of the century” as drug-addiction, alcoholism and AIDS.

The same day the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church visited the National Academy of Sciences, where he presented its president, Mikhail Myasnikov, with the four volumes of Orthodox Encyclopedia. Addressing the scientists His Holiness underlined that “the worldviews of science and religion do not contradict each other”.

In the evening, His Holiness the Patriarch visited several churches in Minsk including the Churches of St. Mary-Magdalene, the Holy Resurrection, the Holy Intercession and the Church of Our Lady the Joy of All the Afflicted, which runs a Sunday school, an art shop, a pre-seminary and a catechetical school. The Patriarch inspected the church compound, visited its rehabilitation center for disabled children with cerebral palsy.

His Holiness also visited the Minsk Diocesan Office. In a solemn ceremony, he presented the four volumes of Orthodox Encyclopedia to Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk.

The main event of the visit, the opening and blessing of the House of Mercy in Minsk, took place on May 19, the Commemoration of St. Job the Sufferer. A Patriarchal worship service was conducted at the House of Mercy dedicated to this saint.

His Holiness Alexy and President Lukashenko led the solemn opening of the House. They signed an act on the completion of the construction of this social charity center. Addressing the audience, His Holiness expressed the hope that the new House of Mercy would represent a visible example of charity the Church teaches to show for the neighbours. “It is my conviction that the House of Mercy in Minsk will become a model for similar centers both in Byelorussia and Russia”, he said.

Patriarch Alexy and President Lukashenko reiterated their intention to continue developing church-state cooperation in overcoming socially significant problems and in promoting the spiritual and moral improvement of society. His Holiness the Patriarch decorated the Byelorussian president with the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, first degree, in recognition of his contribution to the consolidation of unity among Slavic nations.

After the ceremony, the President and the Patriarch inspected the facilities and the territory of the House of Mercy compound.

In the evening, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church presented church awards to the benefactors who contributed to the construction of the House of Mercy.

In conclusion of his three-day visit to Byelorussia, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia visited, on May 20, the Zhirovitsy monastery in the city of Slonim and the Baranovichi. He was met by thousands of pilgrims from Byelorussia, Russia, Ukraine and Poland at the gates of the monastery. Addressing them with an archpastoral word, His Holiness said that the Zhirovitsy monastery always remained a pillar of the faith, preserving within its walls the Chirovitsy Icon of Our Lady, a great Orthodox shrine.

His Holiness the Patrirach also visited the Minsk Seminary, which is accommodated at Zhirovitsy at present. The seminary made the Patriarch its honorary Doctor of Theology.