A Polish religious order has requested prayers from Christians worldwide for one of its senior priests who was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment on unspecified political charges in Belarus. Source: OSV News.
Oblate Fr Andrzej Juchniewicz is the “second priest to receive a heavy sentence recently, in what’s clearly meant as a warning to other clergy not to engage in any public activity”, said Fr Marcin Wrzos, spokesman for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
“All we can do now is seek good Belarusian lawyers — people who’ll step up to the challenge of defending him. Beyond that, what’s most needed is prayer,” he said.
Fr Juchniewicz’s sentencing in Belarus follows that given to Fr Henrykh Akalatovich, an elderly parish rector from Valozyn, who began an 11-year sentence in a strict-regime penal colony on April 20.
Fr Wrzos said he had known Fr Juchniewicz since seminary studies and was “personally shocked” by his plight, adding that his order was helping appeal the April 30 sentence by the regional court in Vitebsk.
“As far as we’re concerned, Fr Juchniewicz is innocent – we count on his complete exoneration,” Fr Wrzos said.
“This case will have a chilling effect on religious life in Belarus, fuelling an atmosphere of fear that Catholic priests and nuns can be arrested or lose their visas anytime via untruthful accusations,” he said.
The jailing of Fr Juchniewicz after a protracted trial was not publicly announced in Belarus, but communicated unofficially to members of his parish, Our Lady of Fatima at Shumilina, where he was first detained a year ago.
In a statement, the Oblate order said an initial charge of undefined “subversive activities,” believed to involve posting Belarusian and Ukrainians flags on social media, had later been changed to “criminal offences.”
It added that the priest, who holds dual Belarusian and Polish citizenship, had “consistently denied all accusations” at his closed trial, held “without any media or public presence,” and said Catholics in the northeastern Vitebsk Diocese had supported him, “emphasising his many years of impeccable service.”
FULL STORY
Polish order appeals for prayers as Catholic priests face draconian sentences in Belarus (By Jonathan Luxmoore, OSV News)
