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Pope Leo XVI greets Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut during the pontiff's general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 2, 2026. Poczobut, a Catholic dissident, returned to Belarus Sept. 8, after five months in exile in Poland, saying he was prepared to risk arrest and urging Western Catholics to remember Christians imprisoned by the Alexander Lukashenka regime. (OSV News photo/Mario Tomassetti, Vatican Media/Catholic Press Photo)

World

After papal audience, Catholic dissident Poczobut heads back to Belarus

Jonathan Luxmoore|Sep 9, 2026|5 Min Read

Father Henrykh Akalatovich, a parish rector from Valožyn, Belarus, sentenced to 11 years in a penal colony, is seen in an undated photo. The elderly and unwell priest was freed Nov. 20, 2025, following the October visit of papal envoy, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, to Belarus. The priest had been listed as a political prisoner of President Alexander Lukashenko's regime and sentenced to the penal colony on Dec. 30, 2024. (OSV News photo/courtesy spring96.org)

Vatican aids release of two Belarus priests; several Catholic political prisoners remain

OSV News|Nov 21, 2025|6 Min Read

Henadz Fiadynich, one of the prisoners recently released from Belarus, speaks during a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sept. 12, 2025. (OSV News photo/Kacper Pempel, Reuters)

World

Jailed Catholic priests 'used as hostages' in Belarus

Jonathan Luxmoore|Sep 18, 2025|6 Min Read

Oblate Father Andrzej Juchniewicz, who was sentenced April 30 to 13 years' imprisonment on unspecified political charges in Belarus, is seen in an undated photograph. His Polish religious order, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, has requested prayers from Christians worldwide for Father Juchniewicz and another priest who began a draconian 11-year sentence April 20, Father Henrykh Akalatovich, an elderly parish rector from Valozyn. (OSV News photo/courtesy katolik.life)

World

Polish order appeals for prayers as Catholic priests face draconian sentences in Belarus

Jonathan Luxmoore|May 27, 2025|4 Min Read

Father Henrykh Akalatovich, seen in an undated photo, was sentenced to 11 years in a penal colony in Belarus on Dec. 30, 2024, in a move that highlights the growing persecution of Catholics in the Russia-aligned country. The priest, who had been on trial since Nov. 25 in closed session by the Minsk Regional Court, pleaded not guilty but was convicted of "treason against the state." (OSV News photo/courtesy spring96.org)

World

Catholic priest in Belarus convicted of treason, sentenced to 11 years in penal colony

OSV News|Jan 2, 2025|3 Min Read

Participants are pictured in a file photo during a protest demanding the release of political prisoners in Minsk, Belarus. Human rights groups say at least 1,260 political prisoners are currently jailed in Belarus. (CNS photo/Vasily Fedosenko, Reuters)

World

Exiled Belarusian priest wants bishops to speak out for clergy

Catholic News Service|Sep 28, 2022|3 Min Read

Belarusian servicemen take part in a ceremony in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Jan. 13, 2022, marking the beginning of the withdrawal of peacekeeping troops of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had summoned the troops Jan. 2 to help quell riots that he branded a coup. (CNS photo/Pavel Mikheyev, Reuters)

World

In East European conflicts, Rome plays diplomatic role with aerial view

Victor Gaetan|Jan 24, 2022|8 Min Read

Belarusian law enforcement personnel stand next to immigrants in a camp near the Bruzgi-Kuznica checkpoint on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region of Belarus, in this Nov. 18, 2021, file photo. The Vatican announced Jan. 18 that Pope Francis has authorized 100,000 euros to support thousands of migrants stuck between the borders of Poland and Belarus. (CNS photo/Kacper Pempel, Reuters)

Pope Francis sends aid to migrants at Belarus border and victims of typhoon in Philippines

Catholic News Agency|Jan 18, 2022|3 Min Read

Fr. Marcin Iżycki, director of Caritas Poland, speaks during a press conference on the Belarus border crisis. (Caritas Poland via CNA)

World

Caritas Poland leader: We’ll help those in need for as long as Belarus border crisis lasts

Catholic News Agency|Nov 19, 2021|3 Min Read

A Polish soldier installs barbed wire on the Poland-Belarus border near Kuznica, Poland, Nov. 9, 2021. Poland deployed 15,000 troops with razor wire and tear gas and announced plans for a 65-mile border wall after stranded migrants, mostly from Asia and the Middle East, amassed at the border. (CNS photo/Irek Dorozanski. DWOT handout via Reuters)

World

Polish Catholic bishops’ leader calls for ‘fervent prayer’ for end to Belarus border crisis

Catholic News Agency|Nov 10, 2021|3 Min Read

A woman and child share an apple outside a tent near barbed wire fence as migrants attempt to cross the border with Poland from Belarus Nov. 10, 2021. Hundreds of migrants shivered in freezing temperatures and huddled round campfires on the Belarusian border with Poland; aid agencies have accused Poland of blocking proper asylum procedures and contributing to refugee deaths from hypothermia and exhaustion. (CNS photo/Leonid Scheglov, BelTA handout via Reuters)

World

Catholic Church in Belarus urges prayers for migrants

Catholic News Agency|Nov 10, 2021|4 Min Read

Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish Catholic bishops’ conference. (episkopat.pl via CNA)

World

Poland’s Catholic Church to hold collection for migrants at Belarus border

Catholic News Agency|Nov 9, 2021|3 Min Read

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