Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 26 May (BelTA) – The Catholic-Orthodox dialogue in Belarus is an example for Europe, Metropolitan of Minsk and Mogilev of the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz told reporters, BelTA has learned.

According to Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, Belarus is an example of the peaceful coexistence of religions, and the exhibition of Belarusian icons, which is running in the Vatican, just shows the results of the long joint work of Catholics and Orthodox believers. Today we need this dialogue. The Catholic and Orthodox churches should help build a spiritual Europe. For the image of our country this is an obvious plus, he said.

The exhibition of Belarusian icons in the Vatican has aroused great interest among visitors. This unique exhibition was even discussed at a plenary meeting of the Italian Bishops' Conference, which was attended by Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz and representatives of various European countries.

The exhibition “Icon Painting in Belarus in the 17th -21st centuries” opened in the Vatican on 18 May. A few days later Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko visited the exhibition accompanied by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The Belarusian head of state spoke highly of the exhibition and expressed hope that this is only the first important step in the development of cooperation between museums of Belarus and the Vatican and that the exhibition will be followed by many more interesting projects.

The exhibition featuring 31 icons by Belarusian painters and 2 engraved icon frames introduces Italians specialists and numerous tourists from all over the world to the unique works of Belarusian icon painting.

The exhibition of the Belarusian icons in the Vatican will stay open until 25 July. The exhibition will be supplemented by exhibits from the holdings of the Belarusian National Art Museum and presented in Minsk at the end of September.