"Your long-time pastor is leaving your parish against his will," Bishop Antoni Dziemianko of Pinsk Catholic Diocese told the former parishioners in Brest Region both of Fr Paweł Kruczek and Fr Adam Straczyński on 6 March. "This is painful for all of us." The regime's senior religious affairs official, the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs in Minsk, Aleksandr Rumak had just refused the Bishop's request for the two long-serving Polish priests to continue to be allowed to conduct religious work in Belarus.

Fr Kruczek – who had served in Belarus for almost 20 years - and Fr Adam Straczyński – who had served in Belarus for 11 years - have already left the country, Fr Yuri Yasevich, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops' Conference, told Forum 18 on 11 March (see below).

Andrei Aryayev of the Religious Department of the Office of the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs refused absolutely to say why Plenipotentiary Rumak had refused Bishop Dziemianko's requests to extend the two priests' permission to work in Belarus. "I give no comments," he told Forum 18 and put the phone down (see below).

Irina Zakharevich, deputy head of the Ideology and Youth Chief Directorate of Brest Regional Executive Committee (which has responsibility for overseeing religion in the Region), similarly refused absolutely to comment on the enforced departure of the two priests. "Why should I give answers to your questions?" she told Forum 18. She insisted that questions should be directed to the Plenipotentiary's Office in Minsk (see below).

Asked what she would say to local Catholics who have lost their long-serving priests, Zakharevich again refused to respond. She also refused to say if officials from her Directorate had met local Catholics to hear any concerns (see below).

The regime strictly controls the exercise by foreign citizens of their freedom of religion and belief, and only religious headquarter bodies that have state permission to exist can invite foreigners to work with them. The Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs in Minsk, alone decides whether the religious work by a foreign citizen is "necessary", and can refuse permission without giving any reason.

The regime has consistently tried to reduce the number of foreign citizens the Plenipotentiary allows to work in registered religious organisations. The Plenipotentiary has often rejected applications by leaders of religious organisations for permission to bring in foreign citizens, including applications by Orthodox and Catholic bishops (see below).

The last foreign Catholic priest previously known to have been forced to leave Belarus was Polish citizen Fr Jozef Geza, who had served as parish priest in the western city of Grodno since 1997. He left in December 2022 after Plenipotentiary Rumak refused his bishop's request to extend permission for him to continue to serve in the country (see below).

Jesuit priest Fr Klemens Werth, who had been serving in Vitebsk Catholic diocese, left Belarus in June 2024. A Russian citizen, he had arrived in Belarus in 2015. His initial permission to work in a religious role finally ran out in November 2016. From then on, Fr Werth could serve only in an administrative role in the diocese as the Plenipotentiary's Office repeatedly refused the local bishop's requests for Fr Werth to be allowed to work in a religious role (see below).

"I have been here for almost nine years and don't want to leave," Fr Werth told a farewell meeting of parishioners in June 2024. "I have always been grateful to you for your support, especially when you gathered signatures and wrote letters to the Belarusian authorities requesting permission for me to serve" (see below).

Controls on foreigners

Only registered religious associations (headquarter bodies) are allowed to invite foreign citizens for any public religious activity. If the state grants such permission, it is only valid for the one specific religious community for which the headquarter body has obtained it. Individual religious communities are not themselves allowed to apply for such permission.

Under regulations approved by a 2 July 2024 Council of Ministers Decree, the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs (the regime's senior religious affairs official) in Minsk gives or refuses permission for foreign citizens to work for religious purposes (whether as a resident or as a visitor).

Foreign citizens must demonstrate sufficient knowledge of Belarus' state languages (Belarusian and Russian) in order to perform religious work. The Plenipotentiary defines the period of permission (up to one year), can at any time withdraw permission, and is not obliged to communicate the reasons for a refusal.

The Plenipotentiary can consult the regional Executive Committee's [local authority] Ideology Department in deciding whether or not to give permission for a foreign religious worker to work.

The Plenipotentiary may refuse permission for a foreign religious worker to conduct religious work without giving any reason. Such decisions are entirely within the Plenipotentiary's power and are difficult for the headquarter bodies which have invited them to challenge.

If the headquarter body's request is granted, the Plenipotentiary issues a decision specifying in which single religious community the foreign citizen can work, and the exact dates for which permission is given (usually three months, six months, or one year).

"Religious associations that have invited foreigners to Belarus to carry out religious activities may send them only to religious organisations that are part of their structure and specified in the decision of the Plenipotentiary," the regulations note.

Legally-resident foreign citizens who are not religious workers are banned from any active participation – as against passive attendance – in religious communities. Two warnings within one year or the failure to end a "violation" can lead to the stripping of a community's registration and so permission to legally exist.

In 2017, the then head of the Catholic Church in Belarus, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, called for the state to end the requirement that foreign citizens need permission to conduct any religious activity.

Permission suddenly withdrawn

Such permission granted to foreign citizens for religious work can be suddenly withdrawn, without any reason being given.

In the previous most recently known case, Polish citizen Fr Jozef Geza had served as Catholic parish priest in the western city of Grodno since 1997. In late 2022, Plenipotentiary Aleksandr Rumak refused Fr Geza's bishop's request to extend permission for him to continue to serve in the country. After his last Mass in Grodno's Holy Redeemer Church on 27 December, Fr Geza left Belarus after 25 years' service.

Andrei Aryayev of the Religious Department of the Office of the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs refused to say why Plenipotentiary Rumak had refused the bishop's request to extend Fr Geza's right to conduct religious work. "Under the law of Belarus, the Plenipotentiary has the right not to comment on such decisions," Aryayev told Forum 18 in January 2023. "He won't comment." Aryayev too refused to comment on the decision.

Foreign clergy

The Belarusian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (which has the largest number of registered religious communities) and the Catholic Church (which has the third largest number of registered religious communities) are the communities most hit by such controls on foreigners invited to serve in the country. Both have faced denials of permission to serve (or to continue to serve).

The Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs has also refused Protestant and Catholic communities permission to invite specific individuals from abroad on short visits to take part in religious meetings.

In an address to a clergy meeting of Minsk Diocese of the Belarusian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, held in Minsk's Belarus hotel on 20 December 2023, Plenipotentiary Aleksandr Rumak told the 239 assembled priests that the Belarusian Orthodox Church had more foreign citizens working in religious roles than any other religious community in Belarus.

Information on the Plenipotentiary's website, which appears to date from 1 January 2024, says that of the 3,725 clergy then working in the country, 127 were foreigners. Of these, 59 were Orthodox, 56 were Catholic, with the remaining 12 unidentified.

Leaders of the Pentecostal Union (which has the second largest number of registered religious communities) and the Baptist Union (which has the fourth largest number of registered religious communities) separately told Forum 18 on 11 March 2026 that they do not have or need foreign citizens permanently serving in Belarus.

The Pentecostal Union leader said they can apply for short-term visits by foreign citizens, for example for conferences. The Union last did so four years ago, he added.

The Baptist Union leader said they "regularly host guests from other countries to participate in religious events". "We easily agree their arrival and participation with the Plenipotentiary for Religious Affairs," he told Forum 18. He added that the Union is now working on getting agreement for invitations to foreign guests for the planned Festival of Hope in Chizhovka Arena, a large stadium in Minsk, in mid-May.

Fear of expulsion

Fear of expulsion of priests already serving in the country is a strong factor for the Catholic Church. In 2006 more than 125 of its then around 250 priests were foreign citizens. In 2020, about 80 of its approximately 500 priests were foreign citizens. In 2024, 56 of its priests were foreign citizens.

Fr Yuri Yasevich, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops' Conference, estimates that approximately 20 foreign Catholic priests are now serving in the country. "But that is just my guess," he told Forum 18 on 11 March 2026.

Two long-serving priests from Pinsk Diocese forced to leave

On 6 March, Antoni Dziemianko, the Catholic Bishop of Pinsk Diocese – which covers southern Belarus – noted "with sadness" that the authorities had refused to allow two long-serving Polish priests permission to continue ministry in Belarus. He wrote that their "forced departure from our diocese" was especially painful, coming in the middle of the "important season of Lent and preparation for Easter".

Fr Yuri Yasevich, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops' Conference, told Forum 18 on 11 March that the two priests have already left Belarus. He said they are the only Catholic priests for whom the Plenipotentiary's Office has recently denied permission to continue serving in the country.

Fr Paweł Kruczek had served in Belarus for almost 20 years. For the last 13 years he had been priest of three parishes in Brest Region, in Ivanovo, Dragichyn and Bezdzezh. "In his young priestly years, he selflessly responded to the call of the bishops and became involved in the life of the Church in Belarus, serving first in the Minsk-Mogilev Archdiocese, and for the last 13 years in the Pinsk Diocese," Bishop Dziemianko told parishioners in a 6 March statement.

Fr Adam Straczyński had served in Belarus for 11 years as priest of three parishes in Brest Region, in Ivatsevichi, Kosava and Volka. "He selflessly responded to the call of the bishop and the abbots of his monastic congregation and joined the life of the Pinsk diocese," Bishop Dziemianko told parishioners also in a 6 March statement.

"Your long-time pastor is leaving your parish against his will," Bishop Dziemianko told the former parishioners both of Fr Kruczek and Fr Straczyński. "This is painful for all of us."

Bishop Dziemianko added: "Due to the small number of local priests and the reduction in the number of fidei donum priests [Gift of Faith priests sent by another diocese] who have kindly arrived from other countries to serve our Catholics, it is very difficult for the Pinsk diocese to provide all parish communities with regular pastoral care."

Andrei Aryayev of the Religious Department of the Office of the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs refused absolutely to say why Plenipotentiary Aleksandr Rumak had refused Bishop Dziemianko's requests to extend the two priests' permission to work in Belarus. "I give no comments," he told Forum 18 on 11 March and put the phone down.

Irina Zakharevich, deputy head of the Ideology and Youth Chief Directorate of Brest Regional Executive Committee (which has responsibility for overseeing religion in the Region), similarly refused absolutely to comment on the enforced departure of the two priests. "Why should I give answers to your questions?" she told Forum 18 on 11 March. She insisted that questions should be directed to the Plenipotentiary's Office in Minsk.

Asked what she would say to local Catholics who have lost their long-serving priests, Zakharevich again refused to respond. She also refused to say if officials from her Directorate had met local Catholics to hear any concerns.

"A great disaster for our diocese"

The forced departure of Fr Kruczek and Fr Straczyński "is a great disaster for our diocese", the Pinsk Diocese's Vicar General Andrei Znoska noted on Instagram on 7 March. He added that "believers from three districts at once have been orphaned and left without pastoral care, and I don't know what to do next".

"The denial of permission for two priests to continue their ministry occurred against the backdrop of the diocese's active collaboration with local government authorities," independent Catholic news outlet Katolik.life noted on 8 March. Such collaboration includes "the clergy's participation in pro-government events, and even on the occasion of 'National Unity Day' on 17 September - the annexation of Western Belarus to the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic [in 1939], which had catastrophic consequences for the Catholic Church in the region".

(The regime has listed Katolik.life's website and social media channels as "extremist".)

Eight years of rejected applications for priest to serve

Jesuit priest Fr Klemens Werth, who had been serving in Vitebsk Catholic diocese, left Belarus in June 2024 for further ministry in Kyrgyzstan. A Russian citizen, he had arrived in Belarus in 2015. His initial permission to work in a religious role finally ran out in November 2016. From then on, Fr Werth could serve only in an administrative role in the diocese as the Plenipotentiary's Office repeatedly refused the local bishop's requests for Fr Werth to be allowed to work in a religious role.

Fr Werth helped in diocesan administration and also built a new Catholic church of St Ignatius of Loyola in Vitebsk. At the consecration of the church on 9 July 2022, the Catholic Bishop of Vitebsk Oleg Butkevich thanked Fr Werth for overseeing the construction and called on the Belarusian authorities to finally grant permission for Fr Werth to undertake a pastoral role.

That same month, Plenipotentiary Aleksandr Rumak refused yet another request from Bishop Butkevich for permission for Fr Werth to serve in a pastoral role.

"I have been here for almost nine years and don't want to leave," Fr Werth told a farewell meeting of parishioners in Vitebsk on 23 June 2024. "But the church has now been built, and I have helped the bishop as far as I have been able, and the Church in Kyrgyzstan is in need of help, so it is time to move on. I have always been grateful to you for your support, especially when you gathered signatures and wrote letters to the Belarusian authorities requesting permission for me to serve and in other cases." (END)

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Belarus

For background information, see Forum 18's Belarus religious freedom survey

Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments

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