Dozens of clergy in Belarus — Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant — have been jailed, silenced or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election that gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth termBelarus cracks down on clergy who supported protests of its authoritarian leaderTALLINN, Estonia -- The Rev. Barok is among dozens of clergy — Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant — who have been jailed, silenced or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election that gave Lukashenko a sixth term. Orthodox churches, Catholic churches — they’re not for politics,” he said. The crackdown also affected the Belarusian Orthodox Church, which is subordinate to Moscow’s Patriarch Kirill, a close Kremlin ally. Days afterward, Archpriest Georgy Roy and 24 Belarusian Orthodox priests, alongside counterparts from Russia and elsewhere, called for a cease-fire.

Source: ABC News February 24, 2024 02:17 UTC