Two Catholic priests in Belarus will be released from prison in an act of “goodwill” after national leaders engaged in talks with the Vatican.
The state media organ BelTA reported on Nov. 20 that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko “pardoned two Catholic priests convicted of serious crimes against the state.”
The pardons of Father Henrykh Akalatovich and Father Andzej Yukhnevich came after “intensification of contacts with the Vatican, as well as the principles of goodwill, mercy, and the jubilee year proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church,” the government media organization said.
A separate press release from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus expressed “gratitude to all those who contributed to the release of imprisoned priests.”
The bishops thanked both Vatican officials and Belarusian Church leaders for helping maintain “a positive dynamic of bilateral relations based on traditional values, brotherhood, tolerance, and respect for believers.”
Akalatovich had been sentenced on Dec. 30, 2024, to 11 years in prison for “high treason,” a charge that Lukashenko’s regime applies to political prisoners. The priest had reportedly already suffered a heart attack and undergone surgery for cancer before his arrest in November 2023.
Reuters, meanwhile, reported that Yukhnevich had been sentenced to 13 years in prison earlier this year on charges of abusing minors. The priest denied those allegations.
The human rights group Viasna reported on Nov. 20 that the release came in part “thanks to the visit of Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti,” who serves as prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
Akalatovich previously said his conviction of “spying on behalf of Poland at the Vatican” was a “gross provocation.”
There was “not a word of truth in the case against him, not a single fact that implicates him in espionage, while the entire accusation is based on lies, threats, and blackmail,” the priest said, according to Viasna.
During the prosecution of his own case, meanwhile, Yukhnevich “denied all charges and tried to prove his innocence,” Viasna said. The human rights group claimed that the alleged victims who testified against him “may have given their testimony under pressure,” though it did not offer any further information.
In a 2023 report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said religious freedom conditions in Belarus “continued to trend negatively” as the government “persisted in exerting control over all aspects of society.”
The report highlighted the September 2022 closure of the Church of Sts. Simon and Helena in Minsk, which it described as ”a symbol of political opposition to the Lukashenko regime” during protests in 2020.
This article was originally published by CNA.
