Lukashenko: “Autocephalous Church” will lead to interfaith war
The President of Belarus criticized the reform package proposed by the opposition and told the government to prepare information on the implications of each item.
"Restoration of the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church" will plunge the country into an interfaith war. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said this on August 18, 2020, during the meeting with members of the country's Security Council, the press service of the President of the Republic of Belarus reports.
Commenting on the “Reanimation Package of Reforms” developed by the Belarusian opposition, Lukashenko noted the item on the “autocephalous church”.
“We have always been proud that we have interfaith peace, that no one bothers anyone,” Lukashenko’s press service said. “Either Orthodox or Catholics. Muslims are also happy about their life, so are Jews, etc "
According to the leader of Belarus, the opposition's proposal to "restore" the national "Autocephalous Orthodox Church" as opposed to the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate will eventually "disgrace what we have always been proud of."
“We will now plunge into the war, inter-confessional struggle, which will lead to interethnic eventually. And it will turn out that what we have always been proud of will be rejected and disgraced,” said Alexander Lukashenko.
He added that "the government will prepare materials on all points of the reform program proposed by the opposition”, and then “we will report to the people the consequences of each step."
As the UOJ reported, a number of political organizations in Belarus have developed a “Reanimation Package of Reforms”, which provides for “the restoration of the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church” by 2030 as “a national alternative to the Belarusian Exarchate of the ROC”.
