On May 1st, our confrere Dzmitry Prystupa (born on 25.12.1991) was ordained a priest at the Church of the Heart of Jesus in Lachowicze. The ordination was done by the Ordinary of the diocese of Pinsk, Msgr. Antoni Dziemianko.
The ceremony was attended by approximately 40 priests, including all the confreres of the Belarusian district, and confreres from Poland, among them the provincial superior, Fr. Wiesław Święch, SCJ, and the seminarians of Stadniki (Poland). The next day, the first Mass took place in the parish church of the Ascension of Baranowicze. Aleksander Fiadotau, SCJ, was the homilist. Fr. Dzmitry Prystupa is the 13th SCJ priest to serve in Belarus. His first community assignment will be Lachowicze.
Belarus is a country with about 9.5 million inhabitants, of which, about 1.2 million are Catholic. There are four Catholic dioceses in the country. The Priests of the Sacred Heart have worked in six communities since 1990 (three dioceses). Currently five confreres from this country are preparing for ordination in the Stadniki seminary.
