Belarus to Open Embassy at the Vatican

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Jan. 10 – The Belarusian government has announced that it plans to open an embassy at the Vatican later this year, a reflection of the facts that six to ten percent of the Belarusian population, centered in Grodno Oblast, is Roman Catholic and that the Vatican is one of the few foreign states that has hosted Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
    This announcement has attracted the attention of Moscow commentator Vsevolod Shimov because the Catholics of Belarus have been among the most active participants in demonstrations against Lukashenka while the Catholic hierarchy in his country has been loyal (fondsk.ru/news/2025/01/09/belorusskaya-katolicheskaya-cerkov-mezhdu-polshey-i-vatikanom.html).  
    Whether the opening of an embassy will affect that or the balance between Polish and Belarusian sympathies among Belarusian Catholics remains uncertain, but one thing is likely: when there is a transition in Belarus, the Catholic leadership is likely to play a major role and involve both the embassy and the nuciature (there since 1992) as well as the clergy.