4.5 thousand Belarusians cheered Archbishop Kandrusievich

About 4.5 thousand people, including 300 guests, took part in the solemn ceremony of the assumption to the post of apostolic administrator of Minsk-Magiliou archdiocese Tadeush Kandrusievich. The ceremony was held in the cathedral of the Name of Saint Mary in Minsk.

The list of the guests invited included Belarusian authorities and democratic opposition politician; diplomats; bishops and episcopacy representatives from Austria, Vatican, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Romania, and Ukraine; all Belarusian bishops; leaders of Christian and other religious associations; national elite; charity organizations; believers; members of the community of Adzielsk village of Grodna district where T.Kandrusievich was born; his family and friends.

At the ceremony, organ music was playing and religious motets, hymns and prayers were performed in accordance with the rite of canonic assumption of archbishop to the post. T.Kandrusievich was met with bread and salt near the building of the church; then he entered the church with solemn announcement of apostolic bull of Pope of Rome Benedict XVI on the designation of T.Kandrusievich as apostolic administrator read. After that, apostolic nuncio in Belarus Martin Vidovich handed the symbol of spiritual power to T.Kandrusievich. The newly appointed archbishop was cheered by clergymen of the archdiocese, representatives of monastic associations, and different generations of believers and nationalities of Belarus.

Apostolic visitator for Belarusian Greek Catholics archimandrite Siargey Gayek gave T.Kandrusievich a copy of the cross of St Yefrosinia Polatskaya, and bishop of Babruisk and Bykhau Serafim passed a bunch of red roses from metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, Filaret, patriarchal exarch of Belarus.

The ceremony was held in Belarusian and Latin; certain prayers were read in European languages, including English, Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian.

The Belarusian National Television and Radio Company provided live broadcast of the ceremony to Poland. A huge plasma screen was installed in front of the church so that everyone who came there could see the solemn act.

We shall remind that Pope Benedict XVI relieved T.Kandrusievich from vicarial administration of the archdiocese of Holy Mother of God in Moscow and appointed him as an ordinary of Minsk-Magiliou archdiocese on September 21. This post was occupied by secretary general of the Conference of catholic bishops of Belarus bishop Antoniy Dzyamyanka.