Catholic priest Juzef Piatuszka: Uladzislau Lazar could not be a spy

The story of the arrest of the catholic priest reminds of the Cold War times.

Not many people knew the priest Uladzislau Lazar in Barysau. He came to serve in this town less than three month before. But, apparently, KGB agents managed to get to know him well. The priest has already spent over a month in a jail, Radio Racyja reports.

The abbot of the Our Lady Mary’s Birth Church Juzef Piatuszka has been serving in Barysay since 1990. He almost did not know the priest Uladzislau Lazar. He saw the information on his arrest on the internet. Ever since the priest’s phone has not gone silent for a minute. Apart from the believers, it was police who also looked for Uladzislau Lazar.

Juzef Piatuszka does not believe that Uladzislau Lazar could be a spy. The story of the arrest reminded him of the Cold War times.

“For me this story is very funny. I am an old man. I am 83. I remember, when the Second Vatican Council started, they reported in the Soviet media, that it was the meeting of the Pope and American president for destroying the Soviet Union. Someone may think it is politics”, - Juzef Piatuszka argues.

According to detective stories, he jokes, anyone can turn out to be an involuntary spy.

“Like it happens in movies. Someone was eating a banana. Threw the peal on the ground. Then someone walked and slipped, turned over a man with a ladder, the man with the ladder picked on someone else, who was cleaning a window. A whole chain of crimes was built. Thus, anyone can involuntarily become a criminal”, - Juzef Piatuszka jokes.

Believers in Barysau are more reserved as to the priest Uladzislau Lazar. They say that he served in Mar’ina Horka before. He settled in a rented apartment as he moved to Barysau.

“We only started recognizing him by appearance, we may say. When he disappeared, we thought he went on pilgrimage or went away on personal business”, - one of the parishioners notes.