MINSK, 10 February (BelTA) - We are committed to supporting all religious denominations in terms of the training of clergy in the country, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting with representatives of religious denominations in Minsk on 10 February, BelTA learned.
When responding to the speech of Chief Rabbi of the Religious Association of the Progressive Judaism Communities in the Republic of Belarus Grigory Abramovich, the Belarusian leader mentioned the Volozhin Yeshiva. It was the largest Jewish educational center in the world in the 19th century. It has recently been restored and now it houses a museum exhibition. “I was involved in this project. The military is very proud that they helped to restore this institution. A short while ago, I visited Volozhin and examined this center,” the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that there are plans to establish such important historical and spiritual centers of different denominations in Belarus. “It is good that these centers are based in meaningful places where all people could come. If you decide to establish such centers, they will be located where true believers live. For example, in Zhirovichi [where the Orthodox monastery is located],” the president stated. "It will not be located somewhere in the center of Minsk. It should be a holy site. Therefore, if you decide to develop the Volozhin Yeshiva, we will create a real spiritual center there. I would like you to have your own schools to train young believers similar to the Orthodox ones."
In this regard, the president recalled that 10 to 15 years ago the matter of training Catholic priests was raised in Belarus: “When I met with the Pope, I told him: 'Don't send us priests from Poland. You understand that there is always some distrust and other issues’. I don't know whether the situation has improved or not today, but we have not received such complaints."
Speaking about all religions in general, Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized the importance of training the clergy in the country: “I would like us to train our own clergy, to have our own personnel, patriots who love their country and protect it. It does not matter if they are Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic, Baptist, or whatever. They should hail from Belarus. Their roots should be here. We should have schools in these centers. We are ready to support you the same way we support the Orthodox church. I think all denominations have enough intelligent people to teach in these schools. I am sure that they will help consolidate our society. We all will contribute to this.”
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