ZHIROVICHI, 25 June (BelTA) – We must do our best to preserve interreligious peace in Belarus, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with the clergy in the monastery on 25 June, BelTA informs.
“We must do our best to preserve our main virtue - interreligious peace - in Belarus,” the head of state said.
The Belarusian leader paid special attention to the attempts from the outside to rock the boat in interreligious and interethnic relations. “They target interethnic relations opposing Poles to Belarusians, Belarusians to Russians, etc.,” he remarked.
Representatives of various religious denominations have been living in Belarus for many years. There are representatives of over 100 ethnicities on the territory of the country. And they have always been living in peace and accord, the head of state stressed. “And if (I don't even believe it) ethnic discord does flare up - I spoke about it in the near-border region of our country [during the visit to Svisloch District] – if ethnic discord does flare up, we will not manage to hold the country,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “This will never happen, I am telling you. But we must be prepared for anything. We cannot let our shrines and our faith be ruined in our peaceful and calm country where major religious denominations coexist peacefully.”
“Together with the Eastern Orthodox Church and other participants of the interreligious dialogue, unfortunately, we have to save our traditional centuries-old traditions. We should not ruin them. We know what the consequences can be,” the head of state said. “In Belarus, where people have been praying for unity and freedom of civil discord since the times of Saint Euphrosyne of Polotsk and Saint Kirill of Turov, following the precepts of these saints we must do our best to prevent it.”
The president mentioned a special role of the Belarusian Orthodox Church in the preservation of interreligious peace. “Of, foundation of it is the biggest and the strongest Orthodox church. If the Orthodox church persists, the state will exist; if the church is crumbled, it will be difficult,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“It is good that our Orthodox church shares our concerns and is ready to work for the unity of our nation,” the president added. He invited the priests to discuss what else could be done by all sides to strengthen peace and accord on the Belarusian soil.
