A Year of Quiet Struggle. How Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, undergoing chemotherapy for over a year, is feeling

Archbishop Emeritus Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz shows an extraordinary example of confronting a severe illness he has been experiencing in recent years, and how God can act in a person's life, writes katolik.life.

More than a year ago, in March 2025, it was reported that metastases in the lungs, caused by melanoma, were discovered in the esteemed hierarch, forcing him to begin a course of chemotherapy. Since then, the topic of the health of Belarus's most respected Catholic hierarch has not been raised in the public sphere, and the Archbishop himself has also rarely spoken about his condition.

It turns out that all this time he has been waging a quiet battle against a serious illness. As the faithful learned, the 80-year-old hierarch is still continuing chemotherapy. And in between treatment courses, he does not cease his active pastoral activities.

In recent days alone, he made visits to various parts of Belarus — Alkovichy, Liadsk, Lelchitsy.

Moreover, His Excellency's health, according to informed faithful, is steadily improving. Medical examinations show positive dynamics: no new metastases have been detected, and the cancerous tumor has shrunk. The 80-year-old hierarch continues chemotherapy, although it was initially expected that the course might last up to one year, but he tolerates it well.

The faithful consider this state of affairs a true miracle, thank God for it, and continue to pray for the esteemed hierarch.

The faithful also know that in private conversations, the Archbishop emphasizes that he is ready to serve the Church as long as God allows.

During his pastoral visits, the hierarch, a true spiritual and moral authority for Belarusian Catholics, does not miss an opportunity to preach according to the most pressing challenges of our time for society.

For example, on May 14, in the parish in Chyzhovka, he drew the attention of those present to the fact that artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in recent times. On the one hand, it helps a great deal, but on the other hand, its unethical use leads to new threats: "We forget that the cause of all crises lies in the moral crisis in which humanity is engulfed. And the moral crisis begins with succumbing to the temptations of the evil spirit."

He noted that people increasingly live as if God does not exist, choosing secular values instead of spiritual ones and striving to adapt God's law to the spirit of secularism, changing it: "But God's law is given to us not so that we may change it, but so that it may change us."

The Archbishop added, addressing the confirmation candidates: "In the hymn to the Holy Spirit, we sing: 'Come and renew the face of the earth.' We shape the face of the earth, not aliens from space. Our world will be as we are. Therefore, its improvement must begin with ourselves."

According to the Archpastor, modern humanity is infected with the virus of doctrinal pluralism (many doctrines exist, and each is acceptable), which manifests itself in indifference in moral matters. Evidence of this are numerous problems: family crisis, immoral behavior, disregard for divine law, pornography, egoism, hedonism, drug addiction, alcoholism, falsely understood freedom without responsibility.

He called this "a wave of anti-Christian and anti-spiritual revolution."

In addition, Archbishop Tadeusz emphasized that various armed conflicts, which Pope Francis called "a Third World War in a fragmented form," also pose a great threat. Taken together, all these conflicts could acquire a global character, the hierarch warned, and stressed that the Fatima apparitions have not lost their relevance and continue to call today for prayer and return:

"More than a century after the apparitions, Mary shows us the path we must follow in our lives. Not knowing the way, we will not reach the goal of our journey. Thanks to the Fatima apparitions, God still calls us today to mobilize spiritual forces in the fight against evil."

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