Bialiatski spoke about what he discussed at the meeting with Pope Leo XIV

Photo: Vatican News

On May 27, after a general audience in Rome, Pope Leo XIV received Nobel Peace Prize laureate, former political prisoner, Catholic believer Ales Bialiatski and his wife Natallia Pinchuk and held a conversation with them. Bialiatski told Radio Svaboda how this meeting took place.

— Throughout all these years while I was in prison, my wife, Natallia Pinchuk, had constant contacts with the Vatican. She repeatedly appealed to the Pope. Appeals from other people, from human rights defenders, who asked the church to play its role in my release and that of other Belarusian political prisoners, were also conveyed to him.

This meeting was actually a continuation of the contacts that the Vatican has had over recent years. A request for this meeting was sent, and permission was granted.

The fact that the Pope agreed to meet in such an audience format indicates that the issues of Belarusian political prisoners and the human rights situation in Belarus in general concern the Holy See.

— The meeting took place in the traditional format, in St. Peter's Square in Rome. Pope Leo, as usual, drove around in the Popemobile greeting tens of thousands of people in the square. This happened before the Mass, then a service was held, almost in six languages simultaneously, and after this service, brief meetings and conversations with groups of people took place. Such a conversation also took place with us.

The meeting itself was short. Essentially, he listened, and I spoke. There was little time, and I needed to express the main thoughts.

Firstly, I thanked him for the attention that the Holy See has given to Belarus in recent years, difficult years both for the church and for Belarusian society. It is very important that we do not fall out of focus.

Knowing how seriously the Pope takes the armed conflict, Russia's attack on Ukraine (as he has repeatedly called for an end to this war, spoken about the criminality of this war, and always advocated for peace), then, of course, Belarus is also in the Vatican's focus.

I, of course, thanked him for this attention and also said that the human rights situation in Belarus is very bad now, and we hope that the Vatican will pay even more attention to what is happening here. Because the situation is also alarming with regard to the possibilities for the work of the Catholic church — both Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic communities.

I asked him to pray for Belarus, to pray for the Belarusian people. This always has two aspects — it is both direct literal and more indirect, so that the Vatican tries to influence what is happening in Belarus.

At the same time, Natallia and I presented him with small gifts and also a letter that goes into more detail about the human rights problems and the situation of the Catholic church in Belarus. We also received rosaries as a gift from the Pope.

— From the Vatican's side, this was a sign of solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners, with those people who are in trouble, who are suffering, who are sick and for many years without their families, who are in prison solely for their beliefs. And it is also a sign of support for the entire Belarusian society, which is in difficult conditions. And from our side, it was an attempt to activate the Vatican in its policy regarding Belarus.

— I went to the meeting not only as a human rights defender — it was also personally important to me as a believer and as a person who could speak directly to the Pope about the problems of Belarusian society.

I am particularly concerned that Father Anatol Parakhnevich is currently in prison. He was imprisoned this year. He is one of those Belarusian priests who began to serve in Belarusian back in the 1990s. He effectively joined the revival of the Belarusian language in the Catholic church in our time.

A man who is already 65 years old is in prison. He suffered a heart attack there, he is in serious health condition, yet he remains in prison. This is the position of the Belarusian authorities towards priests, towards Belarusian-speaking priests. This, of course, causes me outrage.

The same applies to the massive de facto expulsion of priests who were on missions, who had worked with us for many years and also helped revive the Catholic church in Belarus after its almost complete destruction in Soviet times. All these are alarming signals. Unfortunately, the church in Belarus is now in a very difficult situation, and one cannot speak of the normal development of the church in Belarus.

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