Easter in Belarus with no fear of the virus
According to President Aleksandr Lukashenko, "the virus attacks only the weak". In the country no type of isolation or quarantine; schools, churches, offices, shops and even sports championships are open. But people organize themselves independently. In Minsk, the Easter Mass presided by Msgr. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, with the presence of the faithful.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - Judging by the statements and decisions of President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Belarus has perhaps the nation with the staunchest negation of the current coronavirus pandemic. He insists on not wanting to proclaim any type of isolation or quarantine, leaving schools, churches, offices, shops and even sports championships open.
And this despite the fact that the virus infected have exceeded 2 thousand cases, with over 20 deaths. Only people declared positive are placed in solitary confinement. Meanwhile, a large part of the population organizes itself independently, taking protective measures and communicating through social media channels.
On April 12, among the few in the world, Belarusian Catholics celebrated Easter Mass in churches throughout the country, without any social distancing.
In Minsk, in the cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Mary, the celebration was presided over by Metropolitan archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, former archbishop of Moscow in the years of the religious rebirth of post-communism (photos 1 and 2).
In his homily, the metropolitan recalled that not even the coronavirus can diminish the importance of Easter: "The whole Christian world today celebrates this holiday, whose values cannot be erased from evil".
Easter is in fact “a guarantee of resurrection and a source of hope, it encourages us in the difficulties of life and strengthens us with its grace; therefore, Easter calls us to be people of the resurrection”.
Instead of remaining in the sepulcher of our sins and bad habits, dangerous addictions and doubts, "in every circumstance we live the presence of the Risen Jesus and announce the truth that death is not the end of our life, but the beginning of an endless new life,” added Kondrusiewicz.
The metropolitan quoted St. Augustine who says: "God, created me without me, but He cannot save me without me". Asking for God's help in the face of tragedies such as that of the pandemic, we must also "let ourselves be guided by the rational mind, by the advice of doctors and virologists, and by all those who work to save the world from this contagious disease".
The pandemic in fact, concluded the prelate, "reveals the spiritual problems of modern man who does not want to see them, putting himself in the place of God and thinking that he can dominate the world, and be able to live without observing the law of God".
The words of the archbishop seem to fit with Lukashenko's pretentious declarations, according to which "there is no virus in Belarus", and in any case "we will save everyone", even if the "very few infected" in the country by coronavirus and those who are, are only people "over 80 years of age and 135 kilograms of weight", because "the virus attacks only the weak".
On March 28, the president urged the cadets of the military academy to take to the rink for the category hockey competitions, because "it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees" (photos 3 and 4).
Among the "weak" cited by the Belarusian president are perhaps the 15 Russians who arrived in Belarus on 8 April to work at the Ostrovets energy station, and were then hospitalized in isolation for coronavirus. For years, negotiations have been taking place for an "administrative union" between Russia and Belarus, but Lukashenko has so far opposed it, boasting the country's economic self-sufficiency. Now, despite the statements, for the fight against coronavirus he is forced to ask for help from both Putin and the European Union.
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