Cardinal Bertone Arrives in Belarus

Benedict XVI's secretary of state arrived today in Belarus for an official visit to the former Soviet country.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was greeted at the airport in Minsk by Archbishop Martin Vidovich, the apostolic nuncio to Belarus, and bishops from the four Belarusian dioceses.

The cardinal said in a short speech that he was "pleased to be received so cordially."

"During the visit to Belarus," he continued, "I would like to meet the hierarchy of the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches, with governmental authorities, and discuss cooperation issues, which concern Belarus’ position in the international community.”

After the ceremony Cardinal Bertone headed for the Caritas center in Leskavets, where he met with a group of children.

On Friday the cardinal will meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov, and Commissioner for Religions and Nationalities Leonid Gulyako.

In the afternoon he will deliver a lecture at the Belarusian State University on "Faith and Mind: The Ways to Talk About God for a Modern Person."

During the course of the short trip the cardinal will is expected to meet with President Alexander Lukashenko. He will also meet with Orthodox Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Sluzk.

The program for the weekend includes a meeting with the bishops’ conference of Belarus, a visit to Minsk Cathedral of St. Symon and Alena, a ceremony at a Church under construction in the capital and a meeting with youth.

The cardinal will also travel to Pinsk, where he will visit the Assumption of Virgin Mary Cathedral, the St. Thomas Aquinas’s Higher Theological Interdiocesan Seminary.

In Grodno he will visit St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral.

On Sunday, the secretary of state will lay a wreath to the memorial in Victory Square in Minsk before presiding at a midday Mass at the Minsk Archcathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary.