EU officials meet Belarus pastor over church threats

According to New Life Church representatives, EU officials from 15 member states and from the European Commission delegation met Pastor Slava Goncharenko of New Life Church at the French Embassy.

Pastor Goncharenko informed the officials that the community continues to resist government efforts to force them to sell their church building, despite an official notice ordering them to turn it over to the city government by last weekend, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

The report said the Protestant church has been in a long-running struggle with the government to keep its doors open. Church leaders have repeatedly attempted to register in compliance with Belarusian law, but have been refused on each occasion, said CSW.

On 25 August, the pastor and the church lawyer, Sergey Lukanin, were invited to the French embassy in Belarus. Ambassadors Germany, Ireland, Italy, France among others were present as well as the representative of the European Commission in Belarus were present at the meeting with the pastor.

A few days earlier, on 22 August the church had received official documentation from Belarusian authorities outlining details of the forced sale and confiscation of New Life Church.

Pastor Goncharenko noted that the church signature section on the sale and transfer of property documents completed by the Minsk City Executive Committee had been crossed out, and that funds have been transferred to the church, despite the fact that no agreement has been made.

New Life Church in Minsk said it has over one thousand members and has been the target of repeated government fines and attempted shut downs since its foundation in 2001.

Rev Stuart Windsor, CSW’s National Director said: “This sad case represents the sorry state of religious freedom in Belarus. We urgently call on the European Union, having launched its Eastern Partnership initiative, to intervene on behalf of New Life Church Community and compel the Belarusian authorities to retract their decision, and to respect the religious liberty of all Belarusians throughout the country.”

Belarus is ranked at No 44 at Open Doors’ 2009 World Watch List of the 50 worst persecutors of Christians around the world. Orthodox Christians account for about 80 per cent of nearly 10 million populations, according to CIA World Factbook estimate in 2007, while the remaining 20 per cent is made up of Roman Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims.

Belarus has a law that makes it nearly impossible for Protestant fellowships to obtain registration. One of the requirements is that the group must have at least 10 separate registered groups, of which one must have existed in 1982 – at the height of Soviet repression. If a denomination is not registered then it cannot train clergy, invite foreigners to work as staff, or run schools or media.