Vatican City, Jan 3, 2021 / 06:15 am
Less than two weeks after Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk was allowed to return to Belarus after a four-month exile, the Vatican announced Sunday that Pope Francis had accepted the archbishop's resignation on his 75th birthday.
In a statement Jan. 3, the Holy See Press Office said that the pope had accepted the archbishop's resignation in accordance with the Church canon that requests that a bishop offers his resignation to the pope at the age of 75.
The Vatican did not name a successor metropolitan archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev, but appointed 75-year-old Bishop Kazimierz Wielikosielec, the current auxiliary bishop of Pinsk, to serve as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese.
In Belarus, Catholics celebrated Kondrusiewicz's 75th birthday on Jan. 3 by creating a video honoring his life of service to the Church and holding signs of congratulations.