Cardinal Kazimir Świątek, October 21, 1914 – July 21, 2011. May he rest in peace.
Кардынал Казімір Свёнтэк, 21 кастрычніка 1914 г. – 21 ліпеня 2011 г. Памолімся аб яго вечным супакоі.
As a pastor Kazimir Świątek embodied the modesty and selfless devotion that are two outstanding traits of the Belarusian nation. His life embodied the tragic fate of the Belarusian nation in the 20th century.
Kazimir Świątek was ordained in Pinsk (then part of the interwar Polish Republic) April 8, 1939. Five months later, after the Germans had attacked Poland from the west, the Soviets attacked Poland from the east, occupying and annexing eastern Poland (Western Belarus). In 1941 the Soviet authorities condemned him to death. After two months on death row he was spared when the Germans attacked and his jailers fled. The Gestapo also threatened him with death. In 1944, after the Soviet army had pushed the Germans out of the Belarusian lands, the Soviet authorities re-arrested Kazimir Świątek and sentenced him to 10 years hard labor in the Siberian GuLAG. He returned to Pinsk in 1954.
In 1991, in recognition of Kazimir Świątek’s long years of work for a new birth of religious freedom in Belarus, Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop and in 1994 bestowed on him the title of cardinal.
It was an unforgettable privilege to be able to attend the celebratory mass in Pinsk on April 8, 2009, the 70th anniversary of Kazimir Świątek’s ordination.
Celebratory Mass for Cardinal Kazimir Świątek, Pinsk, April 8, 2009. Урачыстая імша з нагоды 70-годдзя пастарскага служэньня Кардынала Казіміра Свёнтка, Пінск, 8 красавіка 2009 года.
