Cardinal Kazimierz Świątek dies
It happened at 9 a.m. today. The Cardinal was 96.
Cardinal Świątek was in Pinsk hospital since March 10, informs catholic.by. He was born on October 21, 1914 in Estonia, baptized in Riga. After completing seminary in Pinsk, Świątek was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1939 and sent to the parish of Prużany. As a result of persecution of religion Świątek was arrested and sentenced to death. This sentence was not fulfilled because of the war. However, the young priest was arrested again in 1944 and sentenced to 10 years' hard labor in a Gulag, and spent nine years in Siberia and the north - Inta near Vorkuta.
After his release in 1954, he returned to Pinsk.
Kazimierz Świątek was elected as the first president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Belarus on February 11,1999. In fact, he headed the Belarusian Catholic Church. He remained at this position till 2006.
