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Article: New law may lead to religious crackdown. (World).(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- November 15, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BELARUS: President Alexander Lukashenko has ratified a new law on religion that critics said threatens all minority faiths in the former Soviet republic. The law, signed Oct. 31, places strict controls on the registration of religious groups and the activities of foreign religious workers, who account for about half of all priests serving Belarus' estimated 600,000 Catholics.
Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek of Minsk-Mogilev, head of the Catholic church in Belarus, declined to comment on the law until he actually saw it, saying, "There could have been some last-minute changes." However, religious freedom activists in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, said the law signed ...