Lithuanian citizen detained in Pastavy district who came to local Old Believers
The man was detained during a religious service in the village of Kuklyany. He is accused of not having the right to conduct such services on the territory of Belarus. It is known that he intended to officially register a religious community with the Pastavy District Executive Committee. The publication in "Pastavy Krai" was noticed by the "Vitebskaya Vesna" channel.
According to the district newspaper, the Kuklyany religious community is not registered, and the foreigner, who called himself a spiritual mentor of the Old Believer community, tried to register the community and applied to the Pastavy District Executive Committee.
According to local propagandists, the submitted documents did not comply with the samples provided to the initiator, and the working group of the district executive committee found facts of falsification in them. The city executive committee concluded that general meetings of the community members were not actually held, citizens who were not even aware of it were included in the lists of founders, and people were misled when collecting signatures. They were told, the district executive committee asserts, that they were signing for the improvement of the church and cemetery, and the community's charter contradicted Belarusian legislation.
The Lithuanian citizen was detained right during the divine service. His further fate is not yet known.
The village of Kuklyany (Kamai rural council) is a well-known historical center of Old Belief in the Vitebsk region. They have their own religious rites. A unique historical monument, the Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, has been preserved here. This wooden church was built in the first half of the 19th century.
In the mid-19th century, when strict restrictions on Old Believer services were in force in the region, the Kuklyany parish and neighboring Apidamy were among the few places where officially permitted prayer buildings functioned, writes "Vitebskaya Vesna".
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