three-year terms as chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia. From 1994 to 1999, he was a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and since 1996 of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care. Kandrusievič is seen by many as a moderate conservative, being hostile towards the traditionalist movement and the restoration of the Tridentine Mass, but at the same time disallowing or discouraging many of the excesses of theological and liturgical liberalism in his diocese. He has been instrumental in the reestablishment of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia after the collapse of the Communist regime. Archbishop of Minsk On 21 September 2007, Kandrusievič was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Minsk-Mahilyow by Pope Benedict XVI. On 30 June 2011, Kazimierz Świątek retired from his position as Apostolic Administrator of Pinsk, and Kandrusievič replaced him. During mass on 1 November 2017, Kandrusievič called the 1917 October Revolution in Russia an "existential disaster" that brought immense suffering to Belarus. He noted that Belarus still celebrates the revolution date as a public holiday, while the Catholic population do not have official day-offs on All Saints Day and Memorial Day to perform their rites. On 31 August 2020, Kandrusievič was prevented from entering Belarus after visiting Poland, despite being a Belarusian citizen. Kondrusiewicz had told an interviewer that "There is reason to believe that the [9 August 2020] election was dishonest". On 19 August he prayed at a prison that held people arrested for protesting that election and on 21 August he met with the Interior Minister to lodge a protest against the government's response to the protests. He was finally allowed to return on 24 December. Upon turning 75 on 3 January 2021, Kandrusievič tendered his resignation and Pope Francis accepted it immediately. Awards He was awarded the Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg". In March 2021, the Center for Belarusian Solidarity awarded Kondrusiewicz the Global Belarusian Solidarity Award in the category "With Faith in My Heart". References External links 1946 births Living people People from Hrodna District Catholic Church in Russia 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Belarus Belarusian people of Polish descent Belarusian anti-communists Belarusian dissidents Soviet people of Polish descent Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University alumni Belarusian Roman Catholic archbishops