time of his death, he was the second oldest member of the College of Cardinals. Pope Benedict XVI sent a telegram to Archbishop Kondrusiewicz and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus expressing his condolences for the Cardinal's death and praising him for his lengthy service as Cardinal Archbishop and his continuing fidelity and loyalty to the Church and to Christ during his periods of imprisonment back in the early years of the Cold War, in the post-war period, when the Church in the Soviet Union had to be largely clandestine. References External links Website of the Catholic Church of Belarus Pope Pays Homage to Unitate (Roman Catholic) Cardinal Who Survived Siberian Labor Camp Autobiographical remarks by Kazimierz Cardinal Świątek (in Italian) 1914 births 2011 deaths Belarusian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Belarus Escapees from Soviet detention Prisoners sentenced to death by the Soviet Union Soviet people of Polish descent Belarusian people of Polish descent Belarusian anti-communists Polish people of World War II Polish prisoners and detainees Polish anti-communists People from Valga, Estonia Polish people detained by the NKVD Polish Roman Catholic archbishops