DISINFO: Polish Catholics interfere in Belarus's affairs, Catholics should be converted to Orthodox Christianity
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: Berestje News (archived)*
  • Date of publication: July 19, 2020
  • Outlet language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 206
  • Countries / regions discussed: Poland, US, Belarus
Tags:
Orthodox Church Colour revolutions Conspiracy theory

DISINFO: Polish Catholics interfere in Belarus's affairs, Catholics should be converted to Orthodox Christianity

SUMMARY

Poland interferes in the Belarusian presidential elections through Catholics. Polish Catholics try to initiate riots and mass protests in Belarus. They initiated a campaign against electoral fraud, likely thanks to the US State Department money. The Western security bodies have long time ago bought off all Catholic institutions. All Catholics are controlled by Uncle Sam. Earlier similar policies were conducted by the Orthodox Autocephalous Church. Half of Catholic priests in Belarus come from Poland. They are governed by the rules imposed from outside Belarus, but Belarusian Catholics are under their bad influence. They need to be saved, including through conversion into Orthodox Christianity, which has the truth, God, and God-elected president, not an agent of Western security bodies.

RESPONSE

Conspiracy theory aimed at discrediting the Belarusian Roman Catholic Church, the Belarusian Orthodox Autocephalous Church, Poland and the US. This is a radical modification of recurring pro-Kremlin propaganda narrative about the West's aggressive plans to destabilise Belarus and organise a colour revolution. In the past pro-Kremlin media outlets accused Tadevush Kondrasevich, the Belarusian Roman Catholic Archbishop, of holding an anti-Soviet and Russophobic worldview, and claimed that Nazis and Vatican oppose the Union State between Belarus and Russia. They also alleged that the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is favoured by the West in order to disrupt Russia-Belarus ties and that it conspired with the Belarusian opposition to infect millions of people with coronavirus. The allegations that the US and Poland are behind the campaign for free and fair elections, organised by a group of Belarusian Catholics, are groundless. On 2 July 2020, the Belarusian Roman Catholic Archbishop Tadevuch Kondrasevich, speaking to Catholic believers, said the presidential elections "should be honest, free and fair." See earlier disinformation cases alleging that the West is destabilizing Belarus with the help of Nazis and LGBT, that pro-Western Belarusian opposition prefers commemorating WWII events with swastikas and LGBT symbols, that Warsaw is preparing Euromaidan scenario for Belarus, and that western Europe is abandoning Christian roots.

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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