MOSCOW, SEPT. 21, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, who has led the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow for 16 years, as archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev, in Belarus.
"I am going home," the Belarus native told Vatican Radio today after the appointment had been announced.
The Vatican also announced that Father Paolo Pezzi, of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, will succeed Archbishop Kondrusiewicz as the leader of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God.
Archbishop-designate Pezzi, 47, is a native of Russi, Italy. He was ordained a priest in 1990. At the time of his appointment he was the rector of the major seminary of Mary Queen of the Apostles in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz said regarding his new mission: "I am, as always, at the service of the Church, I am like a soldier: When my leader tells me to go to one place or another, I am always ready to go.
"Our strength is obedience: Therefore I go to Minsk with great joy, obedient to the Holy Father and with a spirit of great responsibility. I leave Moscow because it is God's will: The Holy Father's will, for me, is the will of God, and I must work where he tells me to."
When asked about leaving Moscow he said that he leaves "a part of my heart because I began here with nothing."
The archbishop says that he goes to Belarus "with a spirit of hope," and that he hopes to "to continue to develop the Church, establish good relationships with the Orthodox Church, above all, with the society. And to do this I ask for the prayers of everyone."
ZE07092108 - 2007-09-21