St. Anthony's Church was destroyed by the communist authorities in 1961. Upon learning of the news, "Catholic Herald" asked the priest Vyacheslav Borok, the abbot of the same name of the modern parish of St. Anthony in Viciebsk, which is the initiator of the restoration of the church.

The priest, speaking about the history of the ruined shrine, said: "The Church of St. Anthony in Viciebsk – one of the oldest churches (its construction began in 1676), still preserved in the XX century, he endured a lot of history of this shrine tragic She survived the First World War... war, the second world war. It was badly damaged, but survived. However, did not survive the Bolshevik menace. The communists, building a new world, a new Viciebsk, destroying the old shrine."

"Thank God, everything is back in its place. And we are already taking concrete steps to rebuild the church of St. Anthony. This was made possible thanks to the fact that it is always at the heart of the faithful was the desire to restore the shrine. The people believe that this is not only a historic building, but also a symbol of God's presence," – said the abbot Vyacheslav Borok.

The priest is convinced: "Who will destroy the shrine, that destroy God Who will build the temple of God, will receive blessings."

"To rebuild the church, we will make fruit worthy of repentance for the sins of the past century, and ask God's forgiveness for the sins of their ancestors, who destroyed the shrine It is a symbol of new life according to God's will," – hopes parish of St. Anthony prior.

Priest Vyacheslav added that initiated the restoration of the church of St. Anthony Parish in favor of the same name, where while still a priest worked bishop Oleg Boutkevitch. The priest expressed his gratitude to the authorities that they understand the need for the restoration of the church in Viciebsk and help in this matter.

Irina Radevich, catholicnews.by
Photo: Barbara Cieraškova, news.vicebsk.cc