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Belarussian Youth hosted by Polish Fellowship
A group of young people representing the Belarusian
Orthodox Fellowship of the Three Vilnya Martyrs and the newly-organised
Konstantin Ostrozhski Fellowship of Orthodox Youth
visited the Bialystok Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Poland 14-20
January 2000 at the invitation of the Fellowship of Orthodox Youth
in Poland.
The Belarusian youth joined young people from Greece who were also
visiting Poland at the time.
The youth visited the former SYNDESMOS General Secretariat in Bialystok
and meet His Beatitude, Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland.
They also visited the women's Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin
Mary in Bialystok, the Monastery of Saint Onuphrios in Jableczna on
the Polish-Belarusian border, the women's Monastery of Saints Mary
and
Martha on the Holy Mountain of Grabarka, and the Annunciation Monastery
in Suprasl, where they saw the nearly completed cathedral which is
being rebuilt in the typical ancient Belarusian architectural style.
During the visit the youth also enjoyed horse-back riding and a camp
fire, at which the Polish brothers and sisters proved once again their
genuine hospitality and desire to make their guests feel at home.
We were pleasantly surprised when the Polish youth began singing traditional
Belarusian folk songs.
Such events are extremely important as they create positive opportunities
for communication, discussion, exchange of views and opinions, making
new friends, and development of cooperation among Orthodox youth movements.
We are all very thankful
to those who made our memorable visit possible.
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