Pope accepts resignation of Minsk archbishop who angered Lukashenko

Pope Francis on Sunday accepted the resignation of the Catholic Archbishop of Minsk Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, who angered the Lukashenko regime and was banned from Belarus by speaking against the country's government and violence against the protestors.

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The Archbishops are supposed to tender their resignation to the Pope when they turn 75 years old, which Kondrusiewicz did on Sunday. However, the Pope decides whether the Archbishop continues or not.

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In a statement announcing the Archbishop's resignation, the Vatican said Bishop Kazimierz Wielikosielec of the Diocese of Pinsk in western Belarus would take his place.

Kondrusiewicz, who currently lives in Poland and is a citizen of Belarus, gave an interview to a radio station calling for an end to police violence against protesters and demanding the resignation of strongman Lukashenko, who in August won re-election in a vote the opposition said was rigged.

However, Lukashenko hit back at the Archbishop and accused him of plotting to "destroy the country".

Belarusians overwhelmingly observe Orthodox Christianity, but the country has small Catholic minorities, observing the Roman rite common in Poland or the Eastern rite found in neighbouring Ukraine.