Belarusian State Radio suddenly suspended the broadcast of Catholic Mass

For three weeks in a row, the First National Channel of Belarusian state radio has not broadcast the Mass from the Minsk Archdiocesan Cathedral.

Previously, such a broadcast took place every Sunday at 8:15. The programme schedule lists "Catholic Sermon" for that time slot, but what actually airs is a "Thematic Segment". For example, on July 12, classical music was broadcast instead of the Mass.

This came as an unpleasant surprise for many homebound believers who are unable to travel to church. The Minsk Archdiocesan Cathedral and other Belarusian churches do stream services online, but many elderly people do not use the internet.

The parish of the Archdiocesan Cathedral was unaware that the broadcast of the service had already been discontinued. Parishioners say that for the sake of the broadcast, the 8:15 service is conducted literally with a stopwatch — to fit within the allotted radio time. They continued to hold the Mass in the same manner during the previous three weeks, even when there was no radio broadcast.

In order to find out the reasons for the cancellation, believers tried to reach the radio station by phone numbers listed in online directories and wrote on the station's social media pages. However, they received no response anywhere.

Notably, the Orthodox programme "Spiritual Word" continues to air on the radio as before. 

UPDATED. Following media reports that broadcasts of the Catholic Mass had been halted, they were resumed — with officials pretending the suspension had never happened.