Minsk - Cardinal Tarciso Bertone of the Catholic Church on Sunday celebrated a mass attended by thousands in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, a stronghold of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Interfax news agency reported. Attending the service were representatives from Western governments as well as many dignitaries from the Belarusian Orthodox Church.
The service by Bertone, the Secretary of State for the Vatican, ends his official visit to Belarus in what is seen as an attempt to build bridges between the West and the East.
The country's authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, in a meeting with Bertone also invited Pope Benedict the XVI to Minsk.
The population of Belarus is approximately 80 per cent Russian Orthodox, and 15 per cent Catholic.
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