Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Liavoncij Tumouski, M.S.U., as apostolic administrator for Byzantine Catholics in Belarus.
Father Tumouski succeeds Archimandrite Jan Sergiusz Gajek, M.I.C., 77.
“For Byzantine Catholics in Belarus, Tumouski’s nomination marks a generational change,” The Pillar reported. “Gajek has led the community for more than three decades, since his appointment as apostolic visitor by Pope John Paul II in 1993. Now he is passing the responsibility to a younger man, who is called to build on Gajek’s legacy and encourage new expressions of Byzantine Rite Catholicism within parameters tightly defined by the state.”