On December 25, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. The Holy Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church at its recent meeting discussed the possible installation of a monument to the late Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II in Vitebsk, the Belarusian Exarchate informed BelTA. Archbishop of Vitebsk and Orsha Dimitry informed the bishops about the readiness of the monument. The Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church decided to appeal to the President of Belarus with a request to grant permission for the installation of the monument near the Holy Assumption Cathedral in Vitebsk. In addition, the Synod made other decisions. Among other things, the bishops supported the proposal to build a church at the junction of the state borders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The bishops of the Belarusian Orthodox Church discussed the resolution adopted in October jointly with the Minsk-Mogilev Roman Catholic Archdiocese on introducing amendments and additions to the law "On Healthcare" regarding the prohibition of abortions and surrogacy. In particular, the document proposes to support the right of a doctor to refuse to perform medical intervention for religious, ethical, and moral reasons. A similar norm is in effect, for example, in Russia. The Synod decided to consider the cooperation of the Belarusian Orthodox Church and the aforementioned Catholic Archdiocese in this direction as important. The Synod also decided to instruct Archbishop of Polotsk and Glubokoye Feodosiy, jointly with the Minsk Theological Schools and the Institute of Theology of BSU, to work out the issue of possible public lectures by bishops and theologians of the Belarusian Orthodox Church on socially significant and theological topics at leading universities in Belarus. The bishops blessed the holding of a conference of representatives of diocesan departments for youth work and the international Orthodox youth festival "Brothers - Winter 2013" from February 3 to 10 in Grodno in January-February 2013. The Synod meeting also addressed the preparations for the celebration of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' in 2013. The bishops approved the proposal to create a church-state organizing committee.-0-

BelTA