On December 18, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The Bethlehem Fire of Peace and Friendship will depart from Vitebsk to Smolensk and Moscow today, BELTA was informed by a correspondent at the Vitebsk Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. A solemn ceremony will be held in the recently built Church of Jesus the Merciful this evening. A lamp with the sacred fire will be placed at the central altar. Believers of any denomination will be able to light a candle from it and bring the Bethlehem light to their homes. The fire will also be handed over to three Russian scouts who will take it to Smolensk and Moscow, and from there it will travel to other Russian cities. This year, Belarus is participating in the international relay "Bethlehem Fire of Peace and Friendship" for the 11th time. The fire, lit from the Unquenchable Lamp in the Basilica of the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem, was handed over on December 17 at the Polish-Belarusian border by Polish scouts to Belarusian scouts. From the Farny Church in Grodno, the sacred fire began its journey through Belarus. Today it was already welcomed in Minsk at the Archcathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, then handed over to the Church of Saints Simon and Helena (Red Church) and to other parishes in Minsk, as well as Borisov, Ivenets, Gomel, Glubokoye, Lyntupy and Vitebsk. The "Bethlehem Fire of Peace and Friendship" is an international scout action initiated more than 20 years ago by the Austrian state television channel ORF. In Belarus, it is held with the support of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. -0-

BELTA