Minsk was selected as the venue of the plenary session of the Council of
the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE) in 2017, the Roman Catholic
Church in Belarus said on its website.
"The next plenary session of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe will be held in Minsk in the period between September 28, 2017 through October 1, 2017.
The capital of Belarus will be visited by over 40 cardinals and bishops from all countries of Europe and from the Vatican, which has never happened before," the report said.
Commenting on the decision made on the basis of the results of the bishops voting in Monaco, Archbishop Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk and Mogilev called the selection of Minsk as the venue of the next plenary session of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe "a sign of major respect, honor and prestige for the Church in Belarus and for Belarus in general."
The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe originated in 1965, when a committee aimed at developing possibilities for closer cooperation at the level of local episcopates was formed at a meeting of 13 heads of national episcopates in Rome. The founding meeting of the council took place in Rome on March 23-24, 1971.
The council comprises 39 members of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe and several other hierarchic structures. The venue of the next plenary session is selected at annual plenary assemblies.