The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) will be represented with an information booth at the eighth ecumenical congress “Persecution of Christians Today: Worldwide Religious Freedom – Growing Churches” in Schwäbisch Gmünd from November 9 to 12, 2025.

The ISHR’s “Religious Freedom” department aims to encourage action in support of religious freedom and will present an appeal based on the fate of the Catholic priest Father Andrzej Yukhnevich from Belarus. The rector of the church in Shumilina was arrested on May 8, 2024. On April 30, 2025, the responsible district court sentenced him to 13 years in prison in a closed session.

He is said to have defended the independence of his church against state encroachment. For reasons of conscience, he opposed Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and advocated for freedom and justice in Belarus. He wrote online: “We have decided to pray together with our parishioners every day for the conversion of Russia and Belarus and for an immediate end to the war in Ukraine.” The popular clergyman was previously chairman of the Coordinating Group of Religious Superiors in Belarus and represented Belarusian Catholics to the Vatican.

The Schönblick Christian Guest Centre and the Evangelical News Agency IDEA are hosting the congress. More information can be found online at https://www.schoenblick.de/de/kongress-christenverfolgung-heute