Minsk, April 30, 2020
Photo: hb.bizmrg.com
Fr. Gennady Butko, a cleric of the Minsk Diocese of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, reposed in the Lord at the age of 57, after a serious illness caused by the coronavirus, the official site of the Belarusian Church reported yesterday.
He leaves behind four children: Oksana, Valery, Anna, and Konstantin.
Fr. Gennady was born in Minsk in 1963. He was ordained to the diaconate in 2003 by His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret of Minsk and Slutsk, and then to the priesthood.
He served as a priest at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Minsk.
In his condolences, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk notes that he received the news of Fr. Gennady’s repose with “a sense of deep sorrow.”
“The Lord called Fr. Gennady to Himself in these Paschal days, when the Orthodox Church celebrates the Resurrection of Christ, praising the conqueror of hell and death—Christ the Savior,” the Metropolitan writes.
“The Holy Gospel has sealed for us the words of the Son of God: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (Jn. 11: 25). I believe that the all-merciful Lord will accept the soul of Fr. Gennady and make him the heir of the eternal promise in the Heavenly Kingdom,” Met. Pavel said, expressing hope in the Paschal victory of Christ.
The Church will provide all possible assistance to Fr. Gennady’s suffering family, Met. Pavel assures.
May his memory be eternal!
