Metropolitan T. Kondrusiewicz and the Vatican Ambassador opened the Magnificat festival in Minsk

September 9, Minsk /BELTA/. A solemn service in honor of the opening of the VIII Festival of Christian Films and TV Programs Magnificat-2012 was held today at the Minsk Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a BELTA correspondent reports. After the divine service, Metropolitan of Minsk and Mogilev Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz and Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus (Vatican Ambassador) Archbishop Claudio Gatterotti, as well as festival organizers and representatives of government bodies, solemnly opened the next Magnificat. Archbishop Claudio Gatterotti conveyed greetings from Pope Benedict XVI to those present. He also noted that the films included in the Magnificat festival program are very important for our time, as television sometimes places too much emphasis on negative information, such as reports of murders. Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, answering journalists' questions, said that a significant number of people in our country attend Christian churches, but cinema, the Internet, and television provide an opportunity to convey eternal values to a much larger audience. This also applies to the Magnificat festival of Christian films and TV programs. In turn, Sergey Vecher, a representative of the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative for Religious and National Affairs, read out a welcome address from the head of this department, Leonid Gulyako, which emphasized that the Magnificat festival has become not only a significant cultural event but also an authoritative review of the works of documentary filmmakers. The current Magnificat festival will be held in Minsk and Glubokoye from September 9 to 13. This year, the festival will feature films from more than 16 countries, including Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Canada, Latvia, Russia, and Ukraine. Films from Azerbaijan and Belgium will participate for the first time. Russian director Alexander Kuprin has also joined the Magnificat jury. Today, festival screenings are taking place in Minsk, and on September 10, Magnificat will "move" to the Glubokoye district, where the participating films will be shown to residents of Glubokoye, Udela, and Mosar. Magnificat is patronized by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus. It was founded by the Catholic association "Signis-Belarus," the "Stop-frame" studio, as well as the Vitebsk Catholic Diocese and the magazine "Dialogue." The festival is aimed at evangelizing society and supporting universal human values through the works of Belarusian and foreign film and television masters.