THE LITHUANIAN born bishop responsible for Byelorussian Catholics in Western Europe died on Sunday. only days after leading Aid to the Church in Need's Pilgrimage of Crosses to Walsingham.
Bishop Ceslaus Sipovich of Mariamme and Apostolic Visitor to Byelorussians in Western Europe. died aged age 67, at Marian House, Finchley, North London. Marian House was his main home since he founded it in 1947 as a Catholic mission for Byelorussians.
Born in Dziedzinka, Lithuania, on December 8, 1914, he was ordained a priest of the Marian Fathers. on June 16. 1940, and consecrated bishop on August 4. 1960. Bishop Sipovich's funeral will be at St. Alban's Church. North Finchley. on Tuesday.
The Byelorussians (also known as White Russians) are part of the Byzantine rite. They returned to Catholic unity in the 17th Century. Their liturgical language is Old Slavonic. They are situated in Europe, the Americas. and Australia. There are an estimated 5,000 in England.
Bishop Sipovich was a member of the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and of the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Oriental Canon Law. He was also chairman of the Society of St John Chrysostom. Catholics in Lithuania — see page 5.
Obituary — page 8