On June 14, 2024, the opening of the forum of the Sisters of Mercy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, organized by the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service, took place at the Ark Spiritual and Educational center of the St. Elizabeth Convent in Minsk. 
Before the start of the event, certificates of completion of training for the first group of sisters of mercy according to the program of the Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, were presented. 22 nurses and volunteers received professional training as a nursing assistant. Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Metropolitan Veniamin of Minsk and Zaslavsky and Alexey Zarov, chief physician of St. Alexy's Hospital, presented graduates with certificates of assignment of a new profession.
"The opening of the classroom in Belarus was the result of the systematic work of our hospital to develop palliative care and nursing. We are very pleased that the St. Alexy Hospital Training Center has started to conduct nursing courses at the monastery, where the sisterhood was established 30 years ago. Today it consists of more than 300 sisters of mercy, — said Alexey Zarov. — We helped equip the classroom: we brought mannequins-simulators for practicing care skills, functional beds, other useful equipment and supplies for care and training. We are sure that the classroom will be in demand. Professional skills are extremely important for sisters of mercy in their service in hospitals and hospices."
Teachers of the St. Alexy Hospital Training Center came to Minsk to conduct training courses. For five days, the students practiced the skills of caring for seriously ill and bedridden patients. The next stream of training is scheduled for autumn 2024.
Metropolitan Veniamin of Minsk and Zaslav addressed the participants of the congress with words of greeting. The Patriarchal exarch noted: "The title of sister of mercy has always been very honorable. It remains the same today. After all, your main service is to respond with your heart to the pain of another person, actively share it with him, show compassion. Compassion, in the words of the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, "is the most important and, perhaps, the only law of existence of all mankind." Through compassion and works of mercy, we become able to move towards the main Christian virtue — love. The highest example of compassion for people is shown to us by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who, with His Sacrifice on the Cross, healed the connection between man and God that was severed in the fall. The sisterhoods of mercy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church today serve in hospitals, boarding schools, hospices, nursing departments, wherever there is a need for a warm word and comfort. At the same time, they not only alleviate the bodily suffering of those lying on the bed of illness, but often become those people who help a person take the first steps towards spiritual life and God."
Invited guests of honor made presentations to the participants of the forum. There was also a presentation of social projects of the dioceses of the Belarusian Orthodox Church.
On the second day of the Congress of Sisters of Mercy, on June 15, it is planned to visit social institutions and familiarize the participants of the congress with the social projects of the city of Minsk.
Based on the materials of the official website of the BPC and the website Диакония.ги