Religion
Due to its specific geographical position Belarus lies along the boundary between two worlds, cultures and mentalities. It has always been a zone of interaction between the Orthodox civilization originated in Byzantium and the Roman Catholic one centered in Europe. This fact has determined the unique cultural and historical status in Europe. The syncretic, primarily Orthodox-Catholic culture of the Belorussian nation has been enriched by the achievements of other cultures, borrowing the ideas and values, which could be adapted on its ground. The representatives of the traditional religions play the leading role in the development of Belorussian culture.
The relations between the two major religions in Belarus have in most times been marked with tolerance. Orthodoxy had been the dominating faith before the Union of Brest in 1596. Orthodox believers had considerably outnumbered the local Catholics, Judes, Muslims and Protestants. In the 17 – 19th century Orthodox believers were forcibly converted to Uniatism, which retained Orthodox traditions and rites and used the Old Slavic and the contemporary language in its liturgy. In the late 18th century Uniats comprised up to 70% of the whole population, Roman Catholics – up to 15%, Orthodox believers – up to 6%, Judes – up to 7%, others – around 2%.
In 1839 Uniatism in Belarus as well as in Lithuania and much of the Ukraine was abolished and the Uniate Church joined Russian Orthodox church. Orthodox population restored its dominance (over 66% in the early 20th century).
Over the last two decades (1980 – 2003) religious and ethnical awareness of Belorussians has raised considerably and faith began to play a significant part in the political and social life of the country. It has been viewed as a guarantor of social order, stability of moral values and of the revival of national traditions.
Religious organizations have considerably intensified their activity since the late 1980s. Surveys show that in 1989 65% of the respondents considered themselves Atheists while in 1994 this number reduced to 32%. The number of believers has grown from 22% in 1989 to 43.4 in 1994. Women are generally more religious than men (54.6% – 33.3% accordingly). Among older generation women who profess a religion outnumber men by 1.5 – 2 times. Among religious youngsters the sexes have almost evenly divided. Surveys of the 1990s show that 70% of people associate themselves with Orthodoxy, 15 – 20% with Roman Catholicism, 2% with Protestantism.
The support of state authorities determined positive changes in the religious life. In conformity with the law “Of national minorities” passed in 1992 money is assigned from the state budget to facilitate the development of education and culture of national minorities. In 1994 the Republican Centre for national cultures was organized, which in particular is concerned with modelling the national relations typical for the multi-national cultures of Europe, America and Asia.
Most of the religious organizations contribute to the mutual understanding of different denominations and help to maintain tolerance in society. A balanced position taken by the state as well as constant search for compromise in the course of forming the society governed by law resulted in the fact that now the official ideology is based on shared Christian values rather than on the doctrine of one particular denomination. The State Committee of religions and nationalities at the Cabinet of Ministers, which was formed in January, 1997 to control as well as to survey and coordinate this sphere, also helps to maintain general consent of different denominations. The law “Of freedom of faith and religious organizations” underwent international examination and was acknowledged as answering the international standards. By the beginning of the year 2002 Belarus had had 26 religious denominations.
The Orthodox Church
The Orthodox community is comprised predominately of ethnic Belorussians. Apart from them, Orthodoxy is professed by the representatives of other national groups, much of which are Russians and Ukrainians.
From 1986 to 2003 the state has transferred to the Orthodox communities over 350 churches that prior had been closed for liturgy service. In 1989 the Polotsk, Mogilev and Pinsk eparchies were reinstated, in 1990 the Gomel eparchie was reinstated and the Brest eparchial cathedra was formed, in 1991 the Novogrudok and Grodno cathedras and in 1992 the Turov and Vitebsk cathedras were formed. Together with the Minsk eparchy all the ten ones comprise the Belorussian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox church, which was formed in 1989. Another official name for the Belorussian Exarchate is Belorussian Orthodox church.
Belorussian Orthodox church is governed by the Synod chaired by Filaret, the Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, the Exarch of the Patriarch in the whole of Belarus.
As of early 2009 there were 1,473 Orthodox communities and 1,274 Orthodox churches in Belarus, with another 152 under construction. The 1990s witnessed the revival of religious organizations. As of early 2009 there were over 60 Orthodox associations in Belarus, including monasteries, brotherhoods, sisterhoods and centers for charity and education.
In 1992 the Spas-Yefrossinian nunnery was restored and has turned into a centre of enlightenment and charity as it was originally founded by Mother Superior Yefrossinia of Polotsk, later recognized as a saint. By the end of 2002 Belarus had had 5 functioning monasteries and 8 nunneries. 12 Orthodox brotherhoods participate in the construction and repairment of churches, in helping lonely, aged and seriously ill people, in the organization of brethren choirs, of libraries and Sunday schools as well as in the publishing trade.
7 Orthodox sisterhoods are involved in missionary activities, taking care of the lonely, aged and ill people, work in the Institute of traumatology and orthopaedy and in Children’s hospital N1 in Minsk.
Belorussian Orthodox church has over 1119 priests. Education is provided in the Minsk seminary, which works on the premises of the monastery of the Assumption in Zhirovichi. Now it has become an institution of higher learning where any citizen of the former Soviet republics can enter. The seminary supervises a Sunday school and a precentor’s class. The profession of a precentor and a psalm-reader can also be obtained in Minsk and Vitebsk ecclesiastical colleges.
In 1993 the department of theology was formed at the European Humanities University (now at the Belorussian State University). Its dean is Metropolitan Filaret. The curriculum includes theology, ecclesiastical history, pedagogics, psychology, literature and art as well as 2 modern and 4 ancient languages.
The Roman Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic church is a traditional religion in Belarus. Catholisism began to spread here in the late 14th century.
Since 1830s and up to the early 20th century as well as in 1920 – 1980 Catholic church had been discriminated first by the tsar and then by the Soviet authorities. Positive changes in the attitude to Catholics in Belarus (as well as to other believers) started in 1988 when the old dioseses were reinstated and new ones formed. By 2002 Belarus had had over 482 Catholic communities, about half of them functioning in Grodno region where most of the Belorussian Poles live. Over 285 Roman Catholic priests work in Catholic dioseses (more than half of them are Polish citizens). About 200 church buildings were returned to the Roman Catholic church in1988 – 1997. About 60 churches have been restored and currently function. By the beginning of 2002 there were 345 functioning churches and 38 ones under construction.
An important even in the life of the Roman Catholic church in Belarus was the restoration of the Cathedral in Minsk in 1994 – 1997 carried out by Polish restorers in cooperation with Belorussian specialists. The growth of the number of Catholic communities in the last decade caused some changes in the administrative structure of the Roman Catholic church in Belarus. In 1991 the Pope sanctified the formation of 3 archdioceses – those of Grodno and Pinsk and one for both Minsk and Mogilev. In 1999 a Conference of the Catholic bishops was formed, the head of which is Cardinal Kazimir Sventak. The Minsk and Mogilev archdiocese encompasses eastern Belarus where Catholic church is strongly influenced by local ethnical specific features and consequently does not represent Polish culture and national identity to the same extent as it does in western regions. The sessions of the Synod of the Roman Catholic church have been held since 1996 to intensify and coordinatie the activity of the Catholic dioceses.
Many Catholic churches in Belarus have restored their former reputation as religious centers and places of pilgrimage. Among them is the Bernardite Church in Budslav, a town in Miadel region of Minsk province, dating back to the 16th century, which has a wonder-working icon of Virgin Mary (the Mother of God). In 1995 Pope John Paul II issued a decree, which declared the coronation of the icons of Budslav as well as those of Miadel and Logishin. The solemn coronation took place in 1996 in Logishin, Brest province, and in 1998 in Budslav.
Many Catholic churches in Belarus are centres not only for religion but also for education and culture. Among them is the Church of St. Simon and Helen in Minsk. The church hosts a Sunday school for children and adults, the youth society “the Light of Life”, the children’s choir “the Voice of Soul”, one-man theatres “Znich” and “Angel” on its premises. There is a publishing house that prints a great number of books in Belorussian and Polish. Since 1995 the Catholic society of Christian mercy has been functioning. The needy are given humanitarian aid and provided with food in soup kitchens.
In 1993 the Roman Catholic diocese in Mogilev initiated an International Festival of Spiritual (Christian) music Mahutny Bozha (“Mighty Lord”) aimed at the revival and mutual enrichment of European cultures as well as at uniting believers of different denominations. Music groups from Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Germany, France and other countries participate in this festival.
The rise in the number of Catholic communities observed in Belarus over the past decade has prompted the reorganization of the management structure of the Roman-Catholic Church in Belarus. By now, four dioceses have been established in Belarus – the Vitebsk, Grodno, Pinsk and Minsk-Mogilev Dioceses. In November 2007 Tadeusz Kondrusievicz was appointed the head of the Minsk-Mogilev Diocese.
At the beginning of 2009 there were 467 registered Roman-Catholiccommunities and 451 Roman-Catholic churches in Belarus, with another 35 under construction.
Protestant Churches
The number of Protestant communities grows each year. They are especially numerous in Polessye (the Pripyat Marshes – the southern regions of Brest, Gomel and partly of Minsk provinces). The sustainable influence of Protestantism has been spreading eastwards.
The Protestant trends of Lutheranism and Calvinism have been known in Belarus since the 16th century. Currently there are two Lutheran communities registered in Grodno, one in Minsk and in Vitebsk. Most of the adherents are ethnic Germans. Since the 16th century this faith had been spreading from the neighbouring states – Prussia and Livonia, with German merchants, craftsmen, theologists and military men. Since the times of Reformation Lutheranism (unlike Calvinism) has not acquired wide popularity and is chiefly professed by Germans (partly by Latvians, Lithuanians and Poles) living in Belarus. By June, 2002 there were 19 Lutheran and 9 Calvinist communities in Belarus.
Fairly active nowadays are the modern Protestant trends. The modernistic attitude to dogmatics, cult and rites contributes to the perception of Protestantism as the ideology of present time, which helps to adapt to the ever-changing life. The number of Protestant trends in the last decade has grown by 5 times – from 3 up to 15 and the number of communities – by 2 times. On the territories where traditional religions due to various historical and political reasons have reduced their attention, the activity of Protestant missionaries from abroad has intensified considerably. Over the last decade their activity has been shifted towards eastern Belarus, which especially suffered from “total atheism” in Soviet times.
The denomination of the Evangelical Christians in Belarus was formed in 1988, when they left the Baptists’ Union. This allowed the Union of the Evangelical Christians, formerly registered within the Baptists’ Union, to form their own administrative structure.
As of early 2009 there were 500 communities of Evangelical Christians and 269 Baptist communities in Belarus. There are also nine communities of the Apostolic Christian Church, 73 communities of the Belarusian Confederation of Seventh-day Adventists, 54 communities of the Full Gospel Christian Church, and 26 communities of the Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The Uniate Church
The Uniatism is also one of Christian denominations existing in Belarus (also known the Greek-Latin, the Greek-Catholic, the Orthodox-Catholic, or Belorussian faith). In 1596 in Brest the Unia (union) of the Orthodox and Catholic denominations was declared officially. By the Unia the Orthodox and Catholic denominations had to by united under the supervision of the Pope. The Uniates did not drive from the basic dogmates, traditions or rites of the Orthodox church, though submitted themselves to the papal authority as well as recognized some Catholic symbols of faith, trying to adapt it to the local peculiarities. The activity of the Uniate church in Belarus, eastern Lithuania and Ukraine was banned by the tsar authorities in 1839 at the Church Congress in Polotsk, although for a long time it has retained among the Ukrainian population in western Ukraine as the neighbouring regions of Poland, Slovakia Romania and Hungary.
The Uniatism revived in Belarus in the late 1980s. Small groups of Uniates began to get together and register as communities since 1989. Unlike many other denominations in Belarus the Uniate church does not receive strong support either from abroad or from the native Belorussians. As of early 2009 there were 14 Uniate communitiesin Belarus.
Judaism
The followers of Judaism were known in Belarus as early as the 9th – 13th centuries. Most actively Jews began to spread over the country in the second half of the 17th – the first half of the 18th centuries. Jews settled in accordance with their trade occupation in large and small cities and townships (shtetls). Judaism actively revived in the 1990s, although this process is slowed down by the sustainable emigration (and, accordingly, by the reduction of the Jewish population in Belarus) as well as the religious schism. By 2002 Belarus had 25 functioning communities of the Orthodox and 12 communities of the Progressive Judaism. The latter are chiefly headed by youth and intellectuals, who, possessing a strong feeling of Jewish national identity, do not tend to isolate their faith and are socially mobile and active. 6 synagogues function and 19 rabbies work in a number of cities, including Minsk.
As of early 2009 there were 46 Jewish communities and 8 synagogues functioning in Belarus, another one under construction.
Islam
Islam spread in Belarus between the fourteenth and sixteen centuries mainly due to the Grand Dukes of Lithuania who invited Tatars-Muslims from the Crimea and the Golden Horde to protect the frontiers of the State. Beginning from the 14th century, the Tatars were offered ranks and positions in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. By the end of the 16th century more than 100,000 Tatars lived in Belarus and Lithuania, including those who were given jobs or resettled and prisoners of war.
Today the local Tatars are the followers of the Sunni branch of Islam. Most of the Belarusian Tatars (especially the younger generation) do not know well the dogmas of their faith. The cultural-religious elite of the Tatars like the idea of the Belarusian national rebirth and take an active part in this process. The Shiite branch of Islam is professed by the Diaspora of Azerbaijanis and Iranians by birth.
As of early 2009 there were 25 Muslim communities in Belarus, with the biggest number of them (eight) registered in the Grodno oblast. There are six mosques in Belarus; another mosque is being constructed in Minsk.
The wave of religious revival in Belarus has spurred the emergence of new religious trends. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness and the Baha’i Faith Organization have registered their communities in Belarus (6 and 5 communities respectively).
