The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; , ) is the official name of the

exarchate An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Con ...

of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. It represents the union of Russian Orthodox eparchies in the territory of Belarus and is the largest religious organization in the country, uniting the predominant majority of its

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Christians. Bishop Vienijamin (Vital Tupieka) became the

Patriarchal Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, ...

of the Belarusian Orthodox Church in 2020. The church enjoys a much lower degree of autonomy than the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which received a tomos of independence and self-governance from the Patriarch of Moscow in 1990, and declared its own full autonomy and independence from the

in 2022. The Belarusian Orthodox Church strongly opposes the minor and largely emigration-based

Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (, ''Bielaruskaja aŭtakiefaĺnaja pravaslaŭnaja carkva'' BAPC), sometimes abbreviated as B.A.O. Church or BAOC, is an independent Eastern Orthodox church, unrecognized by the mainstream Eastern Or ...

History

The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC) was established on October 16, 1989 on the foundation of the Minsk Eparchy. This occurred following decisions made at the 1989 Bishop's

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

of the

, which appointed Metropolitan Philaret as the Exarch of Belarus. In 1990, Philaret and three other clergymen were

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

to the Supreme Soviet, serving until 1995. Following the conclusion of their terms and a request from the Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church for clergy to refrain from seeking election, no priests or hierarchs ran for public office. Upon Belarus's declaration of independence on August 25, 1991, and its subsequent recognition by more than 50 states by late December, Metropolitan Philareth commented: Between 1988 and 2003, the BOC obtained 709 buildings through the

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

of former Soviet property to the Church. The Orthodox Church's prominent role in Belarus was formally recognized in the 2002 Law on Religion, which acknowledged the "determining role of the Orthodox Church in... development of... state traditions of the Belarusian people." This recognition was further solidified when the Church and the Belarusian state signed a cooperation agreement in 2003. The BOC's lobbying efforts during the 2000s, targeting issues like abortions, religious teachings in schools, and the recognition of theological degrees by the Ministry of Education, met with mixed results. While they did not fully succeed, parents were granted the option of choosing elective courses on religious education. In 2011, the Ministry of Education prohibited the display of religious symbols in educational institutions. The BOC reiterated its ban on political activity by its clergy in 2011. A new Exarch,

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, was appointed in 2013. Less than a year later, in 2014, he oversaw the creation of four new eparchies. Paul served until 2020, when

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

was appointed as the new Exarch.

Structure

The Belarusian Exarchate serves as the national territorial organization of the

. Its head, the Exarch, is elected by the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox ...

of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Exarch proposes the appointment of bishops, which requires approval of the Holy Synod, and the establishment of new eparchies, which requires approval of the Bishops' Council. As of 2024, the Belarusian Orthodox Church includes 1,737 Orthodox parishes, organized into 15 eparchies. It also oversees 6 theological educational institutions, 36 monasteries, 15 brotherhoods, 9 sisterhoods, and 1 mission. In terms of places of worship, 1,878 Orthodox churches are active, with another 147 currently under construction. The BOC's episcopate includes 17 bishops, of whom one is retired and two are Vicar Bishops. Metropolitan Benjamin oversees two eparchies. As of 2020, the Belarusian Orthodox Church was organized into 15

eparchies Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administrative structure ...

: Belarusian law establishes three tiers for registered religious groups. A religious community needs at least 20 adults from the same or adjacent areas. Religious associations require at least 10 communities, one of which must have been active for 20 years. National religious associations are recognized if they encompass active communities in at least four of Belarus's six oblasts.

Exarchs

Polling

The percentage of the population identifying as Orthodox in Belarus rose from 22% in 1989 to 43.5% in 1993, then continued to increase to 67.4% in 2002 and 78.8% in 2010. In 2010 8.2% of Orthodox attended Church weekly compared to 34.9% of Catholics in Belarus and 63.6% of Protestants. According to a 2017

Pew Research The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It als ...

, 73% of Belarus's population identifies as Orthodox, and 71% express pride in their religious identity. Among Orthodox adherents, 17% consider religion very important in their lives, 12% attend church weekly, 22% pray daily, and 88% believe in God. On the role of religion in public life, 44% support public funding for churches. While 42% believe the government should promote religious values, 50% disagree with this stance. Only 45% of Belarusians deem religion important for their national identity, the lowest among surveyed countries, compared to 57% in Russia and 64% in Poland. According to a 2021 poll supported by

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

, the Orthodox Church ranked among the most trusted institutions in Belarus.

Criticism and controversies

In a statement from 2023, the exiled

Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic The Rada of the Belarusian People's Republic (, ) was the governing body of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Since 1919, the Rada BNR has been in exile where it has preserved its existence among the Belarusian diaspora as an advocacy group ...

accused the Belarusian Orthodox Church of failing to condemn violence in Belarus following the

2020–2021 Belarusian protests The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass Demonstration (political), political demonstrations and protests against the Government of Belarus, Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government ...

and of interfering in the affairs of other Christian churches and thereby being "the main source of inter-religious tension in Belarus". The Rada characterised the church as "a Russian colonial institution" and "one of the ideological pillars of A. Lukashenka's regime".THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IS THE MAIN SOURCE OF INTERRELIGIOUS TENSION IN BELARUS - STATEMENT OF BNR RADA
- BNR Rada official website, 7 July 2023 In 2022 and 2023, the Orthodox St Elisabeth Convent in Minsk has been holding public events supporting the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and raised funds to support Russian troops. The convent has also been involved in promoting

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

, and other controversies.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website

The Growing Power Of The Belarusian Orthodox Church - Belarus Photo Digest
{{Christianity in Belarus Eastern Orthodoxy in Belarus Exarchates of the Russian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox Church bodies in Europe