Religion in Belarus: 1020th Anniversary of Christianity. - Belarusian Yearbook 2008. A survey and analysis of developments in the Republic of Belarus in 2008 ed. and compl. by Pankovsky A., Kostyugova V. - BISS. - Minsk, 2009. - pp.158-168. (original) (raw)
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In 2016 the policy of state control over the religious sphere continued, the authorities rarely used brutal pressure and repression against religious communities, limiting the activities of religious organizations primarily in bureaucratic ways. In early 2016 there was a traditional conflict of the Commissioner for religious affairs with the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church because the government was not satisfied with the personnel policy of the latter. In the Orthodox Church, especially concerning the Minsk diocese, staff and structural changes continued, and a large organization, the Publishing house of the Belarusian Exarchate, was closed down. In February there was a meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in Havana, and in June there was the Sacred and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church on Crete.
In 2013, the religious field in Belarus was significantly controlled by the state, which was characterized not only by minor ‘clean-ups’ of Protestants, but the Orthodox and Catholic Churches also suffered some blows, although they tried to control conflict situations. Pro-life values (family, demography, abortions) prevailed on the social agenda of the churches and this caused both unification and protest potential, which, nevertheless, was used too little. The confrontation in the administration of the Orthodox Church in Belarus regarding the change of the patriarchal exarch was intensified by interference of the state authority, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, by the Moscow center, which finally made a single-handed decision and appointed a new Metropolitan of Minsk – an ordinary Russian hierarch without any relations to Belarus. The arrest of the Roman Catholic priest Uladzislau Lazar by the secret services threatened the established balance between the Belarusian authorities and the Catholic Church and created prerequisites for reformatting their relations in the context of significant staffing changes in the Vatican.
The religious sphere in 2011 was influenced by the presidential elections of 19 December 2010 and repressions in civil and political spheres afterwards. On the one hand, both at the higher level of the senior hierarchy and among believers began a certain resuscitation. On the other hand, it was not systematic, flaring up and abating. Nevertheless, this resuscitation was observed both in in-church issues and social events. Besides the traditional agenda (church-state relations, religious education at school, demography, family, abortions, donations for religious buildings and social projects), new issues arose: current political events after the elections and the followed repressions, and the death penalty. The adoption of the new law on reproduction technologies made topical questions of bioethics. These dominated the religious discourse. The church communities gained a more important position. The economic crisis of spring-summer 2011 hit churches as well.
Religious Pluralism in Post-communist Eastern Europe The Case of Belarus
There is a stereotype that such former Soviet republics as Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are totally Orthodox. However, this statement is not entirely correct, as part of the population in these countries belong to many different churches, while a large part have rather eclectic religious and para-religious beliefs. In the case of Belarus, a major part of the population belongs to two Christian confessions, Orthodox and Catholic, while many other confessions and new religious movements also exist. Religious pluralism is a practical reality in Belarus which has the reputation of the most religiously tolerant post-Soviet country. Contemporary laws provide the legal basis for the tolerant relations in the country , and there is a historical tradition of religious tolerance in Belarus. Research data from the EVS studies and national surveys are used.