The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; , ) is the official name of the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. 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 Christians.

Bishop Vienijamin (Vital Tupieka) became the Patriarchal Exarch of the Belarusian Orthodox Church in 2020.ВЕНИАМИН, МИТРОПОЛИТ МИНСКИЙ И ЗАСЛАВСКИЙ, ПАТРИАРШИЙ ЭКЗАРХ ВСЕЯ БЕЛАРУСИ - "Решением Священного Синода от 25 августа 2020 г. (журнал № 46) назначен Патриаршим Экзархом всея Беларуси, митрополитом Минским и Заславским, с сохранением временного управления Борисовской епархией. Возведен в сан митрополита Святейшим Патриархом Московским и всея Руси Кириллом 6 сентября 2020 г. за Божественной литургией в кафедральном соборном Храме Христа Спасителя в городе Москве."

History The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC) was established on 16 October 1989, on the foundation of the Minsk Eparchy. This occurred following decisions made at the 1989 Bishop's Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which appointed Metropolitan Philaret as the Exarch of Belarus.

In 1990, Philaret and three other clergymen were elected to the Supreme Soviet. When their terms ended in 1995, the Synod of the BOC asked clergy not to run for public office again, and none did.

When Belarus declared independence in 1991 and was recognized by more than 50 states, Metropolitan Philaret said:

Between 1988 and 2003, the BOC obtained 709 buildings through the transfer of former Soviet property to the Church.

The Church's role in Belarus was formally recognized in the 2002 Law on Religion, which stated that the BOC played a "determining role" in the development of the "state traditions of the Belarusian people". A year later, the BOC and the government signed a cooperation agreement

In the 2000s, the BOC proposed to change abortion law, introduce religious teaching in schools, and recognize doctoral degrees conferred by theological seminaries. Despite pro-Church rhetoric by state officials, these efforts were mostly unsuccessful, and the Church achieved only elective courses in schools. The Church's relationship with the Ministry of Education further worsened when the latter prohibited displays of religious symbols in educational institutions.

The BOC reiterated its ban on political activity by its clergy in 2011. A new Exarch, Paul, 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 was appointed as the new Exarch.

Structure The Belarusian Exarchate is a national territorial organization of the Russian Orthodox Church. Its head, the Exarch, is elected by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Exarch can appoint bishops, which requires the approval of the Holy Synod, and establish new eparchies with the approval of the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.

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. 1,878 Orthodox churches are active, with another 147 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: + Structure of the BOC in 2020 Eparchy Parishes Monasteries Priests Deacons Region Year established Turov 77 2 76 5 Gomel 1992 Slutsk 105 1 75 6 Minsk 2014 Polotsk 111 2 56 5 Vitebsk 1992 Pinsk 183 1 184 7 Brest 1989 Novogrudok 59 3 70 6 Grodno 1992 Molodechno 117 0 76 4 Minsk 2014 Mogilev 80 2 77 8 Mogilev 1989 Minsk 96 5 237 52 City of Minsk 1793 Lida 46 0 39 1 Minsk 2014 Grodno 103 0 120 9 Grodno 1992 Gomel 159 4 175 16 Gomel 1990 Vitebsk 185 6 150 47 Vitebsk 1992 Brest 203 4 210 20 Brest 1990 Borisov 120 3 101 9 Minsk 2014 Bobruisk 58 2 55 5 Mogilev 2004 Total 1702 35 1701 200

Belarusian law establishes three tiers for registered religious groups. The smallest of them is a religious community, it needs at least 20 adults from the same or adjacent areas.

+ Number of the BOC religious communities over time 1991 1996 2005 2010 2015 2020 2024 603 938 1,315 1,509 1,643 1,709 1,737 Exarchs No.PortraitPrimateTerm Notes Took office Left office Duration1Philaret16 October 198925 December 2013Hero of Belarus (2006)2Paul25 December 201325 August 2020 3Benjamin25 August 2020Incumbent First ethnically Belarusian exarch 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, 73% of Belarus's population identifies as Orthodox, and 71% express pride in their religious identity. Among Orthodox believers, 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. 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 Orthodox Church was the second most trusted institution, behind independent media.

+ Public trust in the Orthodox Church 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2021 64.7 63.4 68.1 60.6 63.3 63.0 65.2 45.4

Criticism and controversies

In 2023, the exiled Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic described the BOC as a "Russian colonial institution". The Rada also said that the church supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, failed to condemn human rights abuses by the Lukashenko government, and enjoyed privileges while other denominations were repressed.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 UkraineУ Свята-Елізавецінскім манастыры правялі Z-канцэрт. На сцэне былі партрэты «Матаролы», Захарчанкі, Пушыліна [A Z-concert held in the St Elisabeth Convent. Portraits of Motorola, Zakharchenko and Pushilin were on the stage] - Nasha Niva, 18 June 2023 and raised funds to support Russian troops.У Польшчы працягваецца збор галасоў супраць гандлю менскага Свята-Елізавецінскага манастыра [Signatures are being collected in Poland against St Elisabeth Convent participation in trade fairs] - Radio Racyja«Хрысьціянская візія»: З красавіка Сьвята-Лізавецінскі манастыр мог паўдзельнічаць у набыцьці 7 аўтамабіляў для расейскіх вайскоўцаў [St Elisabeth Convent may possibly participated in acquiring seven vehicles for Russian troops] - Radio Svaboda, 16 August 2023 The convent has also been involved in promoting homophobia, and other controversies.

See also Religion in Belarus Catholic Church in Belarus Belarusian Evangelical Reformed Church Freedom of religion in Belarus

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links Official website The Growing Power Of The Belarusian Orthodox Church - Belarus Photo Digest