Belarusian Orthodox Church

Short description: Church in Belarus under jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church

Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate

Беларускі Экзархат Маскоўскага Патрыярхата
Белорусский Экзархат Московского Патриархата

The Holy Spirit Cathedral in Minsk

Type| Eastern Orthodox
Scripture| Septuagint, New Testament
Theology| Eastern Orthodox theology
Polity| Episcopal
Metropolitan| Vienijamin
Bishops| 17 (2020)
Parishes| 1,612 (2015)
Priests| 1,676 (2019)
Dioceses| 15 (2019)
Monasteries| 35 (2019)
Language|

* Church Slavonic
* Russian
* Belarusian

Headquarters| Holy Spirit Cathedral, Minsk
Territory|  Belarus
Origin| 11 October 1989 (autonomy granted by the Moscow Patriarchate)
Recognition| Recognised as part of the Russian Orthodox Church
Members| 81% of the Belarusian Christian population, according to own claims[1]
Official website| church.by

The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; Belarusian: Беларуская праваслаўная царква, Russian: Белорусская православная церква, romanized: Belorusskaya pravoslavnaya tserkva) is the official name of the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus .[2] 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.[3]

The church enjoys a much lower degree of autonomy than the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which is a semi-autonomous entity associated with the Russian Orthodox Church.

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

## Contents

* 1 Structure
* 2 Criticism and controversies
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Structure

Structurally, the Belarusian Orthodox Church consists of 15 eparchies:

* Eparchy of Babruysk and Bykhaŭ
* Eparchy of Barysaŭ
* Eparchy of Brest and Kobryn
* Eparchy of Hrodna and Vaukavysk
* Eparchy of Homel and Zhlobin
* Eparchy of Lida
* Eparchy of Minsk
* Eparchy of Mahiliou and Mstsislau
* Eparchy of Maladzyechna
* Eparchy of Navahrudak
* Eparchy of Pinsk and Luninets
* Eparchy of Polatsk and Hlybokaye
* Eparchy of Slutsk
* Eparchy of Turau and Mazyr
* Eparchy of Vitsebsk and Orsha

## Criticism and controversies

In a statement from 2023, the exiled Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic accused the Belarusian Orthodox Church of failing to condemn violence in Belarus following the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests and of interfering in the affairs of other Christian churches and thereby being "the main source of inter-religious tension in Belarus".[4] The Rada characterised the church as "a Russian colonial institution" and "one of the ideological pillars of A. Lukashenka's regime".[4][non-primary source needed]

In 2022 and 2023, the Orthodox St Elisabeth Convent in Minsk has been holding public events supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine[5] and raised funds to support Russian troops.[6][7] The convent has also been involved in promoting homophobia,[8][9] and other controversies.

## See also

* Religion in Belarus
* Catholic Church in Belarus
* Belarusian Evangelical Reformed Church
* Freedom of religion in Belarus

## References

1. ↑ "Белорусский экзархат - 30 лет истории / Интервью / Патриархия.ru". http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5579955.html.
2. ↑ Zaprudnik, Jan (27 August 2003). "Belarus: in search of national identity between 1986 and 2000". in Korosteleva, Elena; Lawson, Colin; Marsh, Rosalind. Contemporary Belarus: Between Democracy and Dictatorship. London: Routledge. 2003. p. 119. ISBN 9781135789480. https://books.google.com/books?id=S1SRAgAAQBAJ. Retrieved 2 June 2021. "Orthodox Christian believers are organised in the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC), since 1989 an exarchate [...]."
3. ↑ 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."
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IS THE MAIN SOURCE OF INTERRELIGIOUS TENSION IN BELARUS - STATEMENT OF BNR RADA \- BNR Rada official website, 7 July 2023
5. ↑ У 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
6. ↑ 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
7. ↑ «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
8. ↑ Galkovskaya, Anna (10 March 2020). ""Гэта крык сэрца і душы бацькоў". Подведены итоги сбора подписей против ЛГБТ-пропаганды" (in ru). Пролайф Беларусь. https://www.pro-life.by/antisemejnye-tehnologii/gjeta-kryk-sjerca-i-dushy-backo-podvedeny-itogi-sbora-podpisej-protiv-lgbt-propagandy/.
9. ↑ Vaitovich, Maryia (27 March 2020). "Over 52K signatures under controversial appeal for 'LGBT propaganda ban'" (in en). https://euroradio.fm/en/over-52k-signatures-under-controversial-appeal-banning-lgbt-propaganda.

## External links

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

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