Orthodox Belarus. Orthodox news from Belarus. An Orthodox priest gave a farewell message to graduates of the Specialized Lyceum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

(translated from Greek - “correct knowledge”, “correct teaching”) - one of the directions of Christianity, formed in the 1st millennium AD. in the Eastern Roman Empire. Orthodoxy considers itself to be the true apostolic faith, embodied in the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition. The Orthodox Church considers itself the only church whose founder and head Jesus Christ.

Orthodox doctrine is based on Holy Scripture(Bible) and Sacred Tradition, which includes the resolutions of the Ecumenical Councils. Orthodox Christians also believe in God the Father, God the Son and in Holy Spirit. The Church considers these three images to be inextricably linked with each other. In Orthodoxy there is no clearly defined number of sacraments. Numerous church leaders have different points of view on this issue. Nevertheless baptism, church marriage, confirmation, Eucharist (comunion), confession, blessing of oil, priesthood are considered Orthodox sacraments just like Catholics. Sometimes this list also includes burial and monastic tonsure.

The history of Orthodoxy in the Belarusian lands dates back to 988 when the Kyiv prince Vladimir baptized the inhabitants of Kyiv in the Dnieper and sent Greek bishops to baptize the subjects of all Kievan Rus. Already in 992 The Polotsk diocese was founded. Approximately in 1000 g Princess of Polotsk Rogneda founded a monastery in Izyaslavl.

It is impossible to ignore the activities of the patroness of the Belarusian lands - Euphrosyne of Polotsk. Having taken monastic vows at the age of 12, Euphrosyne contributed in every possible way to the development of Orthodoxy in the Principality of Polotsk. She copied church books and opened a school for children, where she taught. By order of Euphrosyne the master Lazar Bogsha made a unique wooden one cross, covered with gold and precious stones, which became one of the main Orthodox relics of Belarus. Euphrosyne also founded her own monastery in Polotsk.

In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Orthodoxy was one of the dominant religions. IN 1315 An Orthodox department headed by a metropolitan was formed in Novogrudok. As a result of the unification of the Orthodox and Catholic churches in 1596 the number of Orthodox believers began to decline. This was facilitated by the active Polonization of Belarusian lands: the introduction of Latin elements into Uniate worship, and the conduct of services in Polish.

At the end of the 18th century Belarusian lands completely became part of the Russian Empire and the position of Orthodoxy again began to strengthen. Previously closed churches are opening, Catholic churches are being re-dedicated.

After Belarus became part of the USSR at the end of 1922, a large-scale anti-religion company. Monasteries, seminaries and churches were closed en masse, and their property was subject to nationalization. Before perestroika, the activities of any religious institutions were prohibited

Today the Orthodox Church is the largest religious denomination in Belarus. According to the 2009 census, almost half of the country's total population (4.5 million people) are Orthodox.

Many churches and monasteries have survived in Belarus. The main Orthodox church is considered to be located in Minsk. This is where the miraculous Minsk Icon of the Mother of God is located. According to legends, residents of Minsk saw an image floating along the Svisloch in the area of ​​the Minsk castle. The townspeople took the icon out of the water and placed it in the castle’s Nativity of the Mother of God Church, where the image remained until 1616.

It is located in the northern part of the capital, founded in 1999. Numerous workshops operate at the monastery, a refectory for pilgrims and several monastic shops are open. The monastery is engaged in charitable activities for the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

One of the main Orthodox shrines is the Polotsk complex, founded by Saint Eurosyne of Polotsk in the 12th century. Spaso-Efrosinyevsky Monastery was one of the first women's Orthodox monasteries in Belarus. The monastery houses priceless Orthodox relics. These are the relics of St. Eurosinia of Polotsk and a copy of a 12th-century cross, decorated with precious stones and metals. Also on the territory of the monastery is a building built by the architect Ioan, commissioned by the Venerable Euphrosyne in the first half of the 12th century.

On the site of the village of Pustynki, Mstislavsky district, Mogilev region, there is an active Orthodox church. This monastery is notable for the fact that a miraculous spring flows near it, which has healing properties. Another sign of God’s grace is the appearance of the face of Jesus Christ on one of the walls of the Church of the Intercession.

The unique one operates in the Slonim district of the Grodno region. The monastery owes its appearance to the Miraculous Image of the Mother of God of Zhirovichi. In 1494, local shepherds discovered the icon in the branches of a tree deep in the forest and took it to the owner of the town, who erected a church in honor of the image of the Mother of God. The monastery acquired its modern appearance in the 17th-18th centuries.

You can get acquainted with the Orthodox culture and traditions of Belarus by ordering an excursion or an individual tour on our website:

• You can visit the center of Orthodoxy in Belarus by booking an excursion to the Holy Spirit Cathedral - an architectural monument of the 17th century in the Vilna Baroque style, where the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Minsk, the St. Elisabeth Monastery is kept.

Brief historical sketch

As a result of the change in state borders that followed the end of the First World War, the entire western part of Belarus was included in the Polish state, and more than one and a half thousand Orthodox church parishes found themselves under the jurisdiction of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Poland.

After well-known historical upheavals and catastrophes, Soviet power was established by 1918 in Mogilev, Smolensk, Vitebsk and a significant part of Minsk provinces. In the period before 1941, the struggle against religion in general and the Orthodox Church in particular did not cease for a moment, taking on greater or lesser degrees of intensity. Resolution of Patriarch Tikhon and the Holy Synod in Moscow of November 7/20, 1920? 362 on granting diocesan bishops greater powers and rights in organizing church life in their dioceses served as the basis for the declaration of the Belarusian Orthodox Metropolis on June 23, 1922. It was headed by Bishop Melchizedek of Minsk, who was elected Metropolitan of Minsk and Belarus. But the repressions of the Soviet authorities did not make it possible to establish normal church life. After numerous arrests and exiles, Metropolitan Melchizedek died suddenly in the late 1920s in Moscow while serving the Divine Liturgy. Following him, almost all Orthodox priests and bishops of Soviet Belarus ended their earthly journey in prisons and camps. Their places were occupied by renovationists for some time, but they too soon disappeared. Church and religious life in this part of Belarus froze... By the beginning of the Second World War, only two churches remained in the eastern borders of Belarus, where services were periodically held.

There were five dioceses within the borders of the Polish Republic - Warsaw-Kholm, Volyn, Polesie, Grodno and Vilna. They cared for up to five million native Orthodox inhabitants of all Poland and constituted the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which received autocephaly from the Patriarch of Constantinople Gregory III in 1924 at the request of the episcopate and the government. But the only document of legal significance that supposedly normalized the position of the Orthodox Church in this republic were the so-called “Temporary Rules on the Government’s Relationship to the Orthodox Church in Poland,” signed by the Minister of Education and Religion in 1922. The significance of this document can be judged by the fact that it did not at all prevent the slow destruction in Warsaw of a unique temple, comparable only to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow - the Cathedral in the name of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, donated by Russia to the Orthodox residents of Poland and its capital.

After the signing of a concordat by the Polish government and the Pope in 1925, which declared Catholicism the dominant religion in Poland, an orgy of destruction of everything Orthodox began: of the one and a half thousand churches of the Orthodox Church in Poland, a third of them were taken away from believers; during 1938 alone, 140 churches were destroyed, and before the outbreak of World War II - 150 temples and houses of worship.

At the same time, Belarusian and Ukrainian national schools were almost completely liquidated. According to the government program, in 1934 the general Polonization of Belarusians began. Teaching the Law of God and preaching by priests could henceforth be carried out only in Polish.

Moreover, only on November 18, 1938, the President of the Polish Republic, the Chairman of the Ministers and the Minister of Religions signed the “Internal Charter of the Holy Polish Autocephalous Church,” and on December 30, a presidential decree was issued on the legal existence of the Orthodox Church in the state.

After the Soviet occupation of Western Belarus on September 1, 1939, new changes followed in the church structure of the Orthodox. Vilna was given to the Lithuanian Republic, and in 1940 Metropolitan Sergius of the Resurrection was appointed there from Moscow with the title Metropolitan of Vilna and Lithuania, Exarch of the Baltic States.

Metropolitan Nikolai Yaroshevich was appointed to the department of the Volyn diocese by Metropolitan Sergius of Stragorod with the title of Exarch of Western Ukraine and Belarus.

The newly created Grodno-Vilei diocese was headed by Archbishop Panteleimon Rozhnovsky, who had Venedikt Bobkovsky as vicar bishop of Brest since 1941.

Archimandrite Veniamin Novitsky of the Pochaev Lavra was appointed Bishop of Polesie in Pinsk in the first half of June 1941.

The fascist German troops who occupied Belarus saw the picture of the almost complete destruction of the Orthodox Church.

There were no clergy and monks, the churches were destroyed or closed; in the capital of Minsk, of the nine that survived, only one St. Alexander Nevsky Church operated in the ancient Military Cemetery. However, there were a huge number of believers, and, wanting to gain the sympathy of the population, the occupation authorities did not interfere with the revival of church life.

Metropolitan Panteleimon and Bishop Benedict received the following conditions under which the authorities agreed to allow church development:

1) The Orthodox Church in Belarus is guided by its holy canons, and the German authorities do not interfere in its internal life;

2) The Orthodox Church in Belarus should be called the “Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox National Church;

3) preaching, teaching the Law of God and church writing must be conducted in the Belarusian language;

4) the appointment of bishops, deans and priests should not be made without the knowledge of the German authorities;

5) the statute of the “Belarusian Orthodox Autocephalous National Church” must be presented;

6) divine services must be performed in Church Slavonic.

At a specially arranged church meeting convened by Metropolitan Panteleimon, it was decided:

1) accept for guidance and implementation the conditions presented in the letter of the General Commissariat of Belarus;

2) move the residence of the metropolitan from the Zhirovitsky monastery to the capital of Belarus - the city of Minsk;

3) open a theological seminary;

4) assign the title “Metropolitan of Minsk and All Belarus” to Metropolitan Panteleimon.

However, soon Belarusian political figures achieved the removal of Metropolitan Panteleimon from the administration of the Church for his strictly Russian and monarchist beliefs and henceforth did not cease to interfere in the affairs of the church dispensation in Belarus, which soon reached a dead end.

To resolve the main issues, Metropolitan Panteleimon convened a council of bishops. The council decided to open six dioceses - Vitebsk, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, Novogrudok and Smolensk - and ordain bishops to them.

A Synod consisting of two bishops was elected, chaired by a metropolitan.

Continuing to interfere in the affairs of church administration, Belarusian political figures, with the support of the occupation authorities, aggravated their disastrous influence, seeking German decrees to remove bishops they did not like and change the decisions made. Their conflict with Metropolitan Panteleimon ended with the removal of the ruling bishop from affairs by the German authorities and his exile to Vileika, where he lived under supervision. The Metropolitan was replaced by Bishop Philotheus, but soon he too became disliked by Belarusian leaders, because he did not declare the required autocephaly. By rudeness and threats on behalf of the occupation authorities, they achieved the convening of a general Church Council on August 29, 1942. However, the German authorities did not take into account either the opinion of the Church or the opinion of Belarusian leaders, and demonstrated their own program of relations towards the Orthodox Church and people, subject to complete liquidation in the future. At the council it was clear that a canonical declaration of autocephaly was impossible, and therefore the statute of the “Orthodox Belarusian Autocephalous Church” was considered without a formal declaration of autocephaly.

There was a temporary lull, but six months later the Belarusian leaders began the unrest again. It continued until the Soviet troops broke through the front line between Vitebsk and Orsha and the hasty evacuation of the Belarusian hierarchs from Grodno to Germany, along with the Belarusian politicians who were so disturbing them, whose political ambitions brought the death of many thousands of Orthodox Christians. The priests who remained in the parishes continued to share the fate of their parishioners, and all the decrees and works of the episcopate on the creation of the Belarusian Orthodox Church turned into nothing and passed into the realm of history.

Gradually, especially during the sixties, the few surviving churches were closed and destroyed. The number of parishes decreased sharply and reached 369.

The Theological Seminary and monasteries in Polotsk and Grodno were closed.

Significant changes in the life of the Orthodox Church in Belarus began in 1989 after the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'.

In October of this year, the Polotsk, Mogilev and Pinsk dioceses were revived, in January 1990 the Gomel see was restored and the Brest see was established, in October 1991 the Novogrudok and Grodno dioceses were established, and in May 1992 - the Turov and Vitebsk dioceses.

By the beginning of 1991, there were 609 parishes in the republic. Canonically, all ten dioceses on the territory of Belarus are part of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church established in 1990, which has administrative independence and is governed by the Synod headed by the Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, who is His Eminence Philaret, who accepted the See of Minsk in 1978 .

The second official name of the Belarusian Exarchate is the Belarusian Orthodox Church. In 1989 (after closing in 1963), the Minsk Theological Seminary resumed its activities; in 1993 - by decision of the Synod the Belarusian Theological Academy was established.

As of July 1, 1994, the Belarusian Orthodox Church numbered 850 parishes and 8 monasteries, and by the time of the second visit of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow to White Rus', there were already 918 parishes, 3 men’s and 6 women’s monasteries.

Moscow Patriarchate, formed in October. 1989 in accordance with the decision of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church 9 October 11. 1989 B.E. canonically constitute dioceses with their deaneries, parishes, monasteries, religious educational institutions, which are located in ... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

- (from the Greek ἔξαρχος external power) in Byzantium at the end of the 6th–7th centuries, an administrative territorial unit, a viceroyalty outside the metropolis, similar to a colonial possession or an “overseas state.” In modern Orthodoxy and... ... Wikipedia

WESTERN EUROPEAN EXARCHATE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH- formed in Sept. 1945 in connection with the return to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate of communities that had previously been in the Western European Exarchate of Russian parishes of the Polish Patriarchate; included parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church on the territory of a number of Western European countries. state in, a... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

BELARUS- [Republic of Belarus, Belarus], state in the East. Europe. Territory: 207.6 thousand square meters. km. Capital: Minsk. Geography. It borders in the northwest with Lithuania, in the north with Latvia, in the northeast and east with Russia, in the south with Ukraine, in the west with... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Belarusian Orthodox Church ... Wikipedia

The largest religious denomination in Belarus is Orthodoxy. Contents 1 Number of believers 2 Confessions in Belarus 2.1 Number ... Wikipedia

The Russian Orthodox Church includes dioceses of direct subordination in Russia, the Near Abroad, America and Europe, the Chinese and Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Churches, the self-governing Ukrainian, Moldavian, Latvian, Estonian and Russian... ... Wikipedia

Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate (also Belarusian Orthodox Church) exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church covering the territory of Belarus; “canonical division of the Moscow Patriarchate (Russian Orthodox... ... Wikipedia

Archbishop Dimitri Archbishop of Vitebsk and Orsha until February 18, 1999 bishop since July 7, 1992 ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Belarus (meanings), also see Belarus (meanings) Belarus Belor. Belarus ... Wikipedia

Books

• Sketches on Reasonable Faith , The book examines the religious origins of Kant’s “reasonable faith” and its perception by Western philosophers and Russian theologians; The theme of “theology and science” is unusually developed, understood in... Publisher: Belarusian Exarchate,
• The Church calls for unity. Word of the Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, Gavryushin Nikolai Konstantinovich, This publication presents excerpts from speeches, sermons, conversations and interviews of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, calling for the preservation of unity within the Russian... Publisher:

Date of creation: October 9-11, 1989 Description:

The Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, dedicated to the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the Moscow Patriarchate and held on October 9-11, 1989, adopted a resolution on the formation of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate, approving the decision of the Holy Synod on the formation of the Mogilev, Pinsk and Polotsk dioceses.

On October 16, 1989, at the next meeting, members of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, in fulfillment of the definitions of the Council of Bishops, decided: the exarch of Belarus will henceforth have the title Metropolitan of Minsk and Grodno, Patriarchal Exarch of Belarus; His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Belarus, is to be appointed Exarch of Belarus.

The Synod also instructed His Eminence Kirill, Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman (currently His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'), to make a report on the exarchates of the Moscow Patriarchate at the upcoming Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on January 30-31, 1990 and to present the draft “Regulations about the exarchates of the Moscow Patriarchate."

The Council of Bishops, at its meetings on January 30-31, 1990, heard the report of His Grace Archbishop Kirill and decided to adopt the “Regulations on the Exarchates”, introduce it into the current Charter on the governance of the Russian Orthodox Church in the form of Section VII, making appropriate amendments to Sections I, V and XII, with subsequent approval at the Local Council.

The decisions of this Council of Bishops were approved by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, held on June 7-8, 1990.

The chair of the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus is located in the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Minsk. The second department is Slutsk, where the St. Michael's Cathedral is located.

By the Resolution of the Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate of February 6, 1992 (Journal No. 15), approved by the Resolution of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of February 18-19, 1992 (Journal No. 13), adopted at the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Minsk Diocese was reorganized and territorially limited to the Minsk region.

The title of the ruling bishop is Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavsky, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus.

magazine No. 16) the Spiritual and Administrative Center was formed - the Minsk Exarchate of the Belarusian Exarchate, which included:

• Administration of the Minsk Exarchate;
• Administrative Secretariat of the Minsk Exarchate;
• Office Management Service of the Minsk Exarchy;
• Synodal departments of the Belarusian Exarchate;
• Press service of the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus;
• Secretariat of the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus;
• Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate;
• Legal Service of the Minsk Exarchy;
• Financial and economic service (accounting);
• Spiritual and educational center.

Currently, the following Synodal departments and commissions operate within the structure of the Belarusian Exarchate:

• Management of the affairs of the Minsk Exarchy (with the rights of a Synodal institution);
• Synodal Department for Relations between Church and Society;
• Synodal Information Department;
• Synodal Department for Youth Affairs;
• Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis;
• Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service;
• Synodal Missionary Department;
• Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints;
• Synodal Audit Commission;
• Church Court of the Belarusian Exarchate;
• Synodal Pilgrimage Department;
• Synodal Department for Interaction with the Cossacks;
• Award Commission of the Belarusian Exarchate (with the rights of a Synodal institution);
• Synodal Department for interaction with the Armed Forces and other military formations of the Republic of Belarus;
• Synodal Department for Church Art, Architecture and Restoration;
• Synodal Commission on Family Issues, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood.

By the decision of the Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate of December 1, 2015 (magazine No. 63), the “Religious Mission “BLAGOG” of the Belarusian Orthodox Church” was established, which is entrusted with the responsibilities of centrally providing the canonical divisions of the Belarusian Orthodox Church with religious objects and religious literature.

By the decision of the Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate of March 24, 2016 (journal No. 12), the Synodal Center for Sect Studies named after St. Joseph of Volotsk of the Belarusian Orthodox Church was formed.

By the decision of the Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate of December 13, 2016 (magazine No. 56), the Council on Family Values ​​under the Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church was transformed into the Synodal Commission on Family Issues, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood.

The Belarusian Exarchate (as of January 2012) included: 1,555 parishes, 34 monasteries, 1,485 priests and 166 deacons, 46 Orthodox media bodies. Including:

• — 392 parishes, 7 monasteries, 401 priests and 56 deacons, 167 Sunday schools, 17 Orthodox media organs;
• — 45 parishes, 2 monasteries, 38 priests and 3 deacons, 17 Sunday schools, 1 Orthodox media organ;
• — 194 parishes, 4 monasteries, 190 priests and 14 deacons, 120 Sunday schools, 2 Orthodox media organs;
• — 168 parishes, 5 monasteries, 130 priests and 33 deacons, 50 Sunday schools, 14 Orthodox media organs;
• — 135 parishes, 4 monasteries, 166 priests and 24 deacons, 54 Sunday schools, 2 Orthodox media organs;
• — 94 parishes, 104 priests and 8 deacons, 67 Sunday schools, 1 Orthodox media organ;
• - 75 parishes, 2 monasteries, 69 priests and 6 deacons, 27 Sunday schools;
• — 96 parishes, 3 monasteries, 105 priests and 7 deacons, 69 Sunday schools, 5 Orthodox media organs;
• — 176 parishes, a monastery, 166 priests and 8 deacons, 42 Sunday schools, 2 Orthodox media organs;
• — 100 parishes, 4 monasteries, 57 priests and 4 deacons, 16 Sunday schools, 1 Orthodox media organ;
• - 80 parishes, 2 monasteries, 59 priests and 3 deacons, 25 Sunday schools, 1 Orthodox media organ.

By the decision of the BOC Synod of February 26, 2014 (magazine No. 7 Patriarchal Exarch: