Belarus is a multi-confessional state. This country has gone through a difficult period of formation as a nation. Throughout its history, it has been part of one European country, then another, and this has greatly affected the local culture. Religion in Belarus also bears the imprint of the complex but fascinating history of the Belarusian people. We will tell about this.
Religion in Belarus: history
Until the 11th century AD, the territory of modern Belarus was part of the Old Russian state and, together with its other regions, was converted to Orthodoxy. After the collapse of Kievan Rus, several separate states-principalities arose on the territory of Belarus, the most famous of which was Polotsk. The Orthodox saint Euphrosyne of Polotsk is widely known, whose cross until 1995 was one of the state symbols of the Republic of Belarus. It follows from this that the original, basic religion in Belarus was still Orthodox Christianity.
The Coming of Catholicism
But in the XII century religious unity in the Belarusian lands was put to an end. After the bigpart of the modern territory of this country fell under the influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, religion in Belarus fell under the influence of Catholicism. Of course, this did not happen immediately: the pagan Lithuanians and their princes for a long time rushed between the two civilizational centers, alternately accepting either Orthodoxy or Catholicism. But the final choice was nevertheless made in favor of Western Christianity. So the ancestors of the Belarusians for almost 1000 years were in the power of the Catholic state. Naturally, this could not but affect religion in Belarus, despite all the tolerance of Lithuanians.
Belarusization ON
The religious policy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was indeed very tolerant. Initially, Catholicism was not implanted in any way, and representatives of the Orthodox Belarusian aristocracy had the opportunity to join the Lithuanian gentry and eventually completely Slavicized it. Among the names of the magnates of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania already in the 16th-17th centuries, we do not find almost a single Lithuanian surname proper. Lithuanian statutes - the main legislative acts of the state - were not written in Lithuanian, but in Old Russian. The ancestors of modern Belarusians at that time called themselves only Litvins, voluntarily emphasizing their belonging to the Lithuanian state.
Polonization and Catholicization
When the GDL began to move closer to the Kingdom of Poland, adopting its customs and cultural traditions, a difficult era began for Orthodoxy in Belarus. After the unification of the two states inunited the Commonwe alth in the 15th century, the Polish authorities began the process of Polonization (polonization) of the Orthodox East Slavic population of Ukraine and Belarus. The ancestors of modern Belarusians and Ukrainians - actually Russian people - were literally forced to become Poles and accept Catholicism. This complex socio-political, cultural and religious process eventually led to the formation of separate Rusyn (Ukrainian) and Litvin (Belarusian) identities.
After the unions of Kreva and Lublin, Greek Catholicism, or Uniatism, was added to the whole bouquet of religions in Belarus. Uniates are former Orthodox who have retained their liturgical rite, church style and characteristic temple architecture, but at the same time swore allegiance to the Pope. After the Lithuanian princes hired the former Mongol-Tatar governors, allocating them estates on the territory of Belarus, the western part of the Belarusian lands quickly overgrown with picturesque mosques and minarets. A large concentration of Jews in cities such as Minsk, Orsha, Brest and Mogilev gave the entire ensemble of religious and cultural life in Belarus a special rich flavor.
Religion in modern Belarus
Belarus went through a symbiosis with Lithuania, increased Polonization, Russification in the Russian Empire, indigenization in the USSR, and in 1991, for the first time in its history, became an independent state. All these trials and cultural metamorphoses could not but affect the religion of Belarus as a state. In the first years of independence, the country was immediately floodedProtestant missionaries and various sectarians. The Baptists made joyful round dances. Anabaptists called on ordinary street onlookers to convert to their faith. Mormons knocked on doors and offered to talk about the true understanding of the Bible. Scientologists offered Belarusians to go through an auditing session in order to get rid of traumatic memories and find inner harmony.
As a result, we have the following statistics on religion in the Republic of Belarus among believers:
- Orthodox - 80%;
- Catholics - 10%;
- all others (Muslims, Protestants) - 10%.
At the same time, about half of Belarusians are atheists, which is a fairly high figure. The obvious trend is a decrease in the number of Catholics and an increase in the number of Orthodox.
