Belarusian Greek Catholic Church
Belarusian Greek Catholic Church | |
---|---|
Classification | UK |
Origin | 1596 (first), 1990 (second) Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (first), Belarus (second) |
Separated from | Ruthenian Orthodox Church (first) |
Merger of | Union of Brest and Ruthenian Uniate Church (first) |
Defunct | 1839 (first) |
Members | c. 12,000 |
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The Belarusian Greek Catholic Church,[a] or the Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church, is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular churches that are in full communion with the Holy See. It is the heir within Belarus to the Union of Brest and the Ruthenian Uniate Church.
History
The
Four Uniate bishoprics existed in
Russian Empire
The partition of Poland–Lithuania and the incorporation of the whole of Belarus into Russia led, according to the Russian Orthodox Church,[4] many Belarusians (1,553 priests, 2,603 parishes and 1,483,111 people) to unite, by March 1795, with the Russian Orthodox Church. Another source[5] seems to contradict this, since it gives the number of parishes that came under Russian rule in 1772 only as "over 800", meaning that many priests and people remained in communion with Rome.
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During the Napoleonic campaign in Belarus in 1812, a large number of Belarusian parishes reverted to the Uniate rite but after the defeat of the French several bishops were deprived of their sees and a fresh policy of enforced russification was initiated. Repressive measures were increased after the accession of Tsar Nicholas I. In 1826 the sale of Uniate service books was prohibited.[6]
After the unsuccessful 1830–1831
However, some priests and faithful still refused to join. The Russian state assigned most of the property to the Orthodox Church in the 1840s. Recalcitrant priests and parish clerks were deported to monasteries and penal colonies in Northern Russia, emigrated to Austrian Galicia or chose to practise in secret the now-forbidden religion. Resentment over the suppression of the Belarusian Uniate Church was one of the causes of the 1863 Uprising and used as a rallying cry by the uprising's leader on Belarusian lands Kastus Kalinoŭski.[9]
20th century
When, in 1905,
Nevertheless, the wish to re-establish the Uniate Church remained a powerful factor in the Belarusian national revival of the early 20th century. The newspaper Nasha Niva printed the Uniate feast days, the Belarusian writer and political leader Ivan Luckievič discussed the restoration of the Uniate Church in Belarus with the Ukrainian Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and one of the avowed objects of the Belarusian Democratic Union established in 1917 was the re-establishment of that rite.[10]
After the First World War, the
Cold War
While from then on very little information about the Byzantine Catholics in Belarus could reach Rome, refugees from among them founded centres in western Europe (Paris, London and Louvain) and in parts of the
In 1960, the Holy See appointed
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The 1980s saw a gradual increase in interest among Minsk intellectuals in the Greek-Catholic Church. Articles by Anatol Sidarevich and Jury Khadyka about its history appeared in the 1987-1988 issues of Litaratura i Mastastva. And in the autumn of 1989 some young intellectuals of Minsk decided to publish the periodical Unija intended to promote the rebirth of the Greek-Catholic Church.[12]
In early 1990, Nadson brought humanitarian aid from Belarusians abroad to their compatriots at home still suffering as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. He was surprised to meet young Belarusians who said they were Greek Catholics. On 11 March, he celebrated Minsk's first Divine Liturgy in the national language, and, two days later, had a meeting with the editors of Unija, the first issue of which was then printed in Latvia.[12]
September 1990 saw the registration of the first Greek-Catholic parish since the
Republic of Belarus
By 1992, three priests and two deacons in Belarus were celebrating the Byzantine liturgy in Belarusian. The same year, a survey by
Extrapolated to the country as a whole, this was interpreted to mean that, especially among the intelligentsia and nationally conscious youth, some 120,000 Belarusians were in favour of a rebirth of the Greek-Catholic Church. Because of the lack of priests and churches this interest did not lead to membership.[12]
In 1994 Pope
Present situation
At the beginning of 2015, the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church had 20 parishes, of which 18 had obtained state recognition. As of 2003, there have been two Belarusian Greek Catholic parishes in each of the following cities -
Two of the parishes had small churches. Some of the others had pastoral centres with an oratory.
In March 2023, Pope Francis erected the apostolic administration for faithful of Byzantine rite in Belarus, appointing the Rt. Rev. Mitred Archimandrite Jan Sergiusz Gajek, M.I.C., (until then apostolic visitator) as apostolic administrator without episcopal rank. [16]
Belarusian Greek Catholics abroad, numbering about 2,000, were under the care of Mitred Protopresbyter Alexander Nadson as Apostolic Visitator until his death in 2015. The chief centres are the Church of St Cyril of Turau and All the Patron Saints of the Belarusian People in London and parish in Antwerp (constituted in 2003).
A parish in
See also
Notes
- Latin: Ecclesiae Graecae Catholico Belarusica
References
- ^ de Picarda, Guy (Autumn 1971). "The Byelorussian Church". Chrysostom. III (2): 34.
- ^ "Каталіцтва, аб якім мы не ведаем". Archived from the original on 2013-07-30. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
- ^ de Picarda, Guy (Autumn 1971). "The Byelorussian Church". Chrysostom. III (2): 34.
- ^ a b "Воссоединение Униатов и Исторические Судьбы Белорусского Народа". Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2006-01-22.
- ^ a b c Siarhiej Hajek: The Belarusian Greek Catholic Church Yesterday and Today in Καθολική of 25 July 2006
- ^ de Picarda, Guy (Autumn 1971). "The Byelorussian Church". Chrysostom. III (2): 35.
- ^ a b Oriente Cattolico (1974), page 176
- ^ de Picarda, Guy (Autumn 1971). "The Byelorussian Church". Chrysostom. III (2): 35.
- ^ de Picarda, Guy (Autumn 1971). "The Byelorussian Church". Chrysostom. III (2): 36.
- ^ de Picarda, Guy (Autumn 1971). "The Byelorussian Church". Chrysostom. III (2): 37.
- ^ de Picarda, Guy (Autumn 1971). "The Byelorussian Church". Chrysostom. III (2): 39.
- ^ a b c d Siarhiej Hajek: The Belarusian Greek Catholic Church Yesterday and Today in Καθολική of 22 August 2006
- ^ Servizio Informazioni Chiese Orientali (2005), page 165
- ^ Stéphanie Mahieu and Vlad Naumescu (2008), Churches In-between: Greek Catholic Churches in Postsocialist Europe, Halle Studies in the Anthropology of Eurasia. Page 46.
- ^ "Home". carkva-gazeta.org.
- ^ "Resignations and Appointments".
Sources
- Belarusian Catholic Mission (Byzantine rite) in London
- History of the Greek Catholic Church in Belarus by Alexander Nadson
- The history of the Uniate Church and its disestablishment in the 19th century.
- Oriente Cattolico (Vatican City: The Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Churches, 1974)
- Annuario Pontificio
- Ronald Roberson, CSP; The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey (6th edition); 1999; Edizioni Orientalia Christiana, Pontificio Istituto Orientale; Rome, Italy; ISBN 88-7210-321-5
- Archimandrite Siarhiej Hajek: The Belarusian Greek Catholic Church Yesterday and Today (Greek translation published in instalments on Καθολική (Athens), beginning with the issue of 25 July 2006)
- 1780—1800-я гады: рэлігійная канверсія беларускіх уніятаў