The Constitution of Belarus provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricted this right in practice.
The government notes that, “Work continues to protect the different Belarus religious groups and Belarus churches, and to guard against the influence of religious sects.”.Belarus government website, Retrieved 2023-04-25
Overview in 2023 In 2023, there are 9.2 million people living in Belarus. There are 25 registered religious faiths and denominations, encompassing 3,375 religious communities and 175 religious associations, monasteries, missions, brotherhoods, sisterhoods, and schools. The Belarusian Orthodox Church has 1,698 religious communities. Protestant religious organizations of 14 denominations have 1,037 religious communities. The Roman Catholic Church has 499 communities. Old Believers have 34 registered communities. There are 24 Muslim religious communities (23 Sunni and 1 Shia) There are three Jewish religious associations - Orthodox, Chabad-Lubavitch, and Reform Judaism.Belarus government website, Retrieved 2023-04-25
Research in 2018 suggested that 27% of Belarusians were ‘highly religious’.Pew Research, 2018 survey, Retrieved 2023-04-25
Research in 2017 noted that 73% of Belarusians belong to Orthodox Church, 12% are Catholic and 3% are Muslim.Pew Research, 2017 survey, Retrieved 2023-04-25
A survey in 2023 noted that religious groups (with other groups) face restrictions including compulsory state registration, compulsory support of the government regime, planning restrictions for buildings and events, censorship of literature and media, state surveillance and refusal or cancellation of religious visitors’ visas.Forum 18 website, Belarus: Religious freedom survey, January 2023 The survey also noted individual case studies of arrests of religious figures and bans on religious literature for religious prisoners. Much of this is a continuation of previous reports of government suppression.
In 2023, Freedom House rated Belarus’ religious freedom as 1 out of 4.Freedom House, Retrieved 2023-04-25
Background in the early 21st century Much of the following is informed by the US State Dept 2009 report on International Religious Freedom.US State Dept 2009 report on International Religious Freedom A more recent report is available.US State Dept 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Belarus
Respect for religious freedom has recently worsened. The Government continued to restrict religious freedom in accordance with the provisions of a 2002 law on religion and a 2003 concordat with the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC), a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the only officially recognized Orthodox denomination. Although there is no state religion, the concordat grants the BOC privileged status. Protestants in particular attracted negative attention, presumably for their perceived links with the United States. Numerous antisemitic acts and attacks on religious monuments, buildings, and cemeteries occurred with little discernible response from the Government. Authorities kept many religious communities waiting as long as several years for decisions about property registration or restitution. Authorities also harassed and fined members of certain religious groups, especially those that the authorities appeared to regard as bearers of foreign cultural influence or as having a political agenda. Foreign missionaries, clergy, and humanitarian workers affiliated with churches faced many government-imposed obstacles, including deportation and visa refusal or cancellation.
While some members of society took positive actions to promote religious freedom, instances of societal abuses and discrimination occurred, including numerous acts of vandalism and arson of religious sites, buildings, and memorials.
Religious demography
The country has an area of and it had a population of 9,498,400 on 1 January 2016. Historically it has been an area of both interaction and conflict between Belarusian Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, although relations between the two groups improved during the period covered by this report. January 2007 figures from the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative for Religious and Nationality Affairs (OPRRNA) showed that approximately 50% of Belarusians consider themselves religious. The Government claimed that of persons professing a religious faith, approximately 80% belong to the BOC, 14% identify themselves with the Catholic Church, 4% are members of eastern religious groups (including Muslims, Hare Krishnas, and Baha'i), and 2% are Protestant (including Seventh-day Adventists, Old Believers, Jehovah's Witnesses, Apostolic Christians, and Lutherans). Of those who identify themselves as Belarusian Orthodox or Roman Catholic, only 18% and 50%, respectively, regularly attend religious services. There are also adherents of the Greek Catholic Church and of Orthodox groups other than the BOC. Jewish groups claimed that between 50,000 and 70,000 persons identify themselves as Jewish. Most Jews were not religiously active.
In January 2007 OPRRNA reported 3,103 religious organizations of 25 religious confessions and denominations in the country, including 2,953 registered religious communities and 150 national and confessional organizations (monasteries, brotherhoods, missionaries, etc.). This included 1,399 Belarusian Orthodox, 493 Evangelical Christian, 440 Roman Catholic, 267 Evangelical Christian Baptist, 74 Seventh-day Adventist, 54 Full Gospel Christians, 33 Old Believer, 29 Jewish, 27 Lutheran, 26 Jehovah's Witness, 24 Muslim, 21 New Apostolic Church, 17 Progressive Judaism, 13 Greek Catholic, 9 Apostolic Christians, 6 Hare Krishnas, 5 Baha'i, 5 Christ's Church, 4 Mormon, 2 Messianic, 1 Reform Church, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Armenian Apostolic, 1 Latin Catholic, and 1 St. Jogan Church communities.
Foreign clergy and missionaries attempted to operate in the country but were subject to deportation and visa refusal or cancellation.
Status of religious freedom
Legal and policy framework The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricted this right in practice. Although the 1996 amended Constitution affirms the equality of religions and denominations before the law, it also contains restrictive language stipulating that cooperation between the state and religious organizations "is regulated with regard for their influence on the formation of spiritual, cultural, and state traditions of the Belarusian people." OPRRNA regulates all religious matters.
In 2002 President Lukashenko signed a religion law despite protests from human rights organizations, the European Union, and domestic religious groups. The law recognizes the "determining role of the Orthodox Church in the historical formation and development of spiritual, cultural, and state traditions of the Belarusian people" as well as the historical importance of Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, and Evangelical Lutheranism, groups commonly referred to as "traditional faiths." However, the traditional faiths mentioned by the law do not include religious groups such as the Calvinist church which was common amongst the nobility from the 16th century on and Priestless Old Believers and which have historical roots in the country dating to the 17th century.
Despite the law's guarantee of religious freedom, it contains a number of restrictive elements that increase the Government's control of the activities of religious groups. The law requires all religious groups to receive prior governmental approval to import and distribute literature, prevents foreigners from leading religious organizations, and denies religious communities the right to establish schools to train their own clergy. In addition, the law confines the activity of religious communities to areas where they are registered and establishes complex registration requirements that some communities, both "traditional" and "nontraditional," have difficulty fulfilling. The law also required all previously registered groups to reregister by 2004 and bans all religious activity by unregistered groups.
The religion law establishes three tiers of religious groups: religious communities, religious associations, and republican religious associations. Religious communities, or local individual religious organizations, must include at least 20 persons over the age of 18 who live in neighboring areas. Religious associations must include at least 10 religious communities, one of which must have been active in the country for at least 20 years, and may be constituted only by a republican (national level) religious association. Republican religious associations can be formed only when there are active religious communities in the majority of the country's six regions.
A religious community must submit a list of its founders' names, places of residence, citizenship, and signatures, along with copies of its founding statutes, minutes of its founding meeting, and permission from the regional authorities confirming the community's right to occupy or use any property indicated in its founding statutes. Regional executive committees (for groups outside of Minsk) or the Minsk City Executive Committee handle all registration applications. For a community practicing a religion not previously "known" to the Government, information about the faith must also be submitted. No previously "unknown" religious communities were registered during the reporting period.
A religious association must provide a list of members of the managing body with biographical information, proof of permission for the association to be at its designated location, and minutes from its founding congress. Religious associations have the exclusive right to establish religious educational institutions, invite foreigners to work with religious groups, and organize cloistered and monastic communities. All applications to establish associations and republican associations must be submitted to OPRRNA. The Government registered five republican religious organizations during the reporting period. Domestic religious groups continued to call for revocation of at least part of the 2002 law. Christian communities maintained that the law heavily restricts their activities, suppresses freedom of religion, and legalizes criminal prosecution of individuals for their religious beliefs.
The 2003 concordat between the BOC and the Government guarantees the BOC autonomy in its internal affairs, freedom to perform religious rites and other activities, and a special relationship with the state. The concordat recognizes the BOC's "influence on the formation of spiritual, cultural, and national traditions of the Belarusian people." It calls for the Government and the BOC to cooperate in implementing policy in various fields, including education, development and protection of cultural legacies, and security. Although it states that the agreement would not limit the religious freedoms of other religious groups, the concordat calls for the Government and the BOC to combat unnamed "pseudoreligious structures that present a danger to individuals and society." In addition, the BOC possesses the exclusive right to use the word "Orthodox" in its title and to use the image of the Cross of Euphrosynia, the patron saint of the country, as its symbol.
On January 8, 2007, President Lukashenko honored several BOC members with "For Spiritual Revival" awards in recognition of their efforts to develop "moral traditions which contribute to the spiritual values…between various nationalities and religions." In a meeting with BOC bishops on December 21, 2006, President Lukashenko praised the cooperation between the Government and the BOC and stressed their common goals of civil accord and national unity. The President also noted the Government's assistance to the BOC: in 2006 the Government-funded $3 million (6.4 billion rubles) in BOC projects.