The Catholic Church in Belarus is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The first Latin Church diocese in Belarus was established in Turaŭ between 1008 and 1013. In the subsequent centuries, Catholicism gradually became a dominant religion of Belarusian nobility (the szlachta) and of a large part of the population of West Belarus.
Description According to official government data, , there were 674,500 Catholics in the country, about 7.1% of the total population. Figures in 2020 state that 10.58% of the population is Catholic.The ARDA website, Retrieved 2023-08-01 Other surveys put the figure as much higher.Catholics and Culture website, Retrieved 2023-08-01
Most Catholics belong to the Latin Church. A small minority are Eastern Catholics who worship according to the Byzantine Rite, forming the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church.
Polish and Lithuanian minorities in Belarus are predominantly Latin-Rite Catholics. The Greek Catholics are mostly ethnic Belarusians, with some Ukrainians.
The national Caritas Belarus and the four diocesan Caritas organisations are the social arm of the Catholic Church in the country.
Hierarchy The numbers of adherents given below are self-reported by the Catholic Church .
One Latin metropolitan archdiocese: Minsk-Mohilev - 610,490 Catholics
Three Latin suffragan dioceses: Grodno - 591,000 Catholics Pinsk - 50,115 Catholics Vitebsk - 151,000 Catholics
Metropolitan Archbishop Josephus Romualdovitsche Stanevskiej has been the leader of the Latin Church in Belarus since 2021.Vatican Press website The apostolic administrator for the Belarusian Greek Catholics is the Rt. Rev. Mitred Archimandrite Jan Sergiusz Gajek, M.I.C.CatholicCulture.org website, Published 31 March 2023
History The first Latin Church diocese in Belarus was established in Turaŭ between 1008 and 1013. Catholicism was a traditionally dominant religion of Belarusian nobility (the szlachta) and of a large part of the population of western and northwestern parts of Belarus. There was once an Archeparchy of Polotsk-Vitebsk of the Ruthenian Uniate Church. Josaphat Kuntsevych was archbishop from 1618 to 1623, succeeding another archbishop.
In August 2020, the leader of the Catholic Church in Belarus, Tadevuš Kandrusievič, was banned from returning to Belarus from Poland for several months after condemning violence during mass protests.Карикатура, которая будет дорого стоить: как белорусский режим делает из католиков врагов. МнениеBelarusian Catholic Leader Returns After Forced Exile In July 2021, Alexander Lukashenko tried to intervene in the prayer schedule warning Catholic priests not to perform the religious song "The Almighty God" ().Смотрите, нарветесь - Лукашенко предостерег от молитвы под «Магутны Божа»
In March 2023, Pope Francis established an Apostolic Administration for the faithful of the Byzantine Rite in Belarus.
See also Belarusian Greek Catholic Church Apostolic Nunciature to Belarus Catholic Church by country Religion in Belarus Freedom of religion in Belarus
References
External links The Catholic Church in Belarus - official website and the central Belarusian catholic web-portal The Apostolic Nuntiature in Belarus Partał Maładych Katalikoŭ - Young Catholics of Belarus