- In Belarus, dozens of clerics have been jailed, muzzled or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 elections that gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term. There is.
- The pro-Kremlin Lukashenko has targeted church officials who stand with protesters.
- Last month, he signed a bill requiring all religious groups in Belarus to register with authorities or face being outlawed.
Reverend Vyachaslav Balok is a familiar figure in Rasony, a town in northern Belarus near the Russian border, where he oversaw the construction of a Roman Catholic church and celebrated daily Mass for 20 years.
He got into trouble in December 2020, when anti-government protests intensified, when he posted caricatures of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and another official on social media. He spent 10 days in jail.
But when security forces raided his church in July 2021, he knew it was time to leave the country.
Belarus’ authoritarian leader tightens control over country’s religious groups
Mr Baloch is one of dozens of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant clerics who have been jailed, muzzled or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election that gave Mr Lukashenko a sixth term. It is. The disputed vote sparked mass demonstrations, beatings of demonstrators and a crackdown on opposition, and heightened tensions in 2022 when Belarus’ ally Russia invaded Ukraine.
Reverend Viasaslaw Baloch, a Catholic priest from Belarus, worships at St. Alexander’s Church in Warsaw, Poland, on December 10, 2022. Dozens of Belarusian clerics have been jailed, silenced or forced into exile for their protests. The 2020 elections gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term. (UGC verified via AP)
Pro-Kremlin Lukashenko has slammed church officials who have sided with protesters, and last month signed a bill requiring all religious groups in the country of 9.5 million people to re-register with authorities. He said it could be outlawed if there is no loyalty to the state. Be suspicious of.
Anastasia Kluope, a Human Rights Watch researcher in Europe and Central Asia, said the law gives authorities “more tools and possibilities for repression.”
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According to the Viasna Center for Human Rights, at least 74 clerics have been arrested, fined and deported in the past three years, even before the new law took effect.
“It is clear that the number of priests targeted for repression will increase as (the government) seeks to force loyalty from the church,” Baloch told The Associated Press. “The authorities want to demonstrate to the Vatican their unlimited power within Belarus.”
The media-savvy priest, who had more than 7,000 followers on YouTube before he was visited by security forces with a search warrant, chose to flee to Poland rather than be arrested.
Thousands of people have fled Belarus since 2020, as police have detained more than 35,000 people. Many people have been labeled as extremists, and Viasna said there were more than 1,400 political prisoners.
Orthodox Christians make up about 80% of the population, compared to just under 14% Catholics and 2% Protestants.
Catholic and Protestant clergy who supported the protests and sheltered demonstrators in their churches were targeted for repression, and even some Orthodox priests denounced the repression.
In a high-profile incident during protests on August 26, 2020, about 100 people were evacuated from police on landmark St. Paul Boulevard. The Simon and Helena Catholic Church is a red brick building just off Central Government Square in Minsk. A few weeks later, the church attracted attention again when dozens of women dressed in white joined the head priest, the Rev. Vladisław Zavarnyuk, and formed a human chain around the church.
But the “red church,” as it is known, has not held services since September 2022, when it was ordered closed. A small fire broke out in the same month, but the priests said there was little damage, authorities said, but cited unpaid utility bills and the need for repairs.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for nearly 30 years and describes himself as an “Orthodox atheist,” lashed out at dissident clerics during the 2020 protests, saying they should “do their job” rather than stir up unrest. ” he called out. “People should go to church to pray! Orthodox, Catholic, they’re not for politics,” he said.
Last year, 10 Catholic priests were arrested, including the 70-year-old Reverend Henryk Akaratović, who is kept in solitary confinement despite being diagnosed with cancer, and charged with treason. He was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment.
A report released last year by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic organization that tracks persecution of believers, listed Belarus as the country with the second highest number of Catholic priests in prison after Nicaragua.
The crackdown also affected the Belarusian Orthodox Church, which is subordinate to Moscow Patriarch Kirill, a close ally of the Kremlin. Archbishop Artemy Kishchenko, a prominent cleric from Hrodna in western Belarus, has been stripped of all church posts and plans to retire in 2021 after condemning repression and attempts by Moscow and Minsk to use the church as a political tool. I was forced to.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 caused further clerical divisions after President Lukashenko allowed Belarusian territory to be used to send troops to neighboring countries.
A few days later, Grand Priest Georgy Roy and 24 Belarusian Orthodox priests, along with priests from Russia and other countries, called for a ceasefire. Roy, who presided over the main Orthodox cathedral in Hrodna and lectured at a prestigious seminary, drew condemnation from church and secular leaders for his anti-war statements.
Last year, he fled the country with his wife and four children, citing safety concerns. He currently serves Belarusians in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, pledging allegiance to Turkey’s Orthodox Patriarchate rather than Russia.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Roy accused the Orthodox Church in Russia and Belarus of legitimizing what he called Moscow’s aggressive expansionist ideology.
“The name of Christ is being invoked to justify war, bloodshed, violence and lies,” he said, adding that Russian Orthodox leaders “serve that ideology, but I cannot accept this horror.” “I am living in this sin,” he added.
He said Belarusian authorities were openly trying to bring clergy into line, repeatedly summoning them for “preventive” political negotiations, checking their websites and social media, and having security services monitor their sermons. Stated.
The government lists 3,417 religious communities and organizations registered in Belarus. Unregistered membership will become a criminal offense in 2022, punishable by up to two years in prison.
The new law gives the government broad powers over religious sects and groups, requiring them to reapply for state registration and requiring at least one parish to have been in operation for 30 years.
The law also prohibits people accused of acts that the city of Minsk considers extremist or terrorist activities from leading religious organizations. The use of secular symbols in worship and the use of churches for purposes other than worship are prohibited.
In September, Head of Religious and Ethnic Affairs Alexander Rumak told the Belarusian Security Council that authorities must ensure the “spiritual security” of society as a way to “maintain internal stability and tranquility.” Ta.
Analysts say the restrictions are part of a broader campaign to quell opposition ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections and next year’s presidential vote.
Anais Marin, the UN special rapporteur on Belarus, said the UN had sent a letter to the government opposing the law, saying it violated the country’s obligation to ensure freedom of religion, but had not received a response. .
Marin told The Associated Press that the law would allow authorities to “simply destroy” the remnants of civil society that are “not yet underground, not yet in prisons or asylums.”
Pastor Zmitzer Hvedark called the law “the most repressive law in Europe” and expressed concern that he and other Protestant churches would be the main targets given its popularity among young Belarusians. expressed.
He told the AP that many Protestant churches are already facing difficult choices. “Either stop your work or go back to the dark Soviet times, when Protestant churches actually operated underground, gathering illegally in people’s homes and praying under the threat of criminals.” . “
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Last year, authorities bulldozed the Pentecostal New Life Church on the outskirts of Minsk over suspicions that its members supported the opposition. Founded in a converted cowshed in 2002, its pastor, Viačaslav Hančarenka, was fined and detained after authorities said the social media platform contained “extremist” content.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom last month condemned what it called Minsk’s repressive course and called for Belarus to be responsible for “gross human rights violations,” urging President Joe Biden and Congress to “prioritize religious freedom.” “I will.”
Human rights activists allege that clerics and their followers are threatened for fundraising and aiding political prisoners.Baloch, a priest who fled to Poland, discovered that the authorities consider him his Social media The posts are considered “extremist” and anyone who views or reposts them will be sentenced to six years in prison.
“I dream of returning to the church in Lathony,” Baloch said. “But I can’t do that while the state arrests priests who carry the cross and call evil ‘evil.’
