English
“This fight is first and foremost spiritual”
Pavel Seviarynec addressed Belarusians from the pre-trial detention center Volha Seviarynec, the politician’s wife, has posted on her Facebook that she has received letters from her husband. These letters contain his appeal to the Belarusian people. “We have to pray for God to lead and inspire us, for churches to pray with us as well, for people […]
Alfons Bruening. Pastoral Care and Citizenship: Orthodoxy in Belarus at a Crossroads
Responding to: Orthodoxy in the Belarus Protests Among the protesters on the streets in Belarus there are probably many Orthodox Christians, although few make themselves visible as such. President Lukashenko’s rather aggressive call for the churches to avoid political interference can be read as a sign of the growing importance of the churches’ voice, but also of an […]
Christian Vision Working Group: Founding Statement
A working group of the Coordination Council «Christian Vision» was created on 9 September 2020. We, the following members of the Coordination Council: (names are currently hidden for security reasons) announce the creation in the Council of the working group «Christian Vision» — for communication and coordination of the common activities of Christians within the […]
Vasilios Makrides. Orthodox Christian Resistance to Political Power: Reflections on the Belarus Crisis
Responding to: Orthodoxy in the Belarus Protests Even before the eruption of the crisis following the August 2020 presidential elections with the mass protests against the long-time President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, it was no secret that Belarus was perhaps the strongest ally of post-Soviet Russia and Putin’s regime. The same holds true for the predominant Orthodox […]
Alena Alshanskaya. The Belarusian Orthodox Church between Confession and Self-Preservation
Responding to: Orthodoxy in the Belarus Protests The crisis overwhelming Belarus after the August 2020 presidential elections is no longer of political but of humanitarian character, and it has already impacted all segments of the Belarusian population. Even the churches, which tried to stay away from politics over years, were affected by the situation of total […]
Catholicism’s accidental exile captures drama of post-Soviet world
ROME – Some people, it would appear, simply are born for exile. Sometimes it’s a firebrand personality constantly irking the powers that be, but in other cases it’s mostly bad luck, circumstance, and the fact that a given person is an inconvenient reminder of a system’s failures and blind spots even without trying. The latter […]
Regina Elsner. «The Church is Always with the People»: An Orthodox Paradigm in Political Turmoil
Responding to: Orthodoxy in the Belarus Protests The protests in Belarus are remarkable in several respects. Their duration, social breadth, creativity, female activity, and non-violence arouse international admiration, but also deep concern. Among others, the role of the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC) deserves special attention as it reveals characteristic patterns of the social position of Orthodoxy in post-Soviet […]
Appeal to the flock of the Catholic Church in Belarus by Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz
Appeal to the flock of the Catholic Church in Belarusby Archbishop Tadeusz KondrusiewiczMetropolitan of Minsk-MogilevChairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Belarus Beloved bishops in Christ, priests, monks and nuns, brothers and sisters, people of good will! On August 31, 2020, while crossing the border at the Kuźnica Białostocka — Bruzgi border crossing, I […]
Nicholas Denysenko. Orthodoxy in Belarus at the Crossroads of Human Dignity and the Status Quo
Responding to: Orthodoxy in the Belarus Protests The protests in Belarus taking place in the aftermath of the presidential election have taken a dark turn with reports of brutality and torture used by riot police. Religious leaders are playing an important role in responding to the civil unrest. While some faith leaders are demonstrating their public […]
