Catholic Church in Belarus

The Catholic Church in Belarus is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The first Latin Rite 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 West Belarus.

Cathedral of Saint Stanislaus in Mahilioŭ
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Description

As of 2009, there are 1,632,605 Catholics in the country, about 17% of the total population.[1] Most of these belong to the Latin Rite dioceses. A small minority are of Byzantine Rite, forming the particular Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, which is in union with the Holy See and follows the Byzantine Slavonic ritual.

Polish and Lithuanian minorities in Belarus are predominantly Latin-Rite Catholics, but over 1 million Latin-Rite Catholics are ethnic Belarusians (over 15% of ethnic Belarusians total). The Greek Catholics are mostly ethnic Belarusians, with some Ukrainians.

Church of Saint Barbara in Viciebsk

Hierarchy

One metropolitan archdiocese:

  • Minsk-Mohilev – 610,490 Catholics[1]

Three suffragan dioceses:

Metropolitan Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz is the leader of the Latin-Rite Catholic Church in Belarus.

History

The first Latin Rite 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 archbishopric in Polotsk. St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was archbishop from 1618-1623, succeeding another archbishop.

See also

References
  1. "Official site of the Catholic Church in Belarus. Statistical data 2009-03-01". Archived from the original on 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
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