Belarusian Orthodox Church
Encyclopedia
Belarusian Orthodox Church is the official name of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church
in Belarus
. It represents the union of Russian orthodox eparchies on the territory of Belarus and is the largest religious organization in the country, uniting the predominant majority of its Eastern Orthodox Christians.
The leader of the Belarusian Orthodox Church is Filaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk.
The church enjoys a much smaller degree of autonomy compared to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate
, which is a semi-autonomous entity associated with the Russian Orthodox Church
.
The Belarusian Orthodox Church strongly opposes the minor and largely emigration-based Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
.
s:
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. It represents the union of Russian orthodox eparchies on the territory of Belarus and is the largest religious organization in the country, uniting the predominant majority of its Eastern Orthodox Christians.
The leader of the Belarusian Orthodox Church is Filaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk.
The church enjoys a much smaller degree of autonomy compared to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous Church of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate...
, which is a semi-autonomous entity associated with the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
.
The Belarusian Orthodox Church strongly opposes the minor and largely emigration-based Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
The Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which has sometimes abbreviated its name as the "B.A.O. Church" or the "BAOC," aspires to be the self-governing national church of an independent Belarus, but it has operated mostly in exile since its formation, and even some publications of the church...
.
Structure
The structure of the Belarusian Orthodox Church consists of 11 eparchiesEparchy
Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...
s:
- Eparchy of Babruysk and Bykhau
- Eparchy of Brest and Kobryn
- Eparchy of Vitsebsk and Orsha
- Eparchy of Homel and Zhlobin
- Eparchy of Hrodna and Vaukavysk
- Eparchy of Mahiliou and Mstsislau
- Eparchy of Minsk and Slutsk
- Eparchy of Navahrudak and Lida
- Eparchy of Pinsk and Luninets
- Eparchy of Polatsk and Hlybokaye
- Eparchy of Turau and Mazyr