Byelarussian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and its participation in politics (2014–2021)

Abstract

In 1948, the Byelarussian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (BAOC) was organized in West Germany, which declared itself canonical and historical for Byelarussians. The BAOC itself considers that the autocephalous Byelarussian tradition began in the 14th century. However, at that time there was no Byelarussian identity, so it is incorrect to speak about the Byelarussian autocephaly. The first attempt to create an autocephalous Byelarussian church occurred in the 1920s in Soviet Byelarus, but this attempt was not supported by the overwhelming majority of clergy and believers. During the Great Patriotic War, the Byelarussian collaborators, with the support of the German occupation authorities, forced the episcopate in the occupied territory of Byelarus to start the procedure of autocephaly. However, this led to no real autocephaly being created. Emerged after World War II, the BAOC is extremely small and operates mostly outside of Byelarus, yet it claims to be the Church of the Byelarussian people. After the civil war in Ukraine started in 2014, the Byelarussian Autocephalous Church actively engaged in depicting Russia as the enemy, claiming that Russia is committing aggression against Ukraine. Virtually all Christmas and Easter messages from Archbishop Sviatoslav (Vyacheslav Vyacheslavovich Login), the head of the BAOC, were semi-political manifestos, critical of Russia. The BAOC also claimed that Byelarussian nationalists, who fought on the side of the Kiev regime, defended the Byelarussian statehood. After the 2020 presidential election in Byelarus, the BAOC became actively involved in political life by supporting the protests against Alexander Lukashenko. Archbishop Sviatoslav (V. V. Login) of the BAOC excommunicated Lukashenko from the Church, although Lukashenko has never been a parishioner of the BAOC. In 2021, former presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she was ready to apply to Constantinople to receive the Tomos and give the BAOC the official status. However, Tsikhanouskaya’s entourage quickly refused her words.