The Development and State of the Modern Religious Situation in Byelarus

Abstract

After gaining sovereignty in 1991, the Republic of Byelarus had to independently form its policy in religious aff airs, which was based on the reaction to the changes taking place in the religious sphere. These changes concerned both the radical revaluation of the role and socio-cultural status of religion in the history and culture of Byelarus and the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the religious fi eld: the number of believers, religious organizations, religious publications and the nature of state-confessional relations were changing. In search for an optimal model of organization and regulation of the religious sphere, Byelarus has passed through several stages, learning and improving its own and the global experience. The present-day religious situation in Byelarus is the logical result of several cultural, historical and socio-political processes, as well as the result of a whole complex of reasons, some of which have a long history, while others are a product of the post-Soviet period and the present conjuncture. Many characteristics of the modern religious fi eld (religious structure, the nature of religiosity of the population, the presence of non-traditional religiosity and quasi-religiousness, and the peaceful nature of inter-confessional relations) make Byelarus similar to most countries of the civilized world, while others have their own specifi c characteristics. At the same time, the religious diversity in Byelarus has quite pronounced ethnic features: some national groups are the main carriers of certain religions, which is predetermined by their historical past. Thus, the Polish Catholics, German Lutherans, Russian Old Believers and Muslim Tatars are typical elements in the ethno-religious structure of modern Byelarus. Another characteristic of the contemporary religious situation in Byelarus is the internal organizational stability of religious organizations and confessions. Researchers might also be interested in religious-political reconstructions, which are typical for some intellectuals and take place in the framework of the debate about the Byelarussian identity and political future: if you choose your faith, you choose your political ideal. In this context, of special interest is the problem of peculiar socialization of historical and religious themes into actual political life, which began during the USSR collapse and aimed at formation of new national ideology.