Viciebsk judge orders dissolution of Greek Catholic parish in Orša

October 23, Pozirk. The Viciebsk Regional Court has ordered the dissolution of a Greek Catholic Parish in Orša, Viciebsk region. The ruling was made on July 1, but katolik.life reported it only now.

The city’s Greek Catholic community did not have its own church and gathered at the local Roman Catholic church.

The Belarusian Greek Catholic Church unites Christians who entered into full communion with the See of Rome through the Union of Brest in the late 16th century while retaining the Byzantine liturgy. It was “most severely” affected by the re-registration of religious communities and faced unprecedented political pressure, leaving it unable to declare enough parishes to register as a religious association, according to Chryścijanskaja Vizija initiative.

For that reason, the Belarusian Greek Catholics lost access to “a whole range of aspects of religious freedom, which in today’s Belarus are reserved only for religious associations,” the activists said.

Since the end of re-registration in July 2025, 12 Greek Catholic parishes have remained in Belarus. Four of them operate in Minsk, two in Viciebsk, and one each in Hrodna, Mahiloŭ, Homiel, Maładziečna in the Minsk region, Połack in the Viciebsk region and Lida in the Hrodna region.

The Belarusian government dissolved at least 2,078 NGOs, including associations, trade unions and foundations, between the 2020 presidential election and September 30, 2026, Lawtrend, a nonprofit, said in a recent report.

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Pope Leo appoints new apostolic administrator for Greek Catholics in Belarus

September 14, Pozirk. Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Archimandrite Jan Siarhiej Hajek as apostolic administrator of the Greek Catholic Church in Belarus and appointed Liaŭoncij Tumouski as his successor, the Holy See’s press office announced on September …

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