{"id":140216,"date":"2025-05-28T10:20:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T07:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/140216\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"priest-pushes-for-establishment-of-autocephalous-belarusian-orthodox-church","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/140216\/","title":{"rendered":"Priest advocates for Orthodox church outside Russian context"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 28, Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>Orthodox Christian Priest Hieorhy Roj says\u00a0that Belarusian Orthodoxy has a future outside Moscow’s church and the “Russian world” and hopes that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople will support priests who stand for the Belarusian Orthodox Church “outside the Russian context.” He understands that this path will be long and difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant denomination in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 27, Roj spoke at the online discussion \u201cBelarusian Religious Communities in the Shadow of the “Russian World.”\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The greater ideological and administrative pressure through the bishop on the priests, the more faithful support the idea that the Belarusian Church and Orthodoxy can have an alternative,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2023, priests Alaksandar Kuchta and Roj, who had left Belarus to escape politically-motivated persecution, were admitted to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and founded a Belarusian parish in Vilnius. The Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church banned the two priests from performing religious services, saying that they left their parishes without permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Roj’s opinion, a Belarusian autocephalous church abroad can become a “good model” of the future religion in the country, showing what kind of relationships the faithful should have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 2020 unrest, some Belarusian priests underestimated “the penetration of the ‘Russian world’ ideas and the influence of Russian propaganda on the Belarusian Exarchate [of the Russian Orthodox Church],” Roj said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We hoped that the situation could be reversed and changed from within, that the Belarusian Exarchate could still transform itself into a church for the Belarusian people, align with its culture and spirit, and serve both God and the Belarusian people. We underestimated the influence of propaganda,” he said. “After 2020, especially after the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, it became clear that these are futile hopes.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 28, Pozirk. Orthodox Christian Priest Hieorhy Roj says\u00a0that Belarusian Orthodoxy has a future outside Moscow’s church and the “Russian world” and hopes that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople will support priests who stand for the Belarusian Orthodox Church “outside the Russian context.” He understands that this path will be long and difficult. The Belarusian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":89524,"template":"","rubric":[13],"class_list":["post-140216","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPriest advocates for Orthodox church outside Russian context | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 28, Pozirk. 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