The Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church is listed in the Annuario Pontificio as an autonomous (sui iuris) ritual Church, an Eastern Rite particular Church of the Roman Catholic Church. The same publication, however, at present makes no mention of it outside its list of such Churches. The Annuario Pontificio or Pontifical Yearbook is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The term Eastern Rites may refer to the liturgical rites used by many ancient Christian Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that, while being part of the Roman Catholic Church, are distinct from the Latin Rite or Western Church. ... A Particular Church , in Roman Catholic theology and canon law, is any of the individual constituent ecclesial communities in full communion with the Church of Rome and thus make up the Catholic Communion. ... The Roman Catholic Church (also known as the Catholic Church) is that Christian Church which is led by the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that it is the one holy catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ. ...

History

The Christians who through the Union of Brest-Litovsk (1595-1596), while preserving their Byzantine liturgy in the Church Slavonic language, returned into full communion with the see of Rome, were at first mainly Belarusian. Even after further Ukrainians joined into the Union in about 1700, Belarusians still formed about half of the group. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life, teachings, and actions of Jesus as recounted in the New Testament. ... Union of Brest (Belarusian: Берасьце́йская ву́нія) refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the (Ruthenian) Church of Rus, the Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus, to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the (patriarch) Pope of Rome. ... Events January 30 - William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet is performed for the first time. ... Events February 5 - 26 catholics crucified in Nagasaki, Japan. ... From the Greek word λειτουργια, which can be transliterated as leitourgia, meaning the work of the people, a liturgy comprises a prescribed religious ceremony, according to the traditions of a particular religion; it may refer to, or include, an elaborate formal ritual (such as the Catholic Mass), a daily activity such... Church Slavonic may refer to: Old Church Slavonic language Church Slavonic language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Communion, more widely known as the Eucharist, is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesuss instruction, as recounted in the New Testament (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25), to do in memory of him what at his Last Supper he did when he gave his... Events January 1 - Russia accepts Julian calendar. ...

With the partition of Poland, the incorporation of the whole of Belarus into Russia led to serious problems for the Belarusian Eastern-Rite Catholics, culminating in the decision, on 12 March 1838, of the remaining three bishops of their Church, along with 21 priests, to join the Russian Orthodox Church. Very many priests and faithful held fast, in spite of persecution and deportation, while others conformed merely externally. When, after the revolution of 1905, Tsar Nicholas II published a decree granting freedom of religion, some 230,000 Belarusians returned to the Catholic Church. However, since the government refused to allow them to form a Byzantine-Rite community, they adopted the Latin Rite, to which, in consequence, most Belarusian Catholics now belong. March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Russian Orthodox Church (also known as the Orthodox Catholic Church of Russia) (Русская Православная церковь) is that body of Christians who are united under the Patriarch of Moscow, who in turn is in communion with the other patriarchs and primates of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a country-wide spasm of both anti-government and undirected violence. ... Tsar Nicholas II (18 May 1868 to 17 July 1918)1 was the last crowned Emperor of Russia. ... Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article (The Latin Rite), is a term by which documents of the Catholic Church designate the particular Church, distinct from the Eastern Rite Churches, that developed in western Europe and northern Africa, where Latin was the language of...

After the First World War, the western part of Belarus was included in the reconstituted Polish state, and some 30,000 descendants of those who, less than a century before, had been forced to join the Russian Orthodox Church returned to union with the Catholic Church, while keeping their Byzantine liturgy. In 1931, the Holy See sent them a bishop as Apostolic Visitator. After the Soviet Union ooccupied the eastern part of Poland in 1939, an exarch for the Belarusian Byzantine-Rite faithful was appointed in May 1940, but, a mere two years later, he was arrested and taken to a Soviet concentration camp, where he died. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

While from then on very little information about the Byzantine Catholics in Belarus could reach Rome, refugees from among them founded centres in western Europe (Paris, London and Louvain) and in parts of the United States of America, especially in Chicago. The Holy See appointed a Belarusian bishop as Apostolic Visitator for the Belarusian faithful abroad in 1960 and a successor in 1983. But after the latter's death died in 1986, no further such appointment was made. At present, therefore, Belarusian Byzantine Catholics have no bishop of their own in their homeland or elsewhere. A common understanding of Western Europe in modern times Western Europe is a cultural/political concept mainly forged and used during the Cold War. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Leuven in 2004 Leuven (Louvain in French, Löwen in German) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, of which it is the capital. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII in Roman) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Church began to reemerge. By 1992, three priests and two deacons in Belarus were celebrating the Byzantine liturgy in Belarusian. The same year, a survey by Belarusian State University found that 100,000 Belarusians identified themselves as Byzantine Catholics. By 1999, at least ten parishes had applied for registration with the Belarusian government. 1992 (MCMXCII in Roman) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Belarusian State University (BSU) (Belarusian: Белару́скі Дзяржа́ўны Унівэрсытэ́т; Belarus, was founded on October 30, 1921. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Sources

• Oriente Cattolico (Vatican City: The Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Churches, 1974)
• Annuario Pontificio.
• Ronald Roberson, CSP; The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey (6th edition); 1999; Edizioni Orientalia Christiana, Pontificio Istituto Orientale; Rome, Italy; ISBN 88-7210-321-5

External links

• ((Russian)) "The history of the Uniate Church and its disestablishment in the 19th century." A Russian propaganda pamphlet againts the Belarusian Church.