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The Belarusian Greek Catholic Church (Belaruskaya Hreka-Katalickaya Carkva, BHKC), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church, is the heir within Belarus of the Union of Brest. It is listed in the Annuario Pontificio as a sui iuris Church, an Eastern Rite particular Church of the Roman Catholic Church. Image File history File links Stop_hand. ... 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. ... 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. ... The Annuario Pontificio or Pontifical Yearbook is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Sui iuris is a Latin phrase that literally means “of one’s own right”. It is usually spelled sui juris in civil law, which uses the phrase to indicate legal competence, the capacity to manage one’s own affairs (Blacks Law Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary). ... 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. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Catholicism. ...

History

The Christians who, through the Union of Brest (1595-96), entered full communion with the See of Rome while keeping their Byzantine liturgy in the Church Slavonic language, were at first mainly Belarusian. Even after further Ukrainians joined the Union around 1700, Belarusians still formed about half of the group. Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth 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. ... 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... 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. ...

With the partition of Poland and the incorporation of the whole of Belarus into Russia, many Belarusians (by March 1795, reportedly 1,553 priests, 2,603 parishes and 1,483,111 people)^[1] united with the Russian Orthodox Church. But some remained in communion with Rome. 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (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. ...

After the ill-fated November Uprising of 1831, and the removal of the Polish nobility from influence in society, the three bishops of the Church, along with, according to one report, 21 priests,^[2] or, according to another account, 1,305 priests and 1,600,000 Christians^[3] joined the Russian Orthodox Church after a synod in Polotsk in February 1839. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 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. ... Polatsk (Belarusian: По́лацак, По́лацк; Polish: Połock, also spelt as Polacak; Russian: По́лоцк, also transliterated as Polotsk, Polotzk, Polock) is the most historic city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina river. ...

However, some priests and faithful still refused to join. The Russian state assigned most of the property to the Orthodox Church in the 1840s, and some priests emigrated to Autrian Galicia, while others chose to practice in secret the now-forbidden religion.

When, in 1905, Tsar Nicholas II published a decree granting freedom of religion, as many as 230,000^[4] Belarusians wanted union with Rome. 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. 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 joined the Russian Orthodox Church joined the Catholic Church, while keeping their Byzantine liturgy. In 1931, the Holy See sent them a bishop as Apostolic Visitator. After the Soviet Union annexed Western Belarus 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.

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 in 1986, no further such appointment was made. At present, therefore, Belarusian Greek-Catholics have no bishop of their own in their homeland or elsewhere.

However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Eastern-Rite 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 Belarus State University found that 10,000 Belarusians identified themselves as Greek Catholics. By 1999, at least ten parishes had applied for registration with the Belarusian government.

Sources

• The Belorussian Greek-Catholic Church
• Belarusian Catholic Mission (Byzantine rite) in London
• History of the Greek Catholc Church in Belarus by Alexander Nadson
• The history of the Uniate Church and its disestablishment in the 19th century.
• 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