Belarusian Greek Catholic Church (Belaruskaya Hreka-Katalickaya Carkva, BHKC), popularly known as the Uniate Church and sometimes called Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church, in reference to the Byzantine Rite adopted, is the heir of the Union of Brest within the territory of Belarus. It is listed in the Annuario Pontificio as a sui iuris Church, an Eastern Rite particular Church of the Roman Catholic Church.

History

The Christians who through the Union of Brest (1595-96), while preserving their Byzantine liturgy in the Church Slavonic language, forced into full communion with the see of Rome, after a few centuries of Polish persecution, were at first mainly Belarusian. Even after further Ukrainians forced into the Union in about 1700, Belarusians still formed about half of the group.

With the partition of Poland, the incorporation of the whole of Belarus into Russia many Belarusians took their chance and by march 1795 1,553 priests, 2,603 parishes and 1,483,111 people willfuly returned to Orthodoxy. However due to the Polish nobility's dominance in the area and the Russian Imperial authorities religious

For Belarusians this was the chance to openely develop their national culture, language and identity. Although many see this as a form of Russification, by the end of the 19th century the first cultural elite began to emerge which would eventually turn the Belarusian peoples into a nation. It is not surprising that in the Imperial census of 1897 the people chose to list their language not as Russian (as they did during Polish rule) but as Belarusian.

However for some priests and faithful, the roots

When, in 1905, Tsar Nicholas II published a decree granting freedom of religion, as much as 230,000 Belarusians wanted to revive the Uniate 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.

After the First World War, the western part of Belarus was included in the reconstituted Polish state, and fewer than 30,000 descendants of those who, less than a century before, had joined the Russian Orthodox Church were forced back into 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 died 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 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

• by Alexander Nadson
• 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