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Featured

Supreme Court Denies Churches Legal Status

Forum18
  • Belarus
  • Discrimination
  • 2025-05-07
People are gathered at the door of a building in a Greek Catholic parish.
A Greek Catholic Parish.
Photo: Katolik.life

Churches in Belarus continue to encounter increasing pressures under a new religion law that came into effect in July 2024. The legislation requires all churches to undergo re-registration, including those that had previously been approved by the government. As a result, three Greek Catholic parishes that were originally registered in the 1990s have had their applications rejected.

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Featured

Another Church Leader Arrested

Forum18
  • Belarus
  • Detainment / Arrest
  • 2026-04-16
  • Father Anatol Parakhnevich
The priest Anatol Parakhnevich is raising a communion cup.
Father Anatol Parakhnevich
Photo: Katolik.life
 

On March 16th, masked security officials arrested Anatol Parakhnevich, a 65-year-old Catholic priest, at his parish in Alkovichi, Minsk Region. During the arrest, officers searched his home as well as the church building. Following the raid, both premises were sealed, with the keys being returned one week later.

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KGB Declares Religious Freedom Group "Extremist"

Forum18, Christian Vision for Belarus
  • Belarus
  • Discrimination
  • 2025-05-15
  • Christian Vision for Belarus
  • Natallia Vasilevich
  • Natallia Harkovich
  • Dzmitry Korneyenko
A church is seen between two trees.
An Orthodox Church in Belarus.
Photo: Pexels

Amidst the ongoing oppression of Christians in Belarus, an organization was established in 2020, bringing together leaders from multiple churches in an effort to monitor and publicize persecution in the country. The organization was registered in neighbouring Lithuania as "Christian Vision for Belarus."

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Featured

Priests Pardoned by the Nation's Presidential Leader

Forum18
  • Belarus
  • Detainment / Arrest
  • released
  • 2025-11-27
  • Father Henryk Okolotovich
  • Father Andrei Marianovich Yukhnevich
Father Henryk Akalotovich and Father Andrzej Yuchniewicz are standing with Archbishop Ignazio Ceffalia and Archbishop Iosif Stanevsky.
Father Henryk (second from left) and Father Andrei
(second from right), along with two archbishops.
Photo: Catholic.by

Two Catholic priests who had been convicted and sentenced to more than 10 years in prison were pardoned and freed from a Belarusian labour camp on November 20th. State media claimed that the church leaders, who were granted clemency by President Alexander Lukashenko, had been "convicted of serious crimes against the state, as well as other crimes."

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New Religious Restrictions Pass into Law

Forum18, Mission Network News
President Aleksandr Lukashenko
President Aleksandr Lukashenko
Photo: Wikipedia / Tatarstan.ru (cc)

On December 30th, President Aleksandr Lukashenko officially passed into law new religious regulations, finalizing a bill that had initially been introduced in September 2023. For more details, see this page. The policies are scheduled to take effect on July 5th and, while the legislation carries various new stipulations, the most significant is the requirement that all religious communities must re-register within one year of the law coming into effect.

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  1. Officials Issue Threats to Church Leaders
  2. Church Appeals Liquidation Orders
  3. Revised Religion Law Passes First Reading
  4. New Life Church Faces Liquidation

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