In Belarus, the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs has decided to dissolve the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church.
This was reported by 7×70, citing data from the Unified State Register (USR).
The association was registered in Babruysk, Mogilev Region, and is now listed as undergoing liquidation. This is the second nationwide Lutheran association to face a dissolution decision this year.
Earlier, on August 26, the Vitebsk Regional Court ordered the dissolution of the Religious Association of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Belarus for failing to complete mandatory re-registration. The association is still listed as active in the USR.
In addition to the nationwide associations, dissolution decisions have affected two local Lutheran congregations in Mogilev Region. On April 26, the Mogilev Regional Court ordered the dissolution of a congregation in Mogilev, followed on July 15 by a decision to dissolve the congregation of St. John the Baptist in Klichev. Both are still undergoing liquidation.
Another Lutheran congregation, St. John’s in Grodno, was removed from the USR on March 23, 2024. The register does not specify the reason for its removal. The available records therefore indicate that four decisions to dissolve Lutheran religious organizations were made in 2026, in addition to one earlier removal from the register.
As LF previously reported, at least 35 religious organizations were forcibly dissolved in Belarus in September this year.
We previously reported that the number of religious congregations in Belarus had declined following re-registration under new legislation. In Mogilev Region, half of all Catholic parishes ceased operating after re-registration. In Vitebsk Region, the number of Roman Catholic congregations fell from 94 to 85, while in Brest Region it declined from 66 to 60.
As LF reported, four of the 16 Greek Catholic (Uniate) parishes previously registered in Belarus failed to complete mandatory re-registration. These were congregations in Brest, Baranavichy and Ivatsevichy, all in Brest Region, and in Orsha.
We previously reported that the authorities had dissolved all Greek Catholic parishes in Brest Region. The court ruling cited an alleged “threat to national interests.”
