The number of Protestant religious communities in Belarus is declining rapidly.
Natallya Vasilevich of the Christian Vision initiative told Current Time that, according to official figures, around 10 percent of Protestant communities have “disappeared” over the past two years.
“In 2024, before the re-registration process began, there were 931 Protestant communities. Now Lukashenka, speaking at a meeting with Graham, a well-known Protestant pastor, said that only 850 remain. We can see that nearly 10 percent of the communities have vanished. Some likely disappeared because of demographic factors, while others may have done so to escape persecution,” Vasilevich said.
The Protestant Church is the third-largest religious community in Belarus by number of adherents. Pressure on Protestants intensified after Alyaksandr Lukashenka came to power in the mid-1990s. Initially, believers faced bureaucratic obstacles, but the pressure has steadily increased.
“In 2002, a new law was adopted that effectively prohibited any unregistered activity. All such activity had to go through state registration. Soon afterward, criminal liability was introduced for operating without registration. Unregistered religious activity was criminalized, which contradicts international standards of religious freedom,” Vasilevich explained.
According to Christian Vision, constructing a church in Minsk required the personal approval of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. At the same time, believers lost church properties and pastors without Belarusian citizenship were expelled from the country.
“For a long time, the regime viewed Protestants as an American church,” said Belarusian politician and former political prisoner Pavel Sevyarynets. “Their worldview and outlook were considered more Americanized. Since the centers of Baptist, Methodist, and many other Protestant denominations are located in the United States, they were regarded as an American church and were simply suppressed.”
Sources interviewed by Current Time believe that Belarusian authorities may make limited concessions as part of negotiations with the United States, but are unlikely to fundamentally change their policies or end repression.
“As soon as relations with America worsen, the regime will strike at Protestants,” Sevyarynets said. “When relations improve, opportunities will open for them. That is the nature of any authoritarian or totalitarian regime.”
LF previously reported that Belarusian authorities refused to extend permits for five Catholic priests and one monk of the Minsk-Mahilyow Archdiocese who hold Polish citizenship. Three Polish Catholic priests who had served in Belarus for many years were also forced to leave the country after authorities declined to renew their permits.
LF also reported the detention of Catholic priest Anatoliy Parakhnevich, pastor of a parish in Olkovichi in the Vileyka District. State propaganda media had previously portrayed him negatively after he attended a reception marking Poland’s Constitution Day at the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk. It later became known that Parakhnevich suffered a heart attack. The 65-year-old cleric remains in pretrial detention in serious condition. According to Belarusian believers, he is accused of “treason against the state,” although no details have been disclosed. He is believed to be held in a KGB detention facility.
Earlier, a Catholic priest and two Evangelical presbyters were also detained in Belarus.
LF further reported that, by decision of the KGB, the property of Catholic priest Henrykh Akalatovich was seized and sold. He had been convicted of “treason against the state” and was released after two years following intervention by the Vatican.
In Brest Region, the authorities liquidated all parishes of the Greek Catholic Church. A court ruling cited an alleged “threat to national interests.”
LF previously reported that the number of religious communities in Belarus declined after re-registration under new legislation. In Mahilyow Region, half of the Catholic parishes ceased operating. In Vitebsk Region, the number of Roman Catholic communities fell from 94 to 85, while in Brest Region it declined from 66 to 60.
LF also reported that authorities refused to allow former Red Church parish priest Uladzislau Zavalski to conduct a service at the sarcophagus of the church’s founder, Edward Vaynilovich, in Minsk.
