BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

09/11/2005

Belarus shuts down "illegal" Orthodox parish

Nov. 09 (Forum 18/CWNews.com) - In what one priest described as "the crudest violation of religious freedom," state officials in Belarus are refusing to register a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, the Forum 18 news service reports. The parish has come into conflict with the local Orthodox diocese affiliated with the Moscow patriarchate.

In Belarus, Orthodox communities can only gain state recognition with the approval of a local bishop affiliated with the Moscow patriarchate. In the village of Ruzhany, the 120 members of the parish of Sts. Sophia and her Three Daughters broke with the local Mosow-patriarchate bishop after a series of disagreements, and affiliated themselves with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. Because the government does not recognize that denomination, the parish is now unregistered, and the pastor and faithful face legal charges for carrying on "illegal" religious services.

Source:

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=40643