The Orthodox Church and Byelorussian people

Mironowicz Antoni

Formation of National and Religious Consciousness of the Białystok Region Population

National consciousness is influenced by the following factors: the historical traditions of the population of a given area, the relation of state authority to­wards the given area over the centuries, the presence / absence of the Church in the given area, the language unity, the morality, the symbols and the veneration of the saints in the Church.

This region of Poland differs from the others due to the number of different nationalities living here: Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Russians, and Lithuanians. The factor which unites the Orthodox is the Church. Over the centuries the Bialystok region was a part of various countries, amongst others: The Great Lithuanian Principality, The Polish Kingdom, The Prussian state, The Russian Empire, and Poland. At that time the Orthodox Church did not strive after na­tional self-determination, it was universal. Until 1596 the Church used the old Byelorussian language, which included folk traditions and veneration of the Byelorussian saints. The Church policy protected matters of the faithful.

During the 2nd World War the Byelorussian church was founded (nowadays it exists abroad). Polish and Russian communists destroyed the attainments concerning the development of the national culture. In the churches the revival of the Byelorussian culture in the XIX century was introduced as a dissenting movement, es­pecially as a catholic one. The Church in Poland, as well as the one in Russia, was heavily influenced by the state, so the priests continued to preach the state policy. In Poland the Orthodox Christians were forced to become Poles. After the war such a policy was carried out towards all the minorities, and the weak Byelorussian state could not influence the fate of the Byelorussians in Poland in any way. After 1980, when the political situation changed, the revival of the na­tional consiousness among the Byelorussians took place, people changed their at­titude towards their own language, culture, etc. It influenced the activity of the Fellowship of Orthodox Youth in Poland as well. Byelorussian language appeared in the Church. There were also Byelorussian radio programmes. It is worthwhile recalling the veneration of Saint Martyr Child Gabriel, the saint of this particular region. Still, the national and religious problem of the Suprasl Lavra has not yet been solved.

However, among the Orthodox, particularly strong feelings of the national attachment did not develop. For national revival a change in the state policy as well as a change in the attitude of the faithful is needed. The situation is also in­fluenced by the fact that the state shows favouritism to the Roman Catholic Church, which results in a lack of tolerance towards the Orthodox and Byelorussians at work, at shool and in politics. This is a source of conflict between both Churches. One of the effects is also the decreasing number of people learning Byelorussian. Byelorussian organizations do not receive any financial support for their national and religious activities. So, as one can see, Poland is a Roman Catholic state and that is why the development of the national consciousness of the Orthodox Church is so difficult. Also historical, legal and many other fac­tors should be acknowledged here.

Establishing the independent Byelorussian state helped to solve many prob­lems concerning Byelorussians living in our country. In the future it will in­fluence the self-determination of the Orthodox Church in Byelorussia as well as the Church in the Bialystok region.

Nowadays, regulations concerning the minorities existing in Poland are not always complied with, but hopefully processes happening in European politics will also influence the decisions of the Polish authorities. It remains necessary to give more information on this subject. Byelorussian organizations and the Church hierarchy work very actively for the sake of changing the national con­sciousness. The cause of it is the unity of the matters — on this area Byelorussians are the majority of the faithful in the Orthodox Church.