The Greek Catholic Parish of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God in Orsha failed to complete mandatory re-registration and has ceased to exist, according to sources cited by Radio Svaboda. According to Christian Vision, the Orsha parish held its services at St Joseph’s Catholic Church on Savetskaya Street, 6.
This is the fourth case of a Greek Catholic community being dissolved in Belarus. As a result, the church has lost 25% of its registered parishes. Of the 16 Greek Catholic parishes operating in Belarus in 2024, four failed to obtain re-registration — in Brest, Baranavichy, Ivatsevichy and Orsha.
The Belarusian authorities launched a large-scale re-registration campaign for religious organisations after adopting amendments to legislation governing religious activity at the end of 2023. All religious communities were required to submit documents by July 1, 2025. The new requirements included a complete ban on political activity, mandatory Belarusian citizenship for the head of the organisation and a minimum of 20 believers in each parish.
Registered Greek Catholic communities remain in eight Belarusian cities: Minsk (four parishes), Maladzyechna, Vitsyebsk (two parishes), Polatsk, Hrodna, Lida, Homiel and Mahiliou. According to Radio Svaboda, the situation has almost returned to the level of 1996, when 11 Uniate parishes operated in the country.
According to Christian Vision, the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church has become one of the religious denominations most affected by the Lukashenka regime’s repressive policies toward religious organisations.
