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Belarus: Whether members of the Greek Rite Catholic Church could receive state protection; update to BYS32235.E (2000-2002)

Information on state protection beyond that found in Country Reports 2001 could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. There are, however, reports that the current government restricts religious freedoms (International Religious Freedom Report for 2001 26 Oct. 2001). According to the US International Religious Freedom Report for 2001,

The Lukashenka regime treats the Greek Catholic Church with disfavor because of its emphasis on the use of the Belarusian language as well as historical tensions between the Greek Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches (ibid, sec.1).

This report further states that some religious faiths have difficulty in renting or purchasing property and in openly training their clergy (ibid, sec.2).

The Keston Institute reports that new amendments to existing legislation were sent to parliament on 31 May 2002 (Keston News Service 28 May 2002b) that will require "leaders of all religious organizations to be citizens of Belarus" (Keston News Service 28 May 2002a). Keston also states that this will "create problems for the Catholic Church, the second largest faith in Belarus with more than 430 parishes, most of whose 285 priests are foreign citizens" (ibid).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

International Religious Freedom Report for 2001. 26 October 2002. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/5560.htm> [Accessed 13 June 2002]

Keston News Service. 28 May 2002a. "Religious Censorship And Compulsory Re-Registration Under the New Law." <http://www.keston.org/020528BE-02.htm> [Accessed 13 June 2002]

_____. 28 May 2002b. " Religion Law Goes to Parliament." <http://www.keston.org/020528BE-02.htm> [Accessed 13 June 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

Lexis/Nexis

World News Connection

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International Country Report - Belarus

Catholic.net

Christian Science Monitor

Human Rights Without Frontiers

International Coalition for Religious Freedom

Orthodox Christian Information Center

Religious Freedom Page, the

Topics: Catholic,