Photo: Wikipedia / Tatarstan.ru (cc)
On December 30th, President Aleksandr Lukashenko officially passed into law new religious regulations, finalizing a bill that had initially been introduced in September 2023. For more details, see this page. The policies are scheduled to take effect on July 5th and, while the legislation carries various new stipulations, the most significant is the requirement that all religious communities must re-register within one year of the law coming into effect.
Under the new legislation, any religious community failing to gain re-registration will be deemed illegal, and thus all activities that group conducts will pose them to be at risk of criminal punishment. Various other restrictions have also been instituted, including limits on religious education. The wording of the legislation makes extensive use of terms such as "extremism" and "terrorism" to justify the changes.
Reactions from church leaders reflect the political and social environment to which the Belarusian people are accustomed. When Eric Monk from the Slavic Gospel Mission spoke with local pastors, they told him that were aware of the laws and did what they could to honour the government. "That doesn't mean that they agree with the government," he announced, "but they want to be people who are beyond reproach."
For the Council of Churches Baptist congregations, the need for registration has always been perceived as a restriction on their freedom of religion. These congregations refuse to register with the government, and thereby intend to carry on doing what they have always done since the requirement for registration was instituted under the Soviet Union. One church member described the situation using the words of Ecclesiastes 1:9, stating that "there is nothing new under the sun." For more information on the governmental restrictions faced by congregations in Belarus, go to our country report.
Please pray that Belarusian church leaders will receive wisdom, fortitude and clear direction from the Lord as they shepherd their congregations in the days to come. As churches submit their applications for re-registration, may the officiating governmental workers be peaceable and cooperative, allowing our Christian brothers and sisters to gather freely for worship. Pray also that believers who are opposed to these registration requirements would be able to exercise their religious freedoms without interference from the government.
