Attempts to “tighten the screws” among employees of religious structures and clergy, according to Natalya Vasilevich, a representative of the Christian Vision group, lead to the opposite result. Active church professionals, expelled from their positions within the church structure for their position, form their own independent church community.
– On the wave of the general awakening of the Belarusian society, Orthodox Christians are building informal networks of communication and interaction. The space can be a chat of classmates of theological educational institutions, a chat of priests, an Orthodox choir. Informal communication forms a critical attitude towards hierarchy and stimulates the creation of an independent church community, — Natalya Vasilevich tells about the activism of believers.
– Such a community has high potential, competencies, and motivation to contribute to the promotion of democracy and the rule of law.
The Coordination Council working group “Christian Vision” analyzes the processes in the religious communities of Belarus and monitors the repressions associated with religion.
The monitoring includes cases of persecution of clergymen and prominent public Christian figures since August. Watch the monitoring link.
