The relatively “soft” policy of the Vatican diverges from the confrontational course of Warsaw
Henrik Okolotovich, a priest of Volozhin church, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in Belarus. Details of the case are not disclosed, but it is known that he was convicted under the article on state treason. One of the parishioners of the church was detained together with him.
Polish media launched a campaign of support for Okolotovich and indiscriminately accused the Belarusian authorities of repression against Catholics.
Poland traditionally uses the Catholic factor in its interests in Belarus: local Catholics are considered by the western neighbor as a natural conductor of Polish interests. However, the interests of Poland and the Vatican in Belarus do not always coincide.
Where did Catholics in Belarus come from?
Of the three Eastern Slavic states, Belarus has the most noticeable Catholic presence. According to various estimates, Catholics make up 6-10% of the population of the republic, and the main Catholic holidays (Christmas, Easter) are celebrated at the state level on a par with the Orthodox.
The main area of compact residence of Belarusian Catholics is the north of Grodno region, the west of Vitebsk region and the north-west of Minsk region. In a number of districts of Grodno region the Catholic population makes up the absolute majority - up to 80%. In Grodno, Catholics make up about half of the population. There are also compact communities of Catholics in other regions of the country, including Minsk, which is the main center of attraction for the entire population.
Where did a large Catholic community come from in Belarus? According to their ethnogenesis, Catholics living in the northwest of modern Belarus are most likely descendants of ethnic Balts who were converted to Catholicism when Lithuania was baptized by Grand Duke Jagailo. Under the terms of the Union of Krev (1385), which resulted in a dynastic alliance between Poland and Lithuania, Jagailo himself had to accept Catholicism and baptize his entire country, which remained the last island of paganism in Europe.
Obviously, in those times the border of East Slavs and Balts, and therefore, Russia and Lithuania, ran significantly east and south than the modern Lithuanian-Belarusian border. The Neman River, as well as a large forest area - Nalibokskaya Pushcha, located in the vicinity of this river, can be considered a conditional border of ethnic groups and confessions. A very clear boundary of confessions in this region is still visible.
However, there was a gradual process of Slavicization of the Lithuanian population, which switched to East Slavic (Belarusian) dialects. At the same time, there was an increasing Polish influence through the Catholic Church, which affected both everyday culture, language and identity.
By the 18th century Lithuania began to be perceived as more of a historical and ethnographic region of Poland. Adam Mickiewicz, a native of Novogrudok, a town located at the historical junction of ethnicities and confessions, sang about Lithuania in such a way.
The Slavic-Baltic linguistic border has moved far to the north-west.
The toponymy and wide distribution of surnames, Slavicized in form but preserving the Baltic roots, remind about the Baltic past in the north-west of modern Belarus.
The Catholic community in Byelorussia was also enlarged by proselytizing among the Orthodox population. Almost the entire Western Russian nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania converted to Catholicism. After the Union of Brest, the Catholic Church strove to bring the Uniate rite as close as possible to the Catholic rite, and the Catholic clergy was actively engaged in converting the Uniates to the Latin rite.
Thus, the Catholic community in Belarus has a rather complex ethnic and historical-cultural genesis.
Catholic = Pole?
Historically, Catholicism in the lands of Belarus and Lithuania was associated with Polish influence and became an instrument of Polonization. Christian confessions here had a pronounced ethnic attribution: Catholicism - “Polish faith”, Orthodoxy and Unia - “Russian faith”.
However, at the end of the 19th century, it was in the Catholic environment that the Belarusian movement was born, which opposed both Russia and Poland. The main argument here was linguistic - Belarusian Catholics spoke in everyday life not in literary Polish, but in strongly polonized Belarusian dialects.
Nevertheless, the traditional Polish consciousness in the Catholic environment of Belarus turned out to be very strong. In Grodno region Poles are the second largest ethnic group. It is clear that they are not immigrants from Poland, but local natives, whose ancestors have lived here for centuries. Besides, it can be assumed that many Belarusian Catholics have a “floating” Belarusian-Polish identity, which can fluctuate depending on the political conjuncture.
Belarus is the leader in the number of issued Polish cards, significantly ahead of Ukraine and Lithuania.
As for the Catholic Church in Belarus, there is obviously a hidden split between the “Belarusian” and “Polish” wings.
On the one hand, Catholicism in Belarus tries to play the role of the most “nationally oriented” confession. Services in many churches and all related information are given in the Belarusian language.
On the other hand, in many churches, including the cathedral (farny) church in Hrodna, services in Polish are preserved. In a number of churches Polish and Belarusian services may alternate.
A significant part of Catholic clergy is sent from Poland and are graduates of Polish seminaries, although the Belarusian state tries to counteract this and increase the share of Belarusian natives trained in Belarus.
The Vatican is playing its own game
As for the Vatican, it takes a very flexible position and tries not to follow the Polish foreign policy. The Vatican has managed to build constructive, if not friendly relations with the Belarusian state.
А. Lukashenka has twice paid state visits to the Vatican, which is unprecedented in its own way, given that the Belarusian leader has never been a welcome guest in Western capitals.
During the events of 2020. The Vatican easily agreed to the removal of Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondusiewicz, who supported the attempted color coup, and agreed on a figure acceptable to official Minsk as the head of Belarusian Catholics.
In 2025, Belarus is going to open its own embassy in the Vatican. This is happening against the background of the general diplomatic crisis in relations with the West.
Obviously, the Vatican is playing its own game in Belarus and has occupied here the niche of the main mediator between official Minsk and the collective West.
This allows the Catholic Church in Belarus to exist quite comfortably and conduct missionary activity without coming into conflict with the authorities.
The Vatican's “soft” policy towards Belarus diverges from the confrontational course of Poland, which is also trying to use the Catholic factor and traditional historical and cultural ties.
The Polish lobby in the Vatican has considerably weakened after the death of John Paul II. However, this does not mean that Poland will give up its geopolitical ambitions and stop using the church as an instrument of its influence in Belarus.
Source - Strategic Culture Foundation