Religion and Nationalities
Systematic work is being carried out in the Vitebsk region in the sphere of state-confessional and national relations, aimed at maintaining peace, harmony and mutual understanding in society, coordinating and improving the activities of local executive authorities with religious organizations and national-cultural public associations, and strengthening control over compliance with the legislation on freedom of conscience and religion. Work in this direction is organized in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Amendments to Laws on the Activities of Religious Organizations" dated December 30, 2023 No. 334-Z, decisions of the collegium of the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative for Religious and National Affairs, decisions of the regional executive committee, and other regulatory documents.
Religious administration in the Vitebsk region is carried out by two independent Orthodox (Vitebsk and Polotsk) and one Roman Catholic (Vitebsk) diocese, as well as two regional Protestant associations (Evangelical Christians of Faith and Evangelical Christian Baptists).
The register of religious organizations in the Vitebsk region includes 492 religious communities of 17 different denominations, including:
Belarusian Orthodox Church – 277;
Roman Catholic Church – 85;
Evangelical Christians of Faith – 41;
Evangelical Christian Baptists – 32;
Old Believers Church – 18;
Seventh-day Adventists – 11;
Evangelical Lutheran Church – 2;
Full Gospel Christians – 4;
Jehovah's Witnesses – 5;
Orthodox Judaism – 4;
Muslims – 3;
Greek Catholic Church – 4;
Progressive Judaism – 1;
New Apostolic Church – 1;
Armenian Apostolic Church – 2;
Baha'i – 1;
International Society for Krishna Consciousness – 1.
The region ensures compliance with the legislation by foreign clergy, the Regulation
on the procedure for inviting foreign citizens and stateless persons
to the Republic of Belarus for the purpose of engaging in religious activities, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of July 2, 2024, No. 465.
On the territory of the region, the doors of 400 religious buildings are always open to believers, many of which are of historical and cultural value.
New religious structures are also being erected by religious organizations in the region.
Work is underway to popularize historical and cultural heritage through excursion and exhibition activities. Tourist organizations are developing excursion tours to the religious and spiritual centers of the Pridvinye region. Traditional destinations for religious tourism include Orthodox monasteries and churches in Polotsk, Orsha, and Tolochin, religious architecture of the Vitebsk Poozerye (Mosar, Glubokoye, Udelo, Braslav, Miory), and others.
To attract pilgrims and tourists, there are 764 tourist routes of various themes and modes of transportation operating in the Vitebsk region, including 22 routes solely to religious sites and 170 cultural and historical routes (which include visits to religious sites in their programs).
One of the main objects of religious tourism in the region is the Holy Euphrosyne Transfiguration Stavropegic Convent, which has an excursion bureau. Within the grounds of the Holy Euphrosyne Transfiguration Convent, historical and spiritual-educational excursions are conducted daily by monastic guides for all interested visitors, offering the opportunity to view all the churches of the monastery, its holy relics, and the 12th-century Transfiguration Church with its frescoes.
The monastery is visited annually by tourists from various countries around the world, such as: the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Holland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova, Israel, Palestine, the USA, Holland, Ukraine, Estonia, Armenia, Serbia, China.
Also, an important point for the development of religious tourism in the region is one of Belarus's landmarks – the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk. Currently, despite the fact that the cathedral is not used for religious purposes, it is an important site for visits by pilgrims and tourists.
There are 154 Sunday schools and study groups operating in the Vitebsk region.
Effective measures have been taken in the region to coordinate the interaction of educational, cultural, and law enforcement agencies to prevent the activities of unregistered neo-cult, destructive, and extremist organizations spreading ideas of hatred on a national, racial, and religious basis.
Necessary conditions have also been created in the region for the preservation and development of the culture of national minorities and the activities of their organizations.
15 national-cultural public associations operate in the Vitebsk region.
Relations between religious communities of different denominations are neighborly and constructive.
Program of measures for the implementation of the "Agreement on Cooperation between the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian Orthodox Church" in the Vitebsk region for 2021-2025