Apostolic Administration of Belarus
Bielorussia pro fidelibus ritus byzantini
Apostolic administration · Byzantine tradition · Belarus, Belarus
Apostolic administration for faithful of the Byzantine rite in Belarus, erected by Pope Francis on 30 March 2023 and immediately subject to the Holy See. It serves the Belarusian Greek Catholic community of roughly 5,000 faithful in about 16 parishes. The first apostolic administrator is Archimandrite Sergiusz Gajek, M.I.C., previously apostolic visitator for Greek Catholics in Belarus since 1993.
The see
- Rank
- Apostolic administration
- Tradition
- Byzantine tradition
- Erected
- 30 March 2023
- Latin
- Bielorussia pro fidelibus ritus byzantini
- Annuario code
- 001005114
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 5,000
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Apostolic Administrator
- Archimandrite Sergiusz Gajek, M.I.C.
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
History
Among the 23 Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular churches in full communion with the Holy See stands the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, also called the Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church. Within Belarus it carries forward the inheritance of the Union of Brest and the Ruthenian Uniate Church.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].