Belarusian Orthodox Church

The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; Беларуская праваслаўная царква, Белорусская православная церква) is the official name of the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. It represents the union of Russian Orthodox eparchies in the territory of Belarus and is the largest religious organization in the country, uniting the predominant majority of its Eastern Orthodox Christians. Bishop Vienijamin (Vital Tupieka) became the Patriarchal Exarch of the Belarusian Orthodox Church in 2020.

The church enjoys a much lower degree of autonomy than the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which is a semi-autonomous entity associated with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Belarusian Orthodox Church strongly opposes the minor and largely emigration-based Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Structure
Structurally, the Belarusian Orthodox Church consists of 15 eparchies:


 * Eparchy of Babruysk and Bykhaŭ
 * Eparchy of Barysaŭ
 * Eparchy of Brest and Kobryn
 * Eparchy of Hrodna and Vaukavysk
 * Eparchy of Homel and Zhlobin
 * Eparchy of Lida
 * Eparchy of Minsk
 * Eparchy of Mahiliou and Mstsislau
 * Eparchy of Maladzyechna
 * Eparchy of Navahrudak
 * Eparchy of Pinsk and Luninets
 * Eparchy of Polatsk and Hlybokaye
 * Eparchy of Slutsk
 * Eparchy of Turau and Mazyr
 * Eparchy of Vitsebsk and Orsha

Criticism and controversies
In a statement from 2023, the exiled Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic accused the Belarusian Orthodox Church of failing to condemn violence in Belarus following the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests and of interfering in the affairs of other Christian churches and thereby being "the main source of inter-religious tension in Belarus". The Rada characterised the church as "a Russian colonial institution" and "one of the ideological pillars of A. Lukashenka's regime".

In 2022 and 2023, the Orthodox St Elisabeth Convent in Minsk has been holding public events supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and raised funds to support Russian troops. The convent has also been involved in promoting homophobia, and other controversies.