Aleksandr Rumak
MINSK, 12 April (BelTA) - Representatives of 25 confessions and faiths live in Belarus, and interfaith and interethnic dialogue is maintained thanks to the tolerance of Belarusians, which has been cultivated over centuries, Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Aleksandr Rumak told Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Rumak noted that Belarus is a country of interfaith and interethnic peace and harmony, as the head of state has repeatedly stated. “The president has said: ‘We are different, we are all very different, but we are one Belarusian people’. And, of course, on this blessed Belarusian land live people who belong to 25 confessions and faiths, as well as people of more than 150 nationalities,” said the commissioner for religious and ethnic affairs.
Belarusians are known far beyond their homeland for their tolerance. “There are many examples in the world where religious animosity leads to wars and conflicts, to very terrible consequences. Examples of this include the events in the Balkans in the 1990s, the events in Africa, in Sudan. The current conflict in the Middle East also has religious animosity at its root. But in Belarus, the peaceful coexistence of people of different faiths has been maintained for many centuries. And the tolerance that exists in our society today did not arise yesterday or the day before. It has been shaped over many centuries,” Aleksandr Rumak emphasized.
He cited the example of Minsk, where an Orthodox and a Catholic church stand side by side, and stressed that similar examples can be found in all regions of the country. Aleksandr Rumak explained the principles on which interfaith dialogue is built in Belarus. “First, the principle of equality. Both the Constitution and the law on freedom of conscience and religious organizations stipulate that all confessions and religious organizations are equal before the law. Likewise, all citizens, regardless of their faith, are equal before the law. No advantages or privileges are established based on whether a person is a believer or an atheist. Moreover, if anyone tries to establish any such advantages, it is prosecuted by law. I believe these are equal relations, because the state guarantees the free activity of religious organizations. But in turn, the state must be confident that this activity will not harm the sovereignty of the country or the main directions of foreign and domestic policy. It is very important that religious activity is not directed to the detriment of the interests and rights of citizens,” he said.
The commissioner for religious and ethnic affairs also drew attention to the fact that spiritual centers exist in our country and that their creation was the idea of the Belarusian leader. “There are two spiritual centers of the Belarusian Orthodox Church as the largest, most influential confession on Belarusian land. Also the Budslau Church, that is the Roman Catholic Church. Also spiritual centers of Islam and Judaism - that is, centers of all traditional confessions on Belarusian land. This was an initiative of President Aleksandr Lukashenko, made on 10 February 2025, during a meeting with the heads of the largest confessions and religious associations. The president proposed identifying such spiritual centers for the confessions. The head of state’s idea is that every person in our country and every visitor to Belarus can turn to the origins. The centers are intended to show how confessions spread on Belarusian land, when that happened, and how people of different faiths lived. After all, times were very difficult and very turbulent then, because, unfortunately, the Belarusian land has more than once become a place of political strife and war. Belarusians did not start them. These wars came from outside onto Belarusian soil, but everyone who lived here, people of different nationalities, different faiths, defended this land together, they restored this land together, and what we see today is a country aimed at further development and the strengthening of our independence,” Aleksandr Rumak emphasized.
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