Spór o białorutenizację Kościoła katolickiego na Białorusi

Belorussification is explained as the process of change of direction of thelocal Roman Catholic Church from Polish national to Belarussian. It aimsto becoming an independent Church as the religious standalone institutionon the area of the autonomous Republic of Belarus. In practice it primarilymeans the change of the language used in the local Church. It causes anopposition on the part of the faithful (mainly from the older generation)and the Union of Poles in Belarus.The dispute about belorussification incorporates political, identity, historicaland practical issues. The Synod of the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev,Pinsk and Vitebsk in 2000 ordained both languages (Polish and Belarussian)as languages of the Roman Catholic Church in dioceses participating inthe synod in Belarus. It depends on priests’ decision in what language theycommunicate with faithful and celebrate the church liturgical services.Basically the priests want to fulfill their role as pastors and hence theychoose the language suitable to communicate with the faithful – Belarussianand even Russian, whereas Polish is used for prayers only where it isexplicitly mentioned. The choice made by them is not dictated by politicalorganizations, but it is the conscious and calculated decision consideringthe neeeds of the faithful, the political correctness and personal attitudetowards missionary work.The paper is an attempt to respond to the accusation of Roman Dzwonkowski,Ewa Golachowska and Zdzisław Winnicki who claim that the churchesat present have become a tool of belorussification of Poles, in particularchildren and teenagers, by the clergy which has come from Poland. Thesubject raised in this thesis aims at explaining the decision of the priestswho choose belorussification, by taking into account their perspective andthe historical-political context.