METROPOLITAN JOSEPH SEMASHKO AND THE CANCELLATION OF THE UNION OF BREST

UDC 947.6:28

Savchenko Anrdei Viktorovich – PhD student, Faculty of History. Belarusian State University (6, Mendeleyeva str., 220037, Minsk, Republic of Belarus). E-mail: andrijsauczanka1997@gmail.com

DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.52065/2520-6885-2024-281-2.

 

Key words: history, religion, Brest Union, Uniate Church, unionism.

For citation: Savchenko A. V. Metropolitan Joseph Semashko and the cancellation of the Union of Brest. Proceedings of BSTU, issue 6, History, Philosophy, 2024, no. 1 (281), pp. 10–13 (In Belarusian). DOI: 10.52065/2520-6885-2024-281-2.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the life and work of Metropolitan Joseph Semashka (1798–1868). Metropolitan Joseph of Lithuania and Vilna is of particular importance for the Orthodox believers of  Belarus. Born into a union (Joseph's ancestors and many of his closest relatives on his paternal and maternal lines belonged to the Uniate clergy), having received a Catholic theological education, the Metropolitan devoted his life to strengthening the position of the Orthodox Church. It is noted that until the end of 1827, Joseph Semashko tried to contribute to the preservation of the Greek Catholic Church, but from the end of 1827 he became convinced of the crisis within the Uniate Church and made efforts aimed at abolishing the union. Particular attention in the article is paid to understanding the significance of the Polotsk Church Council of 1839, when the Brest Church Union ceased to exist on the territory of the Russian Empire (which included the Belarusian lands). This event became one of the most important in the history of Belarus in the 19th century, since it significantly changed the religious composition of the population: more than one and a half million believers switched from unionism to Orthodoxy. The article analyzes the significance of the activities of Joseph Semashko for the modern religious life of Belarus, where the Belarusian Orthodox Church occupies a dominant position. It is shown that, from a historical perspective, the activities of the Metropolitan had a significant impact on the ethno-religious situation of the modern Republic of Belarus, which is reflected in the legislation: the new edition of the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious organizations (as amended on December 30, 2023) recognized the special role of the Belarusian Orthodox Church in the historical formation and development of spiritual, cultural and state traditions of the Belarusian people.

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References

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26.04.2024