POLITICAL PROTESTANTS WANT CHANGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 000446

SIPDIS

KIEV FOR USAID
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL BO
SUBJECT: POLITICAL PROTESTANTS WANT CHANGE


Classified By: AMBASSADOR GEORGE KROL FOR REASONS 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Summary: Prominent Belarusian Protestant leaders
recently described for Ambassador their continued
registration problems and the increasing hostility that they
face from the GOB. Most of the leaders agreed that their
communities are ready to bring change to Belarus, claiming
that young Protestant followers actively participated in the
post-Election demonstrations. End Summary


2. (SBU) On April 13, Ambassador hosted a luncheon for the
leaders of the most prominent Belarusian Protestant
denominations, including Union of Evangelic Faith Christians
(Pentecostal) senior bishop Sergei Khomich, Association of
Senior Bishops of Evangelical Christian Churches Advisor Ivan
Pashkevich, Union of Full Gospel Christian Churches Alexander
Sakovich, Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches
Bishop Nikolai Sinkovets, and Deputy Chairman of the
Belarusian Confederation of Adventists Vasili Lozhechnik.

Political Protestantism is the Way to Change In Belarus
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3. (C) Most of the Protestant leaders wanted to discuss
politics with Ambassador. They claimed that many of their
congregations have become politically active. The leaders
noted that a number of their young members participated in
the demonstrations that followed the March 19 presidential
elections. They estimated that Protestants comprised
approximately 3,000 (i.e. one-fourth) of the demonstrators on
October Square.


4. (C) The Protestant bishops stressed that the Belarusian
people want and are ready for change. Many of the leaders
felt strongly the only way Belarus can become free is for it
to become Protestant. Association of Senior Bishops of
Evangelical Christian Churches Advisor Ivan Pashkevich stated
the traditional political parties fail to motivate people to
work for change. Instead, he claimed the churches are able
to inspire the masses, which is why he plans to establish a
Christian political party.

Increasing Hostility from the GOB
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5. (C) While the leaders admitted that Protestant religious
communities are far better off NOW than under Soviet
repression, they also told Ambassador they fear that their
situation in Belarus may be worsening. They described
greater hostility from the authorities, who consider
Protestants not only to be American agents, but the state's
most formidable enemy after the political opposition. The
state-backed Russian Orthodox Church often speaks out against
its Protestant counterparts. GOB efforts to establish
ideological control over society strongly affect the
Protestants as Protestant children suffer for their refusals
to join GOB youth organizations. Union of Evangelical
Christian Baptist Churches Bishop Nikolai Sinkovets told
Ambassador of a child from a Protestant family who
categorically refused to join the state-run youth union
(BRSM),saying that her religion did not allow her to be a
part of a communist-atheistic group. While Sinkovets was
proud of the child's strong religious convictions, he NOW
fears for her academic future.

Problems with Land and Registration Continue
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6. (C) The authorities use various "Catch 22" technical
reasons to deny Protestants the ability to build new
churches, to use private homes for services, to obtain
registration, or to proselytize in the countryside. The GOB
mandates that the religious communities be registered at a
judicial (i.e., non-residential) address in order to carry
out religious activities. These judicial addresses, however,
are almost all state owned. In addition, few non-residential
addresses for rent or sale exist outside of Minsk, thereby
leaving religious communities in villages or the regions at
an impasse. Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Confederation
of Adventists Vasili Lozhechnik, who was far less political
than his colleagues, described in fascinating but sad detail
the insidious ways the authorities used registration to limit
his religious community's work, especially in the Borisov region.
The GOB will not rent or sell the existing places to
the Protestant communities, nor will it allow them to buy
land to build a
building for a church. Union of Evangelic Faith Christians
(Pentecostal) senior bishop Sergei Khomich told Ambassador
about one religious community that has been waiting for 12
years for the GOB to decide whether it can purchase a piece
of land for its followers. Protestant religious communities
are forced to operate illegally, although local authorities
are fully aware of what these groups are doing.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) These Protestant leaders, with their already
established network of communities across the country, appear
committed to work for political change in Belarus. Although
they were not part of the "official" opposition efforts in
the lead up to the presidential elections, many Protestant
believers participated in the demonstrations. Moreover, the
strained relationship with the current regime may be
providing even more incentive for Protestants to join the
struggle. It remains unclear, however, whether the political
parties, and the Ten Plus Coalition in particular, will
accept the Protestant communities and other non-political
groups as partners in the struggle for change in Belarus.
Protestants remain a fraction of the population although they
are the fastest growing religious organizations in the
country. Many Belarusians view Protestants and Protestantism
as "foreign" despite Protestantism's roots in Belarus dating
back to the Reformation. We suspect if the Protestant
congregations became too po
litically active or established their own party as Pashkevich
claimed, they may face even more hostility from the regime
and perhaps from ordinary Belarusians, who believe religion
and politics should be kept separate.
Krol