The history of the negotiations with the rocor hierarch archbishop Athanasius (Martos) about the leadership of the Belarusian parishes in the diaspora (1959-1974)

Since 1950, the leaders of the Belorussian Central Council, positioned as the exiled Belarusian government, drew a line to organize Orthodox Belarusian parishes in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The strategic objective of the Belarusian Central Council was seen in the creation of an autonomous Belarusian church structure (diocese or metropolis), uniting Orthodox Belarusian immigrants in various countries. Moreover, in the event of the fall of the communist regime in Soviet Belarus, this church structure should become an alternative to the Belarusian dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church and ultimately become the core of the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, formed with the support of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. During the years 1959-1974, Protopresbyter Nikolai Lapitsky, administrator of Belarusian parishes in North America, held secret talks with Archbishop Athanasius (Martos), who served in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Having accepted the bishop’s ordination in the Belarusian Orthodox Church during the German occupation and transferred to the ROCOR after emigrating from Belarus, the archbishop for a long time discussed the possibility of transferring to the Patriarchate of Constantinople to serve in the Belarusian Diaspora. The final outcome of the negotiations was the disappointment of Archbishop Athanasius in the project to create a Belarusian church structure, which largely predetermined the failure of this project. The article is devoted to a detailed description of negotiations between Protopresbyter Nikolai Lapitsky and other representatives of the Belarusian Central Council religious policy with Archbishop Athanasius (Martos) on the issue of involving him in the leadership of the Belarusian parishes in the Diaspora in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.