On teaching canon/church law in secular and church educational institutions in Belarus

The article is the first attempt to describe some features of teaching canon/church law in secular and church (Orthodox and Roman Catholic) educational institutions in the Republic of Belarus. The study is based on the analysis of materials publicly available on the Internet and information received from the clergy of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Educational and methodological documents are analyzed. Information on the number of academic hours for the study of canonical/church law in Orthodox and Roman Catholic institutions is presented. The teaching format is described. Libraries’ stock with educational and ac-ademic literature is assessed. It is indicated that the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church has recently been putting some efforts to make canon/church law more popular, doing that as part of its catechetical activities. At the same time, the level of canonical consciousness and canoni-cal culture is concluded to be still low in the Belarusian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus. The article is based on the report at the “Problems of Teaching Canon Law in Church and Secular Universities” conference dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the T. V. Barsov Society for the Study of Canon Law (Barsov Society) at St. Petersburg Theological Academy of the Russian Orthodox Church (St. Petersburg, January 30, 2024).