The role of Alexander (Inozemtsev), metropolitan of Polesie and Pinsk, in the organization of church life in the Belarusian and Ukrainian post-war diaspora

The article is devoted to the consideration of the activities of Metropolitan Alexander (Inozemtsev) of Polesie and Pinsk in the organization of spiritual care of Orthodox Belarusians and Ukrainians who ended up in post-war camps for displaced person. Principally, the issue of the jurisdictional affiliation of the Metropolitan in 1944-1948 is considered, which is due to contradictory statements in the literature on this issue. The formation of the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (BAOC) in 1948-1949, which did not have recognition in the Orthodox world, was accompanied by the spread of an unreliable statement regarding the active support by Metropolitan Alexander of the Belarusian autocephaly project shortly before his death in 1948. This statement was aimed at promoting the legitimacy of the BAOC among the Belarusian diaspora. Consistent consideration of this issue allows us to conclude that the former administrator of the Polesie Diocese was not involved in the initiative of the leadership of the Belarusian People’s Republic to create the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Once in exile, Metropolitan Alexander for a short time joined the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, but since the spring of 1945 headed the foreign structures of the Orthodox Church in Poland.