Editing Belarus (section)

===Religion===
{{Main|Religion in Belarus}}
[[File:Полацк. Сафійскі сабор.jpg|thumb|[[Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk]] is one of the oldest churches in Belarus. Its current style is an ideal example of [[Baroque in Poland|baroque architecture]] in the former [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].]]
According to the census of November 2011, 58.9% of all Belarusians adhered to some kind of religion; out of those, [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] made up about 82%: Eastern Orthodox in Belarus are mainly part of the [[Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church]], though a small [[Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]] also exists.<ref name="mfa">{{cite web|url=https://adsdatabase.ohchr.org/IssueLibrary/MINISTRY%20OF%20FOREIGN%20AFFARIS_Religion%20and%20denominations%20in%20Belarus.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://adsdatabase.ohchr.org/IssueLibrary/MINISTRY%20OF%20FOREIGN%20AFFARIS_Religion%20and%20denominations%20in%20Belarus.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |title=Religion and denominations in the Republic of Belarus |date=November 2011 |access-date=29 June 2021|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus}}</ref> [[Roman Catholicism in Belarus|Roman Catholicism]] is practiced mostly in the western regions, and there are also different denominations of Protestantism.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00B6wxgftH8C&q=belarus+catholics&pg=PA39|title=Understanding Belarus and how Western Foreign Policy Misses the Mark|isbn=978-0-7425-5558-7|last1=Ioffe|first1=Grigoriĭ Viktorovich|last2=Ioffe|first2=Grigorij V.|year=2008|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}{{page needed|date=December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationmaster.com/country/bo-belarus/rel-religion|title=Belarusian Religion statistics, definitions and sources|website=Nation Master|access-date=29 April 2013}}{{unreliable source?|date=December 2020}}</ref> Minorities also practice [[Belarusian Greek Catholic Church|Greek Catholicism]], [[Judaism]], [[Islam]] and [[Modern paganism|neo-paganism]]. Overall, 48.3% of the population is Orthodox Christian, 41.1% is not religious, 7.1% is Roman Catholic and 3.3% follows other religions.<ref name=mfa/>

Belarus's Catholic minority is concentrated in the western part of the country, especially around [[Grodno]], consisting of a mixture of Belarusians and the country's [[Polish people|Polish]] and [[Lithuanian people|Lithuanian]] minorities.<ref name="Belarus – Religion">{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/belarus/20.htm|title=Belarus – Religion|publisher=Country Studios}}{{unreliable source?|date=December 2020}}</ref> President Lukashenko has stated that Orthodox and Catholic believers are the "two main confessions in our country".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.belta.by/en/news/president?id=363517|title=Belarus, Roman Catholic Church may ink cooperation agreement|website=Belarusian Telegraph Agency|date=25 April 2009|access-date=4 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326123631/http://news.belta.by/en/news/president?id=363517|agency=BelITA|archive-date=26 March 2012}}</ref>

Belarus was once a major center of European Jews, with 10% of the population being [[history of the Jews in Belarus|Jewish]]. But since the mid-20th century, the number of Jews has been reduced by [[the Holocaust]], deportation, and emigration, so that today it is a very small minority of less than one percent.<ref>Minsk Jewish Campus [http://www.meod.by/en/belarus-info/jewish-belarus.html Jewish Belarus] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130824171216/http://www.meod.by/en/belarus-info/jewish-belarus.html|date=24 August 2013}}; retrieved 9 July 2007.</ref> The [[Lipka Tatars]], numbering over 15,000, are predominantly [[Islam in Belarus|Muslims]]. According to Article 16 of the [[Constitution of Belarus|Constitution]], Belarus has no official religion. While the [[freedom of religion|freedom of worship]] is granted in the same article, religious organizations deemed harmful to the government or social order can be prohibited.<ref name="s1"/>