Orthodox Church of St. George in Białystok

On 14 of September 1996, the parish of St. George, separated from the Saint Nicholas Cathedral parish.^[1] The first parish church was a wooden Orthodox church, moved from Czyże.^[2]

Cornerstone for the construction of the church of St. George was consecrated on October 15, 1998, by the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I who was visiting Poland.^[2] The design of the church was made by prof. Jerzy Uścinowicz. The cornerstone was laid on May 6, 2000, by Jakub, Bishop of Białystok and Gdańsk. In 2006 (after a year-long break in construction works due to the need to complete the project), the first domes and crosses were erected, consecrated by the Bishops of Białystok and Gdańsk, Jakub, and the Archbishop of Nice, Paweł.^[1]

On July 9, 1999, a deed was drawn up at the notary's office, under which the right of perpetual usufruct of the land for the construction of the church was transferred to the parish of St. George in Białystok.^[3]

The author of the temple project is the architect Jerzy Uścinowicz. The current parish priest, Grzegorz Misiejuk, took on the task of building a new church from the very beginning. In 2006, during the celebrations of the first crosses on the church domes, together with the ordinary of the diocese, Bishop Jakub, His Excellency Pawel, Bishop of Nice, consecrated the crosses. The consecrated stone stood in the temporary church until May 6, 2000. On the day of the parish's patron saint's feast, after the holiday liturgy, in a solemn procession it was carried to the excavation site and by Bishop Jakub it was bricked into the foundation of the church.^[4] On May 5, 2010, Archbishop Jakub of Białystok and Gdańsk consecrated the bells. The next day, the Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, Sawa Hrycuniak, consecrated (assisted by Archbishop Jakub) the lower church in honor of the Protection of the Mother of God. After 2010, plastering and frescoes were started in the upper church, as well as its furnishings.^[2]

In July 2016, the icon of St. was placed in the church. Paisius the Hagiorite, written by his disciple, the monk Paisius of the Holy Mount Athos. The celebrations took place on July 11–12; some of them took place under the leadership of the bishop of Supraśl, Grzegorz.^[5]

On August 21, 2016, the church was visited by the Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, John X.^[6]

On October 14, 2017, the upper church was consecrated. The ceremony was presided over by the Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, Sawa, assisted by the Archbishop of Białystok and Gdańsk, Jakub, and the Bishop of Supraśl, Andrzej.^[7]

On March 22, 2020, during the Sunday service in the church, a police intervention took place in connection with the violation by local believers and Orthodox clergy of the national quarantine introduced by the Polish government as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. The anti-epidemic regulations at that time limited the maximum number of participants in public meetings and religious ceremonies to 50 people, but over 70 believers gathered in the church. This event received wide coverage in the nationwide mass media and was the subject of public debate. Preliminary investigation proceedings were initiated against the parish with the aim of taking the case to court. It was one of the two most flagrant cases of violation of sanitary regulations in the Podlaskie Voivodeship.^[8]

In October 2021, the 25th anniversary of the parish was celebrated, during which, among others, an open-air exhibition of photographs on the church fence presenting a quarter of a century of history of this place.^[9]