In 1596, leaders of the Orthodox church, meeting in Brest, decided to sever their connection with the church of Constantinopole and place themselves under the authority of the Roman Pope.
Once the Union of Lublin was adopted, all of Lithuania and Western Russia were opened to Polish-Catholic influence.
In the Western part of our Belarus, which contains the cities: Vilnius, Disn, Lida, Oshmjany, Troki, Minsk, Igumensk, Bobruisk, Mozyr, Rechica, Nowogrodek, Slusk, Pinsk, Borisov, Mogilev, Byhov, Gomel, Mestislav, Rogachev, Chavusy, Ross, Telshi, Shavli, Vitebsk, Cherikov, Kovno, Vilkomir, Ponevezh, Lepel, Polotsk, Sebezh, Suraz, Grodno, Bialystok, Brest, Belsky, Sokolka, Slonim, Pruzany, Kobryn and the town of Divin – Polish priests and Jesuits introduced the Brest Church Union.
It was so: After the death of Duke Jagiello all of the Lithuanian Dukes, one after the other, declared themselves Polish kings and accepted the Roman Catholic faith. Russian and Lithuanian nobles and rich people used to travel to see them in Poland and lived in their courts. There they became acquainted with Polish customs and traditions, married Poles, learned the Polish language and writing. And gradually they began to forget the Russian language, Russian traditions and everything that was related to Russian culture. Polish senators rendered such people great honor and respect. They elected them to the Senate, made them prefects and gave them other honorable positions, while the King gave them rich estates. The minds of these people, people pampered by Polish favors, had changed. Many of them dropped their faith, became Catholics, Poles, and tormentors of their own people.
While many segments of former Lithuanian society accepted and even embraced Polish culture and dominance, the Orthodox priests and the peasants did not:
Only the Orthodox clergy, citizens and ordinary people – peasants – remained faithful to the traditions of their ancestors, their people. Across all of Western Belarus they began to establish Orthodox brotherhoods, to help each other. They led a resolute struggle against Catholicism and the union. They opened fraternal schools and created special literature (written religious arguments).
The Jesuits were enlisted to fight this opposition:
{
20} The Polish gentry saw that they alone did not have enough power to face the Orthodox Russian people. It was then that they called on the help of the Jesuit priests. This was a treacherous and angry people. They had their own politics and behavior about them. They knew the psychology of a regular person well and used this knowledge. They began their agitation in new frontiers as follows: they came to the hospitals, visited inmates in prisons, and performed difficult work in homes for the elderly. They handed out money to the poor and did not deny anyone in their church expenses. All of these good deeds they did not out Christian brotherly love, but for show. They did everything so that all of the people – poor and rich, educated and not – would be surprised by their virtue and start loving them. They knew how to convince each person. They would convince some with goodness, and if they happened upon a quiet and calm person, then they would scare him with the deadly torments of hell. This way, they made people fall obedient to their Jesuit will. They often pitted one Polish nobleman against another, would then get involved in their affairs and publically reconciled them. The Jesuit priests would especially befriend widows. Widows’ inherited possessions would be transferred to their hands, while the widows themselves would become obedient and trustworthy assistants. The Jesuit priests would conduct shrifts for them every week. There they would learn that life is not only theirs, but all of their neighbors and friends. Using this method, they knew who their friends were, who their enemies were, how people should be treated: who needed to be pampered, who needed to be punished; who needed to be publically praised and who needed to be slandered and defamed. If they had powerful enemies, then they could poison them with the help of their devotees. Superficially they resembled very poor people. They could walk the street in old, torn dress, but at home they transformed to different people. They were so rich that they gave loans out and kept gold and silver. They lured young, rich people to their side, giving them the title Roman Catholic Priest and taking away all of their possessions and riches. But the Jesuits did all of this in secret, so that no one would know anything bad about them. In that time, when they appeared in Russia and Lithuania, everything turned upside down. Polish kings, under the influence of the Jesuits, began appointing unworthy people, libertines, to church posts, while the nobles made millers and lackeys into priests. This is why the Orthodox faith and Church began to decline.
All together the gentry, royalty and their Jesuit priests, enticed more and more Orthodox people to their side. For this they used any means, mainly lies and deception. All of those who accepted their faith received various benefits: jobs, privileges and favor from the government. The faithful sons of Orthodoxy and their people were persecuted at every turn. They were like criminals, though they had not committed any crimes.
There was even a new name for the faith. The Orthodox faith was called the faith of the bondservants [serfs], while the Roman-Catholic faith was called – the faith of the gentry. The new government invented many different grievances, harassment and insults for the simple Belarusian people, for their beliefs and customs. Orthodox people complained about their grievances to the Polish King and gentry, but they never found any justice.
The Jesuit priests secretly rejoiced at the people’s trouble. At the same time they told them to stay in their Orthodox faith, but to acknowledge that their head is His Holiness the Pope of Rome. If they did, the Pope would not allow anyone {
21} to offend them. Many simple and narrow-minded people began to consider this proposal: Maybe they should accept such a strong patron, if he does not alter their Orthodox beliefs?
This led to the people petitioning for the re-unification of the Orthodox faith with the Roman-Catholic faith. As they said then: introduce the Russian Church Union to Western Russia. There were two people openly promoting this union. These were Orthodox Bishops: the Lutz Bishop Kirill Terlitski; and the other, the Brest Bishop Ipatius Potsay. Terlitski and Potsay set out for Rome. There they acknowledged the Pope as the Supreme Head. They were there representing all of the Western Orthodox church, though no one had given them such powers. Actually the Union consisted only of this. All of the religious rites remained the same. Services continued to be conducted in the Church-Slavic language. But this was only the first step on the path to transition into the Roman-Catholic faith. Popes viewed the Union as a transitional step towards Catholicism. This is why this occurrence in Rome was accompanied by great celebration. There they created a medal with the inscription
For the Reunification of Russians. When people found out about this, not having played any role in this matter, their anger and outrage at the Overlords-traitors saw no bounds. Accusations and curses addressed to the lords could be heard from all directions. Danger threatened their lives.
Despite all of this, there was a cathedral in Brest, in which the union was announced. From this time, traitors of the faith began to call themselves Unionists. They began calling Orthodox people heretics and schismatics.
The main betrayers-traitors, Terlitski and Potsay, fearing revenge from the masses for the betrayal committed by them, left for Rome seeking the protection of the Pope.
