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Adaptation Practices And Forms Of Struggle In Jewish Communities For The Preservation Of Religious Worldview In Soviet Ukraine (1920s-1930s), Tetiana Savchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the reconstruction of the ways of adaptation of the Jews to the Soviet anti-religious experiments and the definition of forms of counteraction to these attacks during the 1920s and 1930s. There is insufficient research in the historiography of the struggle of Jews for the preservation of their religious worldview. The development of historiography shows a certain imbalance in the studies of the methods and extent of anti- church policy while ignoring the reaction of believers to the Bolshevik experiments. Based on archival documents of the Soviet secret services (not previously introduced into scientific circulation) and …

The Work Of The Nazi Special Services Among The Protestants Of The Reichkomissariat Ukraine (According To The Top-Secret Materials Of The Nkvd-Nkgb), Oleksandr Korotaiev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Studying the work of Nazi special services among the Protestant denominations of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine during World War II is an under-explored aspect of modern historical science. The article attempts to fill this gap by covering the work of the Nazi secret services, Gestapo1 and Sicherheitsdienst (SD),2 among Evangelical Christians (EC), Baptists (B), and Christians of the Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals, CEF) of the RKU. The basis of this study is the recently declassified documents and archival materials of the KGB of the USSR. The article first provides a brief analysis of the activities of the Soviet intelligence services (NKVD3) …

Neither Buddhist Nor Taoist, But Both (And Even More): Exploring The ‘Hall Of Infinite Principle’ (Guangli Fotang): A Chinese Temple In The Romanian Capital, Serban Toader

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This ethnography regards the sole Chinese temple in the Romanian capital Bucharest, its people and activity, as well as the thinking that supports this new religious movement (Maitreya Great Tao,Mile Dadao 彌勒大道). It is common knowledge that Taoism, Budhism, and Confucianism appear, at least in the official discourse, as a braided rope of unified Chinese tradition, each of the three at the same time preserving their particular features. Nevertheless, Mile Dadao not only seems to implicitly unite the three traditions in one (to which other foreign or popular traditions may be added as well), but also aims to act as …

Book Review: Looking East In Winter: Contemporary Thought And The Eastern Christian Tradition, James R. Payton

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Rowan Williams, Looking East in Winter: Contemporary Thought and the Eastern Christian Tradition. London: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2021. $30.00 (hardcover). ISBN: 978-1-4729- 8924-6.

The Model Of Development Of Precarious Practices During Covid-19 Pandemic: Society, Religion, And Individual, Оlena Honcharova, Valentyna Kuryliak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the phenomenon of precariousness and its development in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is postulated that precariousness is a process of instability, which primarily affects the working class and destabilizes social relations at all levels, including the level of personal relationships. The human way of life has been shifted as a result of the epidemiological situation in the world caused by the COVID-19 infection. This process can be observed in the spheres of employment, medicine, religion, family, leisure activities, etc. Against the background of social turbulence, the processes of precariousness began to develop, which worsen …

Book Review: Die Mehrdeutigkeit Geteilter Religiöse Orte: Eine Ethnografische Fallstudie Zum Kloster Sveti Naum In Ohrid (Mazedonien), Dejan Aždajić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Evelyn Reuter, DieMehrdeutigkeit Geteilter Religiöse Orte: Eine Ethnografische Fallstudie zum Kloster Sveti Naum in Ohrid (Mazedonien). Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2021, 410 pp. €45,00, ISBN 978-3-8376-5519-3.

Pinpointing Patterns Of Violence: A Comparative Genocide Studies Approach To Violence Escalation In The Ukrainian Holodomor, Kristina Hook

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article utilizes the case study of the 1930s Ukrainian Holodomor, an artificially induced famine under Joseph Stalin, to advance comparative genocide studies debates regarding the nature, onset, and prevention of large-scale violence. Fieldwide debates question how to 1) distinguish genocide from other forms of large-scale violence and 2) trace genocides as unfolding processes, rather than crescendoing events. To circumvent unproductive definitional arguments, methodologies that track large-scale violence according to numerically-based thresholds have substituted for dynamics-based analyses. Able to address aspects of the genocide puzzle, these methodologies struggle to incorporate cross-cultural contextual variation or elicit ripe moments for specific, real-time …

The Influence Of Atheist Propaganda Of The Communist Regime On The Lives Of Believers And Their Children (1946-1991), Oksana Vysoven, Nina Brehunets, Yuriy Figurnyi, Elena Zham

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the analysis of the antireligious policy of the Soviet government, which was carried out by the communist regime in Ukraine in the cultural and educational spheres to completely eradicate religion from the lives of the Soviet people. The main purpose of atheistic propaganda was to convince ordinary people that religion and its bearers were enemies of the communist state. Atheistic propaganda was carried out in the form of lectures on natural science and atheistic topics, atheistic evenings of questions and answers, and demonstrations of scientific and feature films. Punitive and repressive methods of atheistic propaganda …

Chaplaincy For The Prisoners And The Penitentiary System In Ukraine (1991-2021), Valentyna Kuryliak, Ivan Ostashchuk, Mariia Ovchar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the quality of work of religious organizations in places of deprivation of liberty, as well as their interaction with the penitentiary service of Ukraine. It was revealed that the chaplaincy ministry occupies an important place in the Christian churches of Ukraine. In the early 1990s, ministry in Ukrainian prisons was allowed, but most of the churches were at the stage of survival, so they were not able to carry out active work in prisons. At the legislative level, prisoners have ensured freedom of religion, and the penitentiary service was obliged to provide access to representatives of each …

Book Review: Orthodox Revivalism In Russia: Driving Forces And Moral Quests, Walter Sawatsky

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Milana Benovska, Orthodox Revivalism in Russia: Driving Forces and Moral Quests, Routledge, 2021. 240pp. ISBN 9780367474201. Ebook $128.00

Book Review: Orthodox Christianity And The Politics Of Transition: Ukraine, Serbia And Georgia, Paul Crego

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Tornike Metreveli, Orthodox Christianity and the Politics of Transition: Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia. London and New York: Routledge. xii, 181 pages. ISBN: 978-0-367-42007-9 (hbk.)

Frontmatter Volume 41, No. 7, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

COMMUNIST ATHEIST PROPAGANDA IN UKRAINE (1946-1991)

SLOVAKIA’S SENIOR CITIZEN HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

PRISON CHAPLAINCY IN UKRAINE (1991-2021)

SACRALITY IN MODERN UKRAINIAN POETICS

AT GOD’S SERVICE: METROPOLITAN ANATOLY DUBLYANSKY BOOK REVIEWS

Sacrality In Modern Ukrainian Poetics: Metamorphoses Of Values, Iryna Lazorevych

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This is a study of the influence of religious sacrality on modern Ukrainian literature, particularly poetry, analyzing those sacred meanings that the current Ukrainian mentality actively uses. So far, it eclectically synthesizes the ideological impulses of traditional Christian religiosity (which even in the times of Communism retained its natural strength, especially in the Western regions of Ukraine), and elements of Soviet ideologemes and pragmatism of the modern transitional period. At the same time, it uses certain inclinations to new communication with sacred, which is felt by some of the important creators of modern Ukrainian culture. In this article, the author …

At God’S Service: Anatoly Dublyanski—A Metropolitan Of Western Europe And Paris Of The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church In The Diaspora (1912–1997), Vladyslav Fulmes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A metropolitan of Western Europe and Paris, Anatoly Dublyansky, who was born in Volyn (Ukraine), was a prominent hierarch of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). Due to his intense activity, he considerably influenced the development of the culture of his native Volyn region, as well as the UAOC in Germany. After his emigration to Western Europe in 1944, he took an active role in the formation of church and religious life in Germany, and later devoted his life to the UAOC in the diaspora, having first become ordained to the priesthood, and, after the death of his wife, to …

The Club Of Senior Citizens Who Survived The Holocaust: A Case Study From Slovakia, Monika Vrzgulová

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper chronicles the process of how an informal group of Holocaust survivors in Bratislava organized into a senior citizens club that gradually evolved into a source of civic activism directed at the majority of society. Based on qualitative research: repeated interviews with survivors in Bratislava about their experiences of the Holocaust and the Communist era, which the author has carried out from 1995 to the present. It also draws on other data acquired during discussions at the Senior Citizens Club (2005–2017) and active observations of the survivors as civic activists engaged in public discourse and educational events for the …

Frontmatter (Volume 41, Issue 6), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Democratization In Christian Orthodox Europe: Comparing Greece, Serbia And Russia, Regina Elsner

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Marko Veković, Democratization in Christian Orthodox Europe: Comparing Greece, Serbia and Russia (New York & London, Routledge, 2020) 176 p. ISBN 9780367420833.

Characteristics Of Growing Churches In Estonia: A Qualitative Study, Ago Lilleorg, Kaido Soom, TõNu Lehtsaar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This is an overview of the characteristics of growing churches in Estonia. The study is grounded in semi-structured interviews conducted in 2019-2020 in nine Protestant congregations that have grown in 2003-2017. There were three to four interviewees from each congregation, a total of 14 being women and 18 men. The transcripts of the interviews were analyzed by combining both the open and the invivo coding model. No prescribed categories were used in the analysis. The results were formulated as characteristics of growing churches: spiritual life; inner climate; human focus; the minister of the church; relationships outside the church; and a …

Religious Dimensions Of Anti-Trinitarianism In The Projection Of The Spiritual Progress Of Society, Oleh Sokolovskyi, Andrii Kobetyak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the ideological and cultural, structural and typological, ideological and doctrinal features of anti-Trinitarianism in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th centuries. The idea has been further developed that it is a religious phenomenon formed on the basis of deep value interactions between Western and Eastern Christianity, which has passed a difficult path of evolution and differs in the features of doctrinal-institutional content. The regularities of the origin, development, and preservation of anti-Trinitarian communities in modern Ukraine are substantiated.

Dynamics Of The Religious Situation Changes And Attitudes Towards Religion In Ukraine, Igor Bogdanovskiy, Kateryna Nastoyashcha

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the results of several sociological studies on the level and nature of religiosity in Ukraine. In particular, the paper deals with the study “State and Church in Ukraine 2019: the Results of the Year and Prospects for the Development of Relations,” conducted by the Razumkov Center with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Representation in Ukraine; the latest wave of the World Values Survey, conducted by the Info Sapiens company (in Ukraine it was conducted by the Center for Social Monitoring), etc. The statistical data were analyzed, particularly official reports on the network of churches and …

Frontmatter (Volume 41, Issue 5), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Use Of Invented Religions In Ukrainian Protest Movements Against Russian Orthodoxy 2018-2021, Vyacheslav Ageyev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Since 2018, three projects operating in the framework of “invented or parody religions” and aimed against the Russian Orthodox Church have arisen in Ukraine. The article describes their invention, practices, “belief systems,” political acts, and tries to predict whether any of these or similar projects have any future in predominantly conservative Christian Ukraine.

Book Review (In Lieu Of A Belated Memorial): Ecumenical Adventure [Shapers Of Ecumenical Theology Series 2], Angela Ilić, Luka Ilić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Charles C. West, Ecumenical Adventure [Shapers of Ecumenical Theology Series 2]. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2019, 158 pages. ISBN: 978–1–5064–4934–0

Protestant Pentecostals In The Post-War Repression In Southern Ukraine 1945 – 1953, Mykhailo Fedorenko, Serhii Makarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines one of the most dramatic pages in the history of the Pentecostal religious movement, which is related to the repression against them in the postwar years of 1945-1953 (the period of late Stalinism). The object of the study involves the communities of Pentecostals in the South of Ukraine, which operated in the territory of modern Mykolayiv and Odessa regions. After presenting the historiography of the question, it is shown that despite thorough scientific research on the activities of Protestant movements in Ukraine during the Soviet era, there are not enough separate studies related to the Pentecostals. Pentecostals …

Activity Of Evangelical Baptist Christians In Ukraine (1991-2021), Hnat Mierienkov, Mykhailo Fedorenko, Serhii Makarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The religious movement of Evangelical Baptists is the largest in terms of the number of believers in the Ukrainian Protestant community. The review of missionary activity and social projects of this denomination presented is an outline of the key areas of work of Evangelical Baptists in Ukraine. The largest number of Protestant educational institutions in Ukraine belong to the Baptists. All Baptist educational institutions can be divided into two types: 1) general preparatory programs of state institutions (kindergartens, schools, institutes, educational centers), and 2) theological seminaries, which aim to train ministers to meet the spiritual needs of the church. Baptist …

Historical Memory Of Ukrainian Adventists In The Context Of Museum Work In Ukraine, Valentyna Kuryliak, Lyudmyla Kruglova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The research is aimed at comprehensive coverage of museum affairs in Ukraine in the context of the work of the private museum collection of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The authors set a threefold goal, which is to present the real situation of national and private museums, to define national memory, places of memory, and religious memory, and to acquaint readers with the museum exhibits of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine, which were not previously represented in the cultural and scientific circles of Ukraine and the world. In Ukraine, the issue of preserving cultural and religious monuments is acute, which …

History Of Evangelical Christian Baptists In Ukraine (Mid-19th Century To 1929), Fedir Prodanyuk, Hnat Mierienkov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article reviews the history of Evangelical Baptists in Ukraine from the middle of the 19th century to 1929. The article presents the development of Ukrainian Baptists from a local group to a large-scale organization that takes an active part in social service, has the most followers in Ukraine among Protestants, and is inextricably linked with the history of Ukrainian society. Of particular note is the fact that the Baptists spread differently in various areas and formed separate associations, which for some time existed independently of each other. For a while, the existence of Evangelical Baptists in Ukraine was not …

Monitoring Of The Living Conditions Of People With Disabilities In Ukraine Under The Conditions Of The Covid-19 Pandemic (On The Example Of Evangelical Christian Baptists), Olga Polumysna

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article finds that the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected social relations and exacerbated the already vulnerable situation of people with disabilities. Everything that was hidden or veiled in relation to people with disabilities by society has fully manifested. In these conditions it is necessary to monitor the living conditions of people with disabilities as the most vulnerable category of the population, which are currently ignored because healthy people suffer and are usually put first. The social and medical spheres proved to be the most unstable in the conditions of the pandemic in terms of assistance to vulnerable groups of …

Online Projects For Adventist Youth During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Valentyna Kuryliak, Mariia Ovchar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article explores and presents the first online projects that were organized by young people who are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine. It was found that the initiators of the launch of the projects were the believing youth themselves, who, faced with the problem of the lack of weekly offline communication in churches, resorted to alternative methods of interaction. Online communication was developed in a youth style and focused on the interests and problems of young people, such as finding a life partner, learning to organize their time, complications in the development of spiritual life, etc. During …

On Intentions And Facts: Ukrainian Protestants Are Striving For Public Recognition, Valentyna Kuryliak, Maksym Balaklytskyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.