Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Orthodox Church And Religious Minorities In Shida Kartli Region In Georgia In The First Quarter Of The Twentieth Century, Giorgi Sosiashvili, Phd

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"We think that it is of utmost importance to disclose the facts about the uncommon treatment that took place during Soviet rule in the 1920s towards the Georgian Orthodox Church and all the other religious confessions."

Review Of Kotiranta's "The Finnish And Estonian Churches During The Cold War", Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Frontmatter, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Readers of OPREE are likely to consider different articles to be of importance to them and perhaps to the wider readership. Generally, I avoid trying to influence the readers as to the importance of the content of this publication as I rely on the intelligence and goodwill of the readers. In this issue, I am making an exception. Often I have heard friends in the USA and abroad complaining that so-called moderate Muslims do not publically condemn Islamist terrorism and do not provide alternative voices to the militants. From my extensive contacts with Muslims, I know this not to be …

Review Of Akšamija's "Letter Pismo, Brief, List, Risālah", Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned In Eurasia Ministry: Mostly The Hard Way, Mark R. Elliott

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The present article is based on a speech delivered at a conference of the United Methodist Church: “Eurasia-Central Asia – In Mission Together,” Fulton, Maryland, May 5, 2017.

A Time To Laugh: Religious Humor In Contemporary Russia, Mikhail Sergeev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Contemporary Russian religious humor continues the tradition of this spiritual and selfsacrificial laughter. The anecdotes that are gathered here make fun not only of religion and its characteristic attributes, but of human imperfections and shortcomings, which manifest themselves in relation to various aspects of worship. Everything is good in moderation, including religious zeal that is not the goal by itself, but the instrument of spiritual and moral development. There is a proverbial saying in Russia—force a fool to pray to God and he will beat his forehead. Many anecdotes portray in a comic light this certain pseudo-piety, the eternal human …

Review Of Makrides, Wasmuth, And Kube's "Christentum Und Menschenrechte In Europa. Perspektiven Und Debatten In Ost Und West., Dr. Regina Elsner

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Invitation: A Declaration Of European Muslims, Mustafa Cerić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The tragic events of September 11, 2001 in New York, March 11, 2004 in Madrid and July 7, 2005 in London leave no one indifferent. Of course, one should be aware of other attacks, such as in Riyadh in 1995, Dhahran in 1996, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998, Yemen in 2000, Bali in 2002, and Istanbul in 2003. The attacks in New York, Madrid, and London are the most disturbing to Islam-West relations however. Muslims around the world, especially, have been shocked by the fact that the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks claimed to have acted in the …

Frontmatter, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

IN THIS ISSUE

Most of the ordinary issues of OPREE contain articles dealing with diverse subject matters. This issue is different; it is special because it is devoted to the jubilee fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The initiative for it came from one of our advisory editors, Prof. Ruzhica Cacanoska, from Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, a country both ancient and new.

The proclamation of autocephaly, i.e., a totally self-governing Orthodox church on July 17, 1967, has not only been rejected by the Serbian Orthodox Church within which the Orthodox …

Restoration Of The St. Clement’S Ohrid Archbishopric- Patriarchate As The Macedonian Orthodox Church And Ohrid Archbishopric, Aleksandar Trajanovski

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This is a brief narration of the creation of St. Clement's Ohrid Archbishopric-Patriarchate as the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric from ancient times to recent times. The author first returns to the founding of the first three Macedonian and, generally, European Christian churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea by the Apostle Paul and his associates around the middle of the first century, AD. Then, he proceeds to the creation of the autocephalous Archbishopric Justiniana Prima (534-545) by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in Skopje or in its surroundings. The work of the Holy Apostle Paul and Emperor Justinian I was continued …

Church Life In Macedonia During World War Ii, Mikhail Vitalyevich Shkarovsky

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the history of church life in Macedonia during the occupation from 1941 to 1944, which contributed to the initiation of the organization of the autocephalous Macedonian Orthodox Church. This process was prompted both by the spiritual administration of the Bulgarian Church and the communist government. The growth of the Macedonian Church occurred immediately after World War II with the communist government of Yugoslavia’s active support since they were interested in diminishing the influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Thousand-Year Spiritual Tradition Of Lesnovo Monastery In Macedonia, Ilija Velev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Through the rich Christian tradition in Macedonia from the early Christian, medieval and up to the modern period numerous churches and monasteries were built, where all forms of development of spiritual and cultural life took place. A historically remarkable location is Lesnovo Monastery, which has survived until today during almost one thousand years of spiritual and cultural tradition in Macedonia. The oldest indirect and legendary sources point to the conclusion that the original construction of the monastic church in Lesnovo should be moved to the period of the eleventh century, when from 1018 onwards, after the fall of Samuil's Slavic …

The Odyssey Of Archbishop Gavril’S Translation Of The Bible, Marija Girevska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Translating the Bible is not an easy task in any language. Every translation of the Bible is a confirmation of the capacity of a language to convey the Bible’s manifold depths and meanings. The publication of the Macedonian Bible has been received as a historic event in Macedonia. Archbishop Gavril’s translation remains a unique pillar in the development of the Macedonian literary language. The entire process of the planning, translation, and printing of the complete Macedonian Bible encompassed a period of some 50 years. Drawing on these references, the article explores the impressive journey of Archbishop Gavril’s translation of the …

Monastic Traditions And Practices In Macedonia And Their Implications In Modern Times, Maja Angelovska-Panova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The purpose of this paper is to present several fundamental aspects in the reconstruction of the issue related to the monasticism in Macedonia. In that sense, taken into consideration is the historical and spiritual continuity of the monasticism beginning from the ninth century to modern times, as well as the monastic practices established in the existing typicons, and the implications of the revival of the modern monasticism in Macedonia in the 1990s.

Research at digressive methodological level points to the fact that in monasticism, the same traditional Christian values are cherished as they have been cherished in the previous period. …

"St. Naum Of Ohrid" Macedonian Orthodox Church Community In Triengen, Switzerland (1992-2017), Aco Girevski

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Photo Edition Moc-Oa

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Photos of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, from 1967 to the present.

Macedonian-Romanian Church Relations, Ruzhica Cacanoska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The subject of this paper is a content analysis of the articles in the media about the Macedonian-Romanian Orthodox Church relations. According to the content analysis of the sample of articles in the media about the relations between the Macedonian Orthodox Church - the Ohrid Archbishopric (MOC-OA) and the Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC), it can be concluded that the analyzed texts are mostly informative and transmit a positive attitude. The articles stress the extremely good, very close and friendly relations between MOC-OA and ROC. At the same time, the analysis shows that the Romanian Orthodox Church is considered one of …

Macedonian Orthodox Church In The Context Of Balkan And European Orthodoxy, Gjoko Gjorgjevski

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The aim of this paper is to examine the recent history and actual position of the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archbishopric of Ohrid (MOC-AO), which is still not accepted by the Balkan Orthodox churches. The relation between nation and church is also examined, recognizing it as one of the causes of the present situation of the MOC. The nature of this topic dictates to use and transmits various opinions and statements of prominent Orthodox leaders, scholars and theologians.

Road To The Restoration Of The Ohrid Archbishopric, Dejan Borisov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The restoration of the abolished Ohrid Archbishopric did not begin with the processes at the end of the World War II, but immediately after its abolition in the eighteenth century. The restoration of the Ohrid Archbishopric as the Macedonian Orthodox Church is in full accordance with the church tradition and practices established by the other local Orthodox churches in the process of obtaining their autocephaly during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Ohrid Literary School In The Period Of Tzar Samoil And The Beginnings Of The Russian Church Literature, Gjorgi Pop-Atanasov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is concerned with the role of St. Clement’s Church in the preservation and the spread of Cyril and Methodius’s literary tradition and Slavic church services. Special emphasis is placed on the work of the Ohrid Literary School in the time of Tsar Samoil and the spread of Slavic literacy from its centers toward Macedonia’s neighboring countries and the Kievan Rus.

Religious Identities In Southeastern Europe: Pomaks In Greece And Bulgaria: Behind The State Valance, Stefan Ubiparipović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

First, I will briefly explain the important events that have coincided or strongly influenced Pomak identity during the twentieth century. Several Greek and Bulgarian state policies will be mentioned for they served as fierce attempts to essentially change Pomaks. This segment here will focus on the events that occurred between the end of World War I and shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union. Next, this paper will focus on the period after the fall of communism in Europe and attempt to address the current state policies towards Pomaks. Bulgaria and Greece, as major Orthodox Christian countries, have distinct …

Frontmatter, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Slovakia’S New Religious Registration Law Is A Step In The Wrong Direction, Lubomir Martin Ondrasek

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The new religious registration law is a step in the wrong direction because individual and collective religious freedom is a central pillar of any free and democratic society and should not be compromised by arbitrary discrimination. Muslims and other religious groups with fewer members who are prevented from registering cannot fully exercise their religious freedom (the “forum externum” aspect), a fact that should not leave indifferent democratically-minded people of all faiths and none. Slovakia should change its anachronistic and unfair system of differentiating between registered (privileged) and non-registered (discriminated) religious groups, especially when this differentiation is based on an arbitrary …

Interdisciplinary Team Based Pastoral Care: A Potentially Adaptable Model For Estonian Healthcare, Liidia Meel, Tõnu Lehtsaar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article aims to build a potentially adaptable model of clinical pastoral care for Estonia’s healthcare institutions. To help the development of spiritual support provision in Estonian healthcare institutions, we are currently working on creating a model of clinical pastoral care that would be in accordance with the local circumstances. Preparatory research in the matter has addressed the socio-cultural and institutional context that shows the great need for interdisciplinary teamwork. The current article offers concrete proposals in the following main points: a) presentation of the pastoral caregiver; b) main actors; c) forms of cooperation; and c) education and internal trainings. …

Hans Mol’S Sociology Of Religion: Reflection On The Relationship Between Identity And The Sacred As Applied To Bosnia And Herzegovina, Tomislav Tadić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The transformed character of religiosity requires a transformation in the scientific methodology where we are trying to capture the complex socio-ontological, epistemological and socio-anthropological granulations which form such a divergent term as religion. The importance of the theoretical interventions of Mol, from the standpoint of the history of sociology, lies in recognizing the reconstructing form within the discipline that needs to synthetically and polythetically understand the phenomenon which it explores."

Mennonite Cos Under The Russian Tsars (1787-1917), Lawrence Klippenstein

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The story of Russian Mennonite conscientious objectors (hereafter COs) is probably not well-known. It is a very important story because it explains in large part how it is that we now are Canadians and not Russians, why we live where we do, and why this “objecting” feature is still a facet of our lives today. Without the events of that story, none of us would be here in Altona, Manitoba, Canada, this evening, and in all likelihood, not be what makes us tick.

(This essay is a slightly revised talk given to the Altona History Seekers at Garden on Tenth …

Review Of Dirksen's "Religionsfreiheit In Ungarn. Verfassungspolitik Und -Wirklichkeit Am Beispiel Kleiner Religionsgemeinschaften In Ungarn 1845–1945 Unter Besonderer Berücksichtigung Der Horthy-Zeit" [Freedom Of Religion In Hungary: Constitutional Politics And Reality For Small Churches In Hungary Between 1845-1945, With Special Focus On The Horthy Era], András Máté-Tóth, Péter Tóth

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Review of Dirksen, Annegret. Religionsfreiheit in Ungarn. Verfassungspolitik und -wirklichkeit am Beispiel Kleiner Religionsgemeinschaften in Ungarn 1845–1945 Unter Besonderer Berücksichtigung der Horthy-Zeit. [Freedom of Religion in Hungary: Constitutional Politics and Reality for Small Churches in Hungary between 1845-1945, with Special Focus on the Horthy Era]. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2016. 690pp.

Review Of Klippenstein's "Peace And War, Mennonite Conscientious Objectors In Tsarist Russia And The Soviet Union Before World War Ii, And Other Cos In Eastern Europe", John J. Friesen

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Review of Lawrence Klippenstein, Peace and War, Mennonite Conscientious Objectors in Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union before World War II, and other COs in Eastern Europe, Winnipeg, MB. 2017. 367pp. $30.00 including postage outside Canada.

Review Of Krawchuk And Bremer's "Churches In The Ukrainian Crisis", Joseph Loya O.S.A.

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Review of: Churches in the Ukrainian Crisis. Andrii Krawchuk and Thomas Bremer, Editors. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature, Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland. Hardbound, 225 pp. ISBN: 978-3-319-34143-9.

Announcement And Call For Papers For “Modern State And Religious ‘Dissent,’” A Conference To Be Held At Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia, September 25-26, 2017

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.