Eastern European Studies Commons^™

Luhansk (Donbas): Religious Freedom Survey, February 2022, Felix Corley, John Kinahan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Freedom of religion and belief is severely restricted in the rebel Luhansk People's Republic occupying currently (February 2022) about a third of Ukraine's Luhansk Region. Forum 18's survey analysis documents violations including: rendering illegal all Protestant and non-Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox communities; a climate of fear about discussing human rights violations; repeated denials of permission to a Roman Catholic priest to live in the region; and increasing numbers of banned allegedly "extremist" books, including an edition of the Gospel of John published in 1820.

All human rights including the freedom of religion and belief are severely restricted in the rebel self-declared …

Religious Revival Of Pentecostals In The Occupied Territories Of Ukraine In 1941-1943, Anton Shchelkunov, Svetlana Karpova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article studies the Pentecostal religious revival during the German occupation of the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. The study reveals that the Pentecostal religious organization, destroyed as a result of the Stalinist repressions, revived rapidly in 1941-1943. Analyzing the religious revival of Pentecostals, the authors of the article come to the following conclusions. 1)In the specific conditions of the Nazi occupation, an episcopal structure emerged among the Soviet Pentecostals, which is not otherwise characteristic of this religious movement. 2) At first, the occupation authorities were neutral or supportive of Pentecostals and did not interfere with the activities of Pentecostal …

The Level Of Accessibility Of Inclusive Design Of Christian Temples And Churches In Ukraine, Olga Polumysna, Oktyabrina Chemakina, Valeriy Bulatov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article explores the issues of accessibility of inclusive design of Christian churches in Ukraine. The principle of accessibility as the main element of inclusive design often causes a conflict of interests in modern Ukrainian society, as it requires changes in the existing state of affairs. To make the subject-spatial environment accessible not only in everyday life, production, but also in the Christian sacred environment is one of the primary tasks of inclusive design. Many Christian churches in Ukraine are not ready to accept people with inclusion since the conditions of accessibility are not met. One of the reasons is …

The Image Of Jehovah's Witnesses In State Publications In The Ussr, Roman Orlovskyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The paper presents a description of the image of Jehovah's Witnesses in the anti-religious books of Soviet authors. A comparison is made of anti-religious books from the times of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. The main points that Soviet authors drew upon when describing the Religious Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses and its adherents in the Soviet Union are described. Under Khrushchev, anti-religious texts were imbued with offensive rhetoric in an attempt to humiliate members of this denomination in the minds of Soviet society. In turn, during the Brezhnev era, there was a significant decrease in the emotional and offensive coloring …

Religion And Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine, Beth Admiraal

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Putin's Invasion Of Ukraine And Disintegration Of States, Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "As of February 24, 2022, the history of Eastern Europe and perhaps the world is changing like it did during the implosion of communism in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s. The fall of communism brought a major geopolitical realignment. It is too early to know what catastrophes Vladimir Putin’s attempt to reverse that realignment will bring. After 1990 several of the countries of Eastern Europe faced fragmentation. During the decade of the 1990s, Yugoslavia broke up into seven states in an eruption of war which was replete with genocides. Two other countries also partitioned, but in contrast to …

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 2), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Scholarly Study Of Religion In Ukraine, Vita Tytarenko, Liudmyla Fylypovych, Larysa Vladychenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the specifics of religious studies of religious minorities (RM). This religious phenomenon needs a concrete applied methodology that would make it possible to study the RM in its entirety. It is proposed to rely on the materials, which, in this case were the materials of a sociological study conducted within the project "Religious Minorities of Ukraine and State-Religious Relations" (2021), carried out by the authors of the article. As a result, it was clarified which religious organizations should be attributed to the RM, and how they differ from the religions of the majority, who have specific needs …

Training Of Military Chaplains For The Armed Forces Of Ukraine In Conditions Of The Invasion By The Russian Federation, Bogdan Synchak, Petro Livak, Mykhailo Fedorenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the comprehensive training of military chaplains for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The legislative basis of chaplaincy, and the methods and state of its implementation are characterized. The problems that can befall a military chaplain are identified, in particular the contradiction in the combination of military service and pacifism. The development of chaplaincy in Ukraine is outlined. Active assistance to the chaplaincy began only after the Orange Revolution (2004-2005). The following year, a legislative act was made through the directive “On streamlining issues of meeting the religious needs of the military personnel of the Armed Forces of …

Editorial: Blending Of Delusions In Russia Rationalizing Its War To Annex Ukraine, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

While it is obvious that Russia’s motives for the unprovoked brutal war against Ukraine are complex, what is not quickly apparent is the incendiary intermingling of a collective delusion of persecution and the delusion of grandeur of an individual.

Development And Changes In The Ergo Design Of Protestant Churches In Ukraine (1991-2021), Valentyna Kuryliak, Volodymyr Dudarets, Valeriy Bulatov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article presents the evolution of ergonomics and design of Protestant churches in Ukraine in the period from 1991-2021. Since Ukraine left the Soviet Union, the Soviet worldview of Ukrainian Protestants has gradually changed, which, in turn, influenced the formation of the subject-spatial environment and, in general, the ergo design of Protestant churches. The concept presented in the article is that ergo design is similar to a living organism, which changes under the influence of external factors, such as the emotional feeling of believers, political and economic changes, etc. This influence was especially evident during the transitional period on the …

Development Of The Ukrainian Orthodoxy In The Conditions Of The Revanchist Policy Of The Russian Federation Against Ukraine, Yuriy Figurnyi, Oksana Semenova, Liubov Otroshko, Оlнa Shakurova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the development of Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the context of the revenge policy of Russia against Ukraine at the turn of the 21st century. It is discovered that almost a quarter of a century of inactivity of the Ukrainian authorities and active anti-Ukrainian and anti-state actions of the Russian Orthodox Church and its Little-Russian branch the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate contributed to their introduction into the Ukrainian humanitarian space of fundamental ideas, dogmas, and postulates of the “Russian World,” which subsequently led to the occupation by Russia of Crimea and parts of Donbas and the …

Non-Religious Influence Of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Of The Moscow Patriarchate On Ukrainian Society, Bogdan Synchak, Maksym Balaklytskyi, Volodymyr Dudarets

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The relevance of the study is provided by the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, more specifically, the hybrid nature of the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine since 2014. The use of information technologies along with military force, among other things, provides for the involvement of the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate as an additional tool for the spread of destructive ideological influence in Ukraine. Attention to the non-religious influence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) on Ukrainian society is being updated against the background of the ideological confrontation between the Russian and Ukrainian worldview systems in …

International Theological Conference “Orthodoxy And The ‘Russkii Mir’ (Russian World): The Threat To Orthodox Ecclesiology And The Ideological Basis Of Russian Neo-Imperialism, Vladyslav Fulmes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In connection with the full-scale military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which was largely based on the ideology of “Russian world,” on June 16, 2022, Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy (Lutsk, Ukraine) together with the educational platform “ETHOS / God Against War” (Kyiv, Ukraine) held an international theological conference “Orthodoxy and the “russkii mir” (Russian world): The Threat to Orthodox Ecclesiology and the Ideological Basis of Russian Neo-Imperialism.” Brief information about this international scientific conference is given.

Reasons For The Rupture Of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church With The Moscow Patriarchate Against The Backdrop Of The War In Ukraine 2022, Valentyna Kuryliak, Bogdan Synchak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The object of the study is provided by the conflict of interests of the Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-(MP) against the backdrop of the 2022 full-scale Russian war against Ukraine. The article considers the impact of new legislative initiatives aimed at minimizing the destructive Russian influence, including on the religious area. The main content and contradictions of certain points of the Decree of the Council of the UOC (MP) dated May 27, 2022, as a result of which the religious denomination declared independence from the Moscow Patriarchate, are analyzed. The main reasons for …

Ukrainian Orthodox Education In Historical Retrospective, Andrii Shevchuk, Fedir Prodanyuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article reflects the historical background and challenges of the Orthodox Church in establishing religious education in the process of spreading Orthodox Christianity. From historical analysis, one can observe the evolution of not only Orthodox education, but also church teaching, which in turn increased the rates of literacy and education in the population. Because of the work in the dioceses, namely the opening of educational centers, schools, colleges, etc. the general level of education increased. However, with the historical collapse and tumultuous events of Ukraine's past, the success of the Orthodox Church in these efforts has varied significantly in different …

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 4), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Holocaust In Slovakia: The Deportation Of 1942 Through The Prism Of Oral History, Peter Salner

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

On October 28, 1918, after the end of the Great War, Slovakia became part of the Czechoslovak Republic. Two decades later, on October 6, 1938, the country’s political leadership declared autonomy, and within a few months, on March 14, 1939, the Slovak National Assembly voted for the establishment of an independent state. Already during the period of autonomy, the government adopted anti-Jewish legislation (this trend would continue throughout the brief lifespan of the new state) aimed at gradually shutting Jews out of social and economic life. This state-sponsored persecution of the Jews culminated in mass deportations which began in 1942. …

Putin's Invasion Of Ukraine: What's Religion Got To Do With It?, Mark R. Elliot

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Summary

• As of February 24, 2022, as Russian air strikes, missiles, and tanks began pouring into an outmatched Ukraine, the Byzantine calculus of symphonia, of a mutually interdependent church and state, devolved into an unholy alliance joining at the hip a predatory Putin and a sycophantic Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kyrill.
• Especially over the past decade Patriarch Kyrill has tied the fate of his church to that of his patron Putin, the same tragic mistake made by the same church in its defense of tsarist Russia in its death throes.
• Since his accession in 2009, and emphatically since Russia’s moves against …

The Discursive Construction Of The Past: The 1686 Resubordination Of The Kyiv Metropolitanate, Ukrainian Autocephaly And The Conflict Of Moscow And Constantinople, Denys Shestopalets

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article focuses on the key historical aspect of the clash between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Constantinople Patriarchate in autumn 2018. It analyzes the conflicting representations of the re-subordination of the Kyiv Metropolitanate from the jurisdiction of Constantinople to the purview of Moscow in the second half of the 17th century. The study explores pivotal historical narratives and argumentative strategies employed by the two patriarchates (and, additionally, by the main ideologues of the Ukrainian autocephalist movement) for framing the events of 1686 and for shoring up their contemporary agendas with regards to the autocephalous status of the Orthodox Church …

The Restoration Of Church Orthodox Brotherhoods And Their Missionary Work In Right-Bank Ukraine, Ihor Opria, Oleksandr Fedkov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the process of restoring Orthodox church brotherhoods in the 1860s on the territory of the Right-Bank Ukraine, defines the goals and objectives of these organizations, and analyzes the content and consequences of missionary and related educational and charitable work. The subjects of the research are the Orthodox church brotherhoods and their missionary work. The analysis of historiography is carried out and the need for further scientific research in the study of the topic is indicated. The role of brotherhoods in interfaith encounters is clarified, as are the methods aimed at combating Late Protestant confessions. Despite a certain …

Jenny Vorpahl And Dirk Schuster (Eds). Communicating Religion And Atheism In Central And Eastern Europe. (Book Review), Oleg Kyselov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Jenny Vorpahl and Dirk Schuster (eds). Communicating Religion and Atheism in Central and Eastern Europe. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020. 312 p. ISBN 978-3-11-054637-8 Hardcover $114.99.

Destructive Russian Orthodox Powerplay, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Responses Of Christian Churches In Ukraine And Other Eastern European Countries To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Olga Nedavnya

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the reaction of Christian Churches to the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic. Attention is paid to the Churches in Ukraine and countries of similar political and cultural heritage (Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, etc.). The guidelines and practical activities of the Churches are analyzed, reflecting their response to various problems related to the pandemic. The corresponding differences occur not so much between different countries and peoples, but rather between different denominations. In general, more conservative, and sometimes fundamentalist, reactions are shown by the Orthodox Church, especially in parts of the Russian Orthodox Church in …

A Declaration On The ‘Russian World’ Teaching

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 is a historic threat to a people of Orthodox Christian tradition. More troubling still for Orthodox believers, the senior hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church has refused to acknowledge this invasion, issuing instead vague statements about the necessity for peace in light of “events” and “hostilities” in Ukraine, while emphasizing the fraternal nature of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples as part of “Holy Rus’,” blaming the hostilities on the evil “West,” and even directing their communities to pray in ways that actively encourage hostility."

World Council Of Churches (Wcc) Should Raise The Visibility Of Ukrainian Orthodox At The World Assembly (Karlsruhe, Sept. 2022): Interview With Professor Katharina Kunter, Katharina Kunter

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"I think, that the WCC Executive Committee meeting in June, will not be able to expel the ROC. In my view, that leaves only one reasonable solution, in order as ecumenical assembly to remain credible. The Ukraine must be made visible as Church in Karlsruhe. That means, the WCC (or the EKD) must immediately and officially approach the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OKU). They should offer it a “fast-track-membership in the WCC and offer it a visual public forum at the full assembly. The OKU is now already the largest Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, with nearly 50% of …

Open Letter To The Synod Of The Evangelical Church In Germany And The Central Committee Of The World Council Of Churches, Katharina Kunter, Ellen Ueberschär

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: We are troubled by the prospect that the ROC, as a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC), might spread its war propaganda on German soil and falsely portray itself as a victim when the WCC Assem bly convenes in Karlsruhe, Germany, from August 31 to September 8, 2022.

Despite your dedicated efforts, General Secretary Sauca, there are no indi cations of change in the ideological positions of the Moscow Patriarchate. On the contrary, your offer of a fraternal bridge was rejected by Patriarch Kirill with an incongruent reference to the Toronto Declaration of 1950 and followed up …

Soft, Sharp, And Evil Power: The Russian Orthodox Church In The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine, Alar Kilp, Jerry G. Pankhurst

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper examines the enactment of soft/sharp/evil power by the Russian Orthodox Church and its leaders during a month before the major exertion of hard power by the Russian military and one month after the invasion of Ukraine. In the period from January 25 until March 25, 2022, 27 messages of the leading actors in the Church–Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Department of External Church Relations (DECR)–are closely examined. The results are presented and discussed in four thematic sections: 1) soft power: the religious approach to the Russian World; 2) Sharp power: the territorial expansion of the …

Religious Leadership And Critical Junctures In The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine: 104 War Days Of Metropolitan Hilarion, Alar Kilp, Jerry G. Pankhurst

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) was dismissed from his office on the 104th day (June 7, 2022) of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Was Hilarion dismissed because of his ‘silence’ on the Russian invasion? We study the 104 ‘war days’ of Metropolitan Hilarion from four dimensions: leadership as position; leadership as process; leadership as result; and leadership as person. Our findings are multivocal: the Russian invasion of Ukraine did become a leadership challenge for Hilarion the way that previous military interventions (in Ukraine and Syria) and …

Alexey Starostin (Ed.) Muslims In Russia’S Far East: History And Contemporary Situation. (Book Review), Elena Glavatskaya

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Alexey Starostin (ed.) Мусульмане на Дальнем Востоке России: история и современность (Muslims in Russia’s Far East: History and Contemporary Situation). Kazan’ : Typografia “Algoritm+”, 2020, 656 pp, hardback. ISBN: 978-5-6042963-5-6.