Eastern European Studies Commons^™

Frontmatter (Volume 40, Issue 6), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Resurrection Of Jewish Religion At The Turn Of The 20th And 21st Centuries: The Case Of Ukraine, Viktor Yelenskyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article deals with the complexities of Judaism’s revival in Ukraine, where Jews have enriched the Jewish civilization with Hasidism, gifted the Jewish world with a whole plethora of outstanding Jewish figures and a remarkable cultural heritage both tangible and intangible, and where their religion underwent a monstrous destruction during the Holocaust and the Soviet anti-religious persecutions. Today's Judaism in Ukraine is a complex mixture of at least six decisive components. That is, (i) more than 20 centuries of the Judaism’s history in Ukrainian lands; (ii) the "great religious comeback," which unfolded in the world in the late 1970s; (iii) …

State-Sponsored Atheism: The Case Of Albania During The Enver Hoxha Era, İbrahim Karataş

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This study analyzes how Enver Hoxha tried to abolish religions in Albania during the communist era. I argue that if atheism is not politicized and not exerted by force, its materialist damage is less. Yet, when atheization becomes a state policy and the government executes clergy, oppresses pious people, and destroys mosques and churches for the sake of atheism, irreligion then becomes a matter of state security. The study contends that when atheism is applied by force, atheist fundamentalism, which is no different than the religious version, emerges. Thus, irreligion becomes a threat to people’s lives and destroys society as …

Religion In Latvia After The Fall Of The Soviet System: Fragmentation And Postsecularism, Valdis Tēraudkalns

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The purpose of this article is to analyze changes that religions in Latvia have experienced since the collapse of the USSR. This is too broad of a topic, therefore I will concentrate on only two aspects, fragmentation of religious groups and postsecularism."

Jewish Holidays In The Time Of The Corona Virus Pandemic In Slovakia, Peter Salner

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The first wave of the new coronavirus pandemic swept through Slovakia between March 1 and May 31, 2020. During this relatively short period, four important Jewish holidays took place: Purim, Pesach, Lag BaOmer, and Shavuot. When the news of the pandemic initially broke, a large part of Slovak society viewed COVID-19 as a remote, and therefore, not entirely dangerous, threat. This attitude shifted on March 6, , when the first case of the disease was confirmed in the country. On March 9, the authorities reacted by introducing the first set of public health measures, which the Jewish Religious Community immediately …

Report On The Visit Of Prof. And Mrs. Josef Hromádka To The U.S.A., 1966, John Heidbrink

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Professor Josef L. Hromádka (referred to as JLH in the report) was a theologian of the Church of the Czech Brethren who took refuge in the USA during the Nazi conquest of his native Czechoslovakia and taught at Princeton Theological Seminary. He made what for many seemed a surprising decision to return to Prague after the communist coup d’etat in 1948. Soon he became the best known Protestant theologian on the other side of the “Iron Curtain” as he interpreted communism as a wave of a promising future to which Christians need to adjust in order to assist in the …

Restless Hungary, András Máté-Tóth

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Nowadays, many people ask what is happening in Hungary. Especially people who came to know and appreciate our country as the happiest barrack in the Eastern bloc and who knew from their own experience that it was an island in the great communist Red Sea, the Archipelago Goulash (alluding to the Archipelago Gulag in the Soviet Union). After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Hungary was for a while still a pioneer in the transformation to the market economy, to democracy, in short–in the direction of freedom. And now the economic data shows that Hungary is no longer …

On Both Sides Of The Wall, Christoph Schmauch

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Since the emphasis of this paper is to be on the Cold War and its aftermath, I will only mention that the first ten years of my life I lived in Silesia, Germany, on the outskirts of Breslau/Wroclaw during the Nazi period of World War II. I will begin with the end of WWII, 1945, my experience for two years in the mountains of Silesia under Polish administration, and from 1947 to 1950 in the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany in Görlitz, and beginning in 1950 in Ost-Berlin, the capital of the German Democratic Republic."

Book Review: Isolde Thyrȇt, Saint-Making In Early Modern Russia: Religious Tradition And Innovation In The Cult Of Nil Stolobenskii, Paul Crego

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Reflections After Thirty Years, James R. Payton

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"All this awareness shaped my hopes for what might transpire in the wake of the remarkable changes enacted in the wake of 1989. Those hopes reverberated with what was expressed in a different field for the future of Eastern Europe in the aftermath of Communism’s collapse. I recall reading scholars much more gifted in things economic than I, hoping that the liberated nations of Eastern Europe might develop a “third way,” between capitalism and Communism. Much as that was talked about, however, the story of the past three decades reveals that no such economic third way has been discovered. I …

From Traditional To Official Religion: The Legal Status Of The Bulgarian Orthodox Church After 2019, Atanas Slavov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church-Bulgarian Patriarchate is conventionally associated with the Bulgarian national identity, statehood, and culture. Recognizing its contribution for their preservation, the state has ensured certain privileges to the Church, including regulation of its legal status. During the Bulgarian monarchy (1878-1944) and under the 1879 Tarnovo Constitution, Eastern Orthodoxy had been recognized as the official religion of the state (Art. 37), and religion was present in the public schools, the army, and the public sphere in general. After the fall of the totalitarian communist regime, in the new democratic 1991 Constitution, Eastern Orthodoxy was recognized as the traditional religion …

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Oppressor: Glorification Of Crime And Contempt For The Victims As The Ultimate Challenge To Christianity In Post-Yugoslav Societies, Branko Sekulić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The glorification of one's own crimes and the contempt for victims of others is a common denominator of sociopolitical existence in post-Yugoslavian societies. Religious institutions, primarily the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have contributed to the creation of such an atmosphere in their respective areas. Dealing with this type of aberration is their primary contemporary challenge.

The Macedonian Orthodox Church At The Crossroads Between The External Denials And Internal Challenges, Maja Angelovska, Ruzhica Cacanoska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The purpose of this article is to provide an insight into the challenges the Macedonian Orthodox Church has faced since the independence of the Republic of Macedonia in the 1990s until today. In doing so, some of the more essential events were considered, such as the dispute with the Serbian Orthodox Church, as well as the request sent in 2017 by the Macedonian Orthodox Church to the Bulgraian Orthodox Church to act as a mother church of the MOC. In terms of internal affairs, special attention has been paid to several key aspects such as religious education, revitalization of monasticism, …

Frontmatter (Volume 40, Issue 5), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Interdenominational Dialogue In Contemporary Ukraine: Correction In War And Pandemic Conditions, Liudmyla Fylypovych, Oksana Horkusha

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the current state of interreligious communication in Ukraine and proves the need to correct interfaith dialogue during the war in Eastern Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors identify objective and subjective reasons for dialogue and recognize relevant issues (the lack of a joint denominational position on the need for dialogue), and new threats (the war and the pandemic) for establishing tolerant relations between religious organizations in Ukraine. Natural and socio-political catastrophes only expose problems that were not solved in peacetime. Preserving past achievements in interfaith communication is extremely important for creating new dialogue platforms. The existing …

Catholicism In The New Poland: A Religion And Society In Transition, Christopher Garbowski

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "Polish society is divided along a number of lines; hardly unusual in any contemporary pluralistic society. The new divisions have not been adequately named. Michał Kuź, a Polish political scientist, has coined the self-explanatory terms “localists” and “internationalists” to describe perhaps the most pertinent current divide within European societies.1 These worldview divides are also visible along political party lines. The proportions of the parties of the divide are naturally different in Poland than in countries of the old Europe. It is relatively easy to indicate which of the parties in the political landscape of the country within the localist …

Increasing State Restrictions On Russian Protestant Seminaries, Mark R. Elliott

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"In sum, Russian Protestant seminaries are presently undergoing a trial by state inspection that threatens their very existence. Academics Perry Glanzer and Konstantin Petrenko are correct in asserting that the Russian state’s “power to license and accredit” is “the power of life and death” over any educational institution.

State justifications for close oversight of Protestant seminaries appear overstated at best and lack credibility at worst. As regards state concerns for quality control, should not the Russian constitution’s requirement for separation of church and state take precedence over a secular government’s presumption to instruct believers on how best to train their …

Anti-Semitism In Slovakia After The Velvet Revolution Of 1989, Peter Salner

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This study discusses anti-Semitism in Slovakia after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. The introductory section presents an overview of the most destructive manifestations of anti-Semitism during 1918-1920, the Holocaust, and the Communist era (1948-1989). Anti-Semitism in Slovakia is less aggressive than in many other countries of the European Union. Physical violence is especially rare, and even the defacement of Jewish sites (particularly cemeteries) is typically motivated by vandalism, rather than by anti-Semitism. The most frequent expression of prejudice against Jews takes the form of verbal insults. These are predominantly used by children, who hear them from their families. Children (and …

Spraying Religion: (Anti-)Religious Graffiti Of The Post-Socialist Transition, Mitja Velikonja

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article discusses graffiti and street art concerning religion, part of the author's much broader and continuous research on contemporary political graffiti and street art in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe, from the Baltics to the Balkans, from Prague to Moscow, comprising over 20 years of systematic fieldwork.

Book Review: Za Bolji I Pravedniji Svijet: Etika Politika Religija [For A Better And More Just World: Ethics, Politics, Religion], Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The book contains 98 columns written in the period from 2006 to 2009, by one of the best known and influential Protestant religious voices from Eastern Europe.

A review of Peter Kuzmič, Za bolji i pravedniji svijet: Etika politika religija. [For a better and more just world: ethics, politics, religion], Zagreb-Sarajevo: Synopsis, 2019. Hard cover, 326 pp. ISBN: 978-953-7968-85-4.

Frontmatter (Volume 40, Issue 4)

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Politik Und Gesellschaft Im Kaukasus: Eine Unruhige Region Zwischen Tradition Und Transformation, Paul Crego

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Olaf Leiße, editor, Politik und Gesellschaft im Kaukasus: Eine unruhige Region zwischen Tradition und Transformation. Wiesbaden: Springer Verlag, 2019. x, 490 pages 978-3-658-26373-7; 978-3-658-26374-4 (eBook)

Ethnic And Confessional Relations In Cross-Border Regions: A Comparative Analysis Based On Sociological Research, Vasyl Balukh, Yurii Lopatynskyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The study deals with the issues of confessional issues (religiosity), freedom of conscience, state-church relations, interethnic relations, cultural identity, and language use in cross-border regions of Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to find common features in the relations between different nationalities and representatives of the multi-confessional environment of the two cross-border regions of Ukraine and to identify the specifics of each of them in solving the most important life problems of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations. The method of sociological research is a survey that contains 44 questions of mixed type. The research was carried out by the Center …

Fortieth Anniversary Of Publishing Opree (Ree), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Forty years ago in February 1981 the first issue of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe appeared. The Executive Committee of the now defunct “Christians Associated for Relationship in Eastern Europe” of which I was a member and occasional president supported my initiative to start printing information as one of our tasks is to educate church leaders and scholars with reliable information about the religious situation under communism. Previously a fair number of American church leaders and travelers were misled not only by communist government officials who dealt with religious affairs of their respective countries but even by some …

Guest Editor’S Foreword: Religiosity In Contemporary Ukraine, Nataliia Ishchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "The issues of civilizational identity became paramount to the social existence of the church in the decade of revolution and war (2010-2020). This decade has become the most heroic and, at the same time, the most tragic one in the history of modern Ukraine, for its people and its churches. The Maidan and the Revolution of Dignity (late 2013 to early 2014) gave the people of Ukraine great hopes and expectations for the choice of a European future. The annexation of the Crimea by Russia and the ongoing war in the east of Ukraine, as planned by the Kremlin’s …

Problematic Issues Of Institutional Development Of Islamic Associations In Contemporary Ukraine, Serhii Ismahilov, Galyna Sagan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the revival of the Islamic religion which began in Ukraine in the 1990s. The authors point to the problematic issues of the institutional establishment of Islamic associations in contemporary Ukraine. In particular, four stages of development of Islam in independent Ukraine, which have their own institutional and ideological characteristics, are distinguished. Thus, the first stage was the creation of the first three spiritual administrations (the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Crimea, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, and the Spiritual Center of Muslims of Ukraine), the development of which defined the ideology of future development …

Frontmatter (Volume 40, Issue 3)

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Roman Catholicism In Ukraine: The Contemporary Situation, Social Acceptance, And Social Service, Tetiana Havryliuk, Maryna Lukashenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article investigates the historical peculiarities of the formation and specificity of the current stage of development of Catholicism in Ukraine. It considers the spiritual, socio-cultural, economic, and political prerequisites for the resumption of the activity of the Roman Catholic Church during the revival of Ukraine's independence in the 1990s. A quantitative comparison of dioceses since the end of the last century has been undertaken and their patterns of growth have been identified. The main achievements of the largest Catholic churches in the country since Ukrainian independence have consisted in building its ecclesiastical structures and expanding its community networks and …

Development Of The Greek Catholic Church In Independent Ukraine: Persons, Historical Heritage, And New Trends, Mykhailo Kobryn, Olena Lyovkina, Hennadii Khrystokin

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes historical features and tendencies of the development of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (the UGCC) in the period of independence of Ukraine. It considers the prerequisites in which this church has begun its revival in the early 1990s after the official ban on church activity in the Soviet Union. Three stages of the development of the UGCC have been identified which correspond to the times of the various church leaders’ management. The first stage in the development of Greek Catholics corresponds to the time when the community was governed by Ivan-Myroslav Lyubachivsky. The main tasks of that …

Dynamics And Growth Prospects Of The Protestant Denominations In Ukraine, Irina Vasilyeva, Vita Tytarenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The intensity and nature of changes in Protestant communities in Ukraine is analyzed on the basis of broad empirical material (statistics, sociological surveys). The confessional specificity of the spread of Protestant communities in the Ukrainian territories is revealed, as well as their dynamics, geographical conditionality, and more. Changes in institutional, socio-political, cultural, and educational spheres of life of Protestant churches in modern Ukraine are recorded. Social legalization, the legal recognition of these movements as the churches and religious organizations equal to other traditional churches, as well as dynamism of Protestantism in evangelical and missionary sphere and public life, have contributed …