Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Commons^™

Uccro Statement On Russian Terrorist Attacks On The Cities Of Ukraine, - Ukrainian Council Of Churches And Religious Organizations

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 3), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Russian Orthodox Church As Apologist For The Current Russian Aggression, Valentyn Krysachenko, Alina Zadorozhnya, Yulia Lebedeva, Yuriy Figurnyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the criminal character of the Russian Orthodox Church as an apologist for Russian imperial aggression. The concept of canonical territory is the ideological basis for the intervention of the Russian Orthodox Church in the internal affairs of independent states. Historically, the creation and growth of the network of the Russian Orthodox Church structures on its territory took place by illegal means, and the concept of canonical territory as a political trend was introduced in 1989 as a means of maintaining its own dominance in the post-Soviet states. The concept of “canonical territory” in the interpretation of the …

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 5), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Open Letter To Ekd And Wcc, Katharina Kunter

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

While the WCC continues to focus on dialogue with the Moscow Patriarchate, the Conference of European Churches (CEC), which has often been in the shadow of the WCC, is moving in a different direction. CEC is increasingly and more visibly focusing on an "honest" church stocktaking, pushes the involvement of civil society actors, and is supporting political reform processes in Ukraine.3 This is a remarkably different approach from that taken by the WCC.

The Repressive Policy Of The Soviet Totalitarian Authorities Towards The Evangelical Baptist Christians Of Ukraine, Oksana Vysoven, Larysa Kapitan, Yuriy Fihurnyi, Oleksii Lukashevuch, Ihor Haidaienko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The punitive and repressive machine of the totalitarian regime worked to destroy politically hopeless citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and essentially religious people who made any sacrifices for the sake of their beliefs. A large part of them died in Stalin's concentration camps from diseases and malnutrition, as well as from difficult working conditions. Many prisoners were sentenced to be shot. Their families were harassed by law enforcement agencies, harassed in the press, at work. During the Khrushchev period, after the announcement of the anti-religious campaign and before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the children and …

The World Council Of Churches At The 11th General Assembly On The War In Ukraine, Petja Kopperoinen

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The 11^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2022 published a statement about the war in Ukraine, War in Ukraine, Peace and Justice in the European Region. The statement raised quite a lot discussion in the assembly, mostly about its failure to make any concrete suggestions in order to achieve peace. This essay provides a summary of the statement and of the discussion in the assembly. The essay points out a few flaws in the statement and shows the historical frame in which the statement was written.

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 6), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

"War In Ukraine: Religious, Geopolitical And Cultural Dimensions Of Value-Worldview Clashes At The Beginning Of The 21st Century": International Theological Conference, Vladyslav Fulmes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

On June 15, 2023 Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy (Lutsk, Ukraine) held an international theological conference “WAR in UKRAINE: Religious, Geopolitical and Cultural Dimensions of Value-worldview Clashes at the Beginning of the 21st century”. Brief information about this international scientific conference is given.

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 7), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

"The War Factor" In The History Of The Late Protestantism In Ukrainian Lands Via The Policy Of The Russian Autocracy, Roman Sitarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article explores the impact of war on the movements of late Protestantism on the territory of Ukraine. The study is based on the three largest Protestant denominations in Ukraine: Baptists, Pentecostals, and Adventists. Due to the refusal of the Protestants to do military service and fight with weapons, the Russian autocracy suppressed and created difficult conditions for believers of the Protestant denominations on the territory of Ukraine. Before the First World War, the refusal of Protestants to engage gave the state an argument for why the Protestants were not reliable members of society. This study uses as a basis …

Information War In The Religious Sphere In The Context Of The "Battle" For The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Bogdan Synchak, Yurii Yelisovenko, Svitlana Romanchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The study examines the issue of non-religious activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in the context of its involvement in the information war within the sphere of religion. It is based on a significant precedent for Ukrainian Orthodoxy concerning the expiration and non-extension of the contract by the Ministry of Culture with the UOC-MP for operation on the premises of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the architectural complex of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Certain prerequisites for depriving the UOC-MP of the right to use the premises of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra are presented and analyzed. Separate photographs …

Sacralization Of The Image Of The Armed Forces Of Ukraine, Petro Kotliarov, Mariia Ovchar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article offers a multifaceted analysis of the phenomenon of the sacralization of the image of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), aimed at an in-depth understanding of the influence of the Armed Forces on society and national consciousness in the context of the Russian- Ukrainian war. Sacralization implies the inoculation/infusion of holiness, of a religious or supernatural nature, into institutions or symbols, and in this context, it is studied how this process affects the perception and support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Ukrainian society. The article analyzes the role of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during military …

Brief Observation Of The General Trajectory Of Western Media Coverage Of The Religious Situation In Ukraine, Petro Livak, Daniil Palij

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article attempts to analyze the general trajectory of Western media coverage of the religious environment in Ukraine. Recently, the religious situation in Ukraine has become one of the strategic issues of national security, since it is relevant and important in the light of not only the religious, but also the political context of Ukraine. The study examines the journalistic activity of Western publications about the religious transformations of Ukraine from 2019 to 2023. This encompasses the intensity of the rapid confessional changes in Ukraine, the style of the journalistic text under study, the intensity of their media representation, and …

The Position Of Ukrainian Protestants Regarding The War In Ukraine: Rebuttal Of False Accusations Of Eurasianism, Valentyna Kuryliak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article analyzes the position of Ukrainian Protestants in relation to the issue of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The position of Professor Pavlo Pavlenko was taken as a basis, who, in most of his publications, claims that the Protestants of Ukraine are pro-Russian, pro-Eurasian, and take a position that is contrary to the national interests of Ukraine. It is proven by the example of the analysis of publications and statements of Ukrainian Protestants that the protection of the national interests of Ukraine after 2014 has become part of their religious culture. The article shows on the example of …

Christian Denominations On The Territory Of Ukraine In The First Half Of The 20th Century (1900-1939), Fedir Prodanyuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the state of Christian denominations in the territory of Ukraine in the first half of the 20th century. It has been established that the Christian religion occupied an important place in the life of Ukrainian society. However, the period of prosperity and oppression simultaneously fell in the first 40 years of the 20th century. The confessional policy of the Soviet Union, which came to replace the tsarist authorities, gave a limited privileged position for some Christian churches while creating harsh conditions for other denominations. As a rule, these were Protestant movements, but the Orthodox Church also experienced …

On The Phenomenon Of Populism And Extremism In The Balkans, Mustafa Cerić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper is based on my personal experience of war and peace in Bosnia. The basic notion is that it is easier to start a war than to stop it. Thus, postwar recovery or peacebuilding is not easy. But thanks to open-minded people who have been all along against a mythical populism that caused the bloody war against Bosnia and its autochthon people, the peace, although unjust, was reached after all. The focus here is on the idea of pluralism in Bosnia as an opposite to "populism" and "extremism." For a positive narrative like pluralism is a good way to …

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 4), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Assistance Given To The Ukrainian Refugees By The Polish People After Russian Invasion Of Ukraine On February 24, 2022, Elžbieta Pakszys

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

My task here is to relate the ways in which the Polish population helps Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the Russian aggression. Who are these refugees? How do they obtain help? I also want to think about the motivations for such spontaneous willingness to help. What are the presumed reasons for it, and what are the true ones? What is the impact of events from the past on the present situation? Also – whom and why are Poles helping less willingly, namely the so-called ‘problem of refugees’ from behind the Byelorussian boarder.

Here We Go Again? – Wcc´S Statement On Ukraine, Mio Kivelä

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The aim of this paper is to analyze the statement World Council of Churches, WCC, made on the war in Ukraine as well as the discussion related to the statement at the WCC´s 11^th assembly in 2022. The statement and the discussion around it at the assembly will also open a wider perspective on ecumenical movements. One perspective will be to analyze whether the statement made on Ukraine repeats the problems made in previous ecumenical statements and comments around Second World War, WWII.

Semantics Of The Symbol "Z" In The Religious Ideology Of The Russian Federation, Ivan Ostashchuk, Volodymyr Litkevych

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes for the first time the identification and content of Russian military symbols and their use in Russian Orthodoxy. At the linguistic level, it was found that such word formation Z-Orthodoxy was taken from the publications and public speeches of Archimandrite Kyrylo Govorun. Our study focuses on the proposal to use the neologism Z-Orthodoxy to demonstrate some semantic interpretations in the context of the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the entire democratic world. As a result of the analysis of the military symbols of the Russian Federation, Russian Orthodoxy found that after February 24, …

Church And State In Montenegro: From The Serbian Orthodox Church To The Church Of Serbia, Vladimir Bakrač

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The paper deals with the role of religion and the church in the post-socialist transformations of society in Montenegro, focusing on the period from the 1990s to 2022. The goal of the paper is to present the historical and sociological (non-)cooperation between the church and the state in Montenegro and their reflection on social circumstances. According to sociological expertise, secularization and atheization of the society carried out by the then political regime and aligned with Marxist reflections on religion were in force until the 1990s. Subsequently, a period of desecularization of society and revitalization of religion and religiosity followed. Accordingly, …

The Role Of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytskyi In The Formation Of Ukrainian National Identity, Iryna Krasnodemska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the main statehood ideas and views of the socio-political and Church figure, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi’s contribution to the struggle for the establishment of an independent, united Ukrainian state. The impact of the Metropolitan’s activity as the hierarch of the Greek Catholic Church on the Ukrainian national spiritual revival in Ukraine (at the end of the 19th to middle 20th century) is clarified as the solid foundation which was laid by his ecumenical ideas. The judgment of A. Sheptytskyi regarding the necessary prerequisites for building a strong, independent Ukraine, and his ideas about reforming state authorities, the Church, …

More On Georgian Orthodox Church Attitude Toward Entrepreneurship: A Response To Paul Crego […], Leons G. Taivans

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This is a reply to Paul Crego's "Response to Leons Gabriels Tavians' "Between Oriental Orthodoxy and European Modernity: Georgian Orthodox Church, Market Economy, and Social Message" , discussing the religious history and development of the country of Georgia.

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 9), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Christian Rap In Latvia: A New Page In The History Of Contemporary Christian Music In Baltic Christianity, Ņikita Andrejevs

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "In the context of the Soviet period and the huge effectiveness of Christian gospel rock as a vehicle of evangelization, however, these innovations’ proximity to “worldly” music, and the notion of protest and/or renewal that came along, provided the necessary attraction for Christians, converts, and people interested in contemporary Western music. Christian rap in Latvia, on the other hand, has developed in a context where popular culture including rap music was readily available to the audiences, and rap acquired the notion of protest that to most rappers and listeners, religious or not, is incompatible or even in conflict with …

"Letter To The Central Committee Of The World Council Of Churches," By The Conference On Religion And Politics In The Context Of The War Against Ukraine, Various Authors

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

A Situation Of The Crimeans Diocese Of The Orthodox Church Of Ukraine In Russian Occupied Crimea (2014-2022), Andrii Ivanets, Iryna Krasnodemska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the situation regarding the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. It should be noted that Orthodoxy and Islam are the most common religions on the peninsula. The Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is the largest and most prominent among the Crimean religious organizations. The authors highlight Russia's consistent discriminatory policy toward the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyiv Patriarchate/the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on the temporarily occupied peninsula, which is aimed at their gradual but rigorous expulsion from Crimea. The methods of its implementation …

Book Review: Ina Merdjanova, Ed. Women And Religiosity In Orthodox Christianity, Nadieszda Kizenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Ina Merdjanova, ed. Women and Religiosity in Orthodox Christianity (New York: Fordham University Press, 2021), 287 + xix pp., $35, ISBN: 9780823298617.

Between Oriental Orthodoxy And European Modernity: Georgian Orthodox Church, Market Economy, And Social Message, Leons Gabriels Taivans

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "This article aims to ask what the history of the Protestant ethic might contribute to our understanding of the contemporary relationship between Georgian Orthodoxy, economics, and capitalism. In doing so, we engage with a handful of retrospections that offer engagements with Weber regarding this interface. We begin with the key arguments advanced in The Protestant Ethic. Then we incorporate contemporary Pentecostalism into Weber's genealogical account of the rise of capitalist modernity. Thus, we hope to find parallels between twenty-first-century Pentecostalism and the seventeenth-century ascetic Protestantism as a sort of modernization paradigm.

The second part of the article is an …