scholarly journals The Aiud “Prison Saints.” History, Memory, and Lived Religion

Eurostudia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Grigore
Keyword(s):  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
The Other ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Lived Religion ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
Communist Society ◽  
Popular Devotion ◽  
The Church

After the fall of communism in 1989, Romania, as others countries from Central and Eastern Europe, had to deal with its recent past marked by two dictatorships, one on the extreme right, the other on the extreme left. However, it seems that the post-communist society is rather preoccupied by the consequences of the communist regime than the fascist one. As the anti-communist narrative has become mainstream since the beginning of the 2000s, the victims of communist prisons received more and more attention. Several voices asked for the canonization of those prisoners that distinguished themselves for their belief. The Aiud “prison saints” are part of this current. Their stories are not simple and neither is the history: some of those who died in communist prisons were affiliated to the extreme right in the 1930s and the 1940s. While the Orthodox Church avoids to discuss their canonization, the new “saints” became the object of a popular devotion, which gathers together not only believers, but also representatives of the Church and the civil society. This article explores what the devotion for “prison saints” represents in the lived religion. Following the pilgrims to Aiud monastery and narratives concerning the “prison saints,” it appears that their veneration is not “natural,” but rather the result of a construction. As it turns out, lived religion is a vehicle for values diverging from the official democratic discourse.

Church and Patriarchate and the Limits of Americanization

2020 ◽  
pp. 228-246
Author(s):  
Alexander Kitroeff
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Greek Orthodox ◽  
New Era ◽  
Greek Orthodox Church ◽  
The Church

This chapter focuses on the state of Greek Orthodoxy in America at the end of the twentieth century. It assesses whether the Church under Archbishop Iakovos overreached in its efforts to Americanize, which alienated the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It analyzes the patriarchate's intervention, which illustrated the administrative limits the Greek Orthodox Church in America faces in its efforts to assimilate. The chapter describes the patriarchate's ability to invoke the transnational character of Orthodoxy in the new era of globalization. It explores the end of the evolution of Greek Orthodoxy into some form of American Orthodoxy through its fusion with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Religious Diplomacy and Socialism

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-43
Author(s):  
Lucian N. Leustean
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The West ◽  
Religious Persecution ◽  
House Arrest ◽  
Church Hierarchy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

This article analyzes the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the communist regime during one of the most intense periods of religious persecution in the Romanian People's Republic from 1956 to 1959. The church hierarchy demonstrated its support for the socialist construction of the country, while, at the same time, the regime began a campaign against religion by arresting clergy and reducing the number of religious people in monasteries; rumours even circulated that in 1958 Patriarch Justinian was under house arrest. Seeking closer contact with Western Europe, the regime allowed the hierarchy to meet foreign clergymen, especially from the Church of England. These diplomatic religious encounters played a double role. The regime realised that it could benefit from international ecclesiastical relations, while the image of Justinian in the West changed from that of “red patriarch” to that of a leader who was genuinely interested in his church's survival.

Orthodox Old Belief: Edinoverie as a Movement for Religious Rejuvenation in the Russian Church, 1905–1918

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
James White
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Reform Movements ◽  
Ecclesiastical Reform ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
Alternative Vision ◽  
To Come ◽  
Ecclesiastical Administration ◽  
The Church

This article will analyze edinoverie reform in the early twentieth century. Edinoverie was a uniate movement that joined former Old Believer schismatics to the Orthodox Church. Its unique position between the Church and the schism led to a feeling of insecurity and alienation from the ecclesiastical administration among the edinovertsy: in 1905, this culminated in an attempt to reform the bases of edinoverie. A party of edinovertsy led by Father Simeon Shleev proposed an alternative vision of Orthodoxy wherein edinoverie’s Old Believer legacy would be used to rejuvenate the Church and even Russia itself. However, like some of the other ecclesiastical reform movements with which Shleev’s party was connected, edinoverie reform failed to come to fruition because of the hostile atmosphere of Church politics between 1905 and 1918 and the long-standing problems within edinoverie itself.

scholarly journals THE POSITION OF THE SOVIET POWER TO CLERGY DURING OF TOTALITARIANISM FORMATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
K.V. Dzhumagaliyeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Soviet Power ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Religious Policy ◽  
The Church

From the first days of the establishment of Soviet power, its attitude to religion was determined. The new government separated religion from the state, thereby initially determining its position to the clergy. Having come to power, the Bolsheviks repealed the laws, where peoples were opposed on religious-national grounds. The Orthodox Church took a frankly negative position regarding not only the church poly of the Bolshevik state, but also its entire internal and external poly. At the beginning, the Soviet government treated denominations differentiated. In comparison with the adherents of the Orthodox Church, Muslims were in a slightly more preferred position. The reason was that in Muslim society Islam was not just a religion but a way of life. Violent changes in the traditional way of Muslim peoples could lead to large-scale protests against the new government. But the national and religious life of Muslim peoples did not correspond to the class-political system of Bolshevism. As a result, the communist regime was forced, through aggressive ideological, coercive and repressive measures, to impose its line in the field of national construction and national-religious life. As the religious policy of the Bolsheviks intensified in the regions of the traditional spread of Islam, discontent among Muslim believers increased.

scholarly journals OCHRONA ORTODOKSYJNEJ WIARY W USTAWODAWSTWIE JUSTYNIANA

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Sławomir Kursa
Keyword(s):  
Legal Protection ◽  
The Other ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Religious Policy ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

Protection of the Orthodox Religion in the Legislation of Justinian I Summary The protection of the Orthodox religion was one of the priorities in Justinian’s life and activities. However, his religious policy was not very different from that of previous Christian emperors. The aim of this article is to show that Justinian’s policy was more a result of tendencies in the legal protection of Orthodoxy which had already developed in the postConstantinian age, in other words Justinian only reinforced existing regulations; and likewise his legislation to eradicate heresy and apostasy was similar to earlier provisions. Justinian used legal measures for the protection of the True Faith in an immensely instrumental way. On the one hand he maintained and introduced numerous material sanctions against heretics and apostates; on the other hand he prescribed material advantages for the Orthodox Church and those in communion with her. There were also material incentives for those who returned to the Church. The article shows that Justinian’s measures followed the same line as the religious regulations introduced by previous Christian emperors, especially Theodosius II.

scholarly journals BIOETHICS: DEFINITION AND TYPES

Bioethics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
I. V. Siluyanova ◽  
◽  
L. E. Pishchikova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Biomedical Ethics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Social Council ◽  
The One ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Church

Bioethics is defined by the authors as a form of knowledge about the permissible limits of manipulating human life in the range from birth to dying. A comparative analysis of the materials of the Conference in Jerusalem (2018) and the «Handbook on Bioethics for Judges» (2016) prepared by the UNESCO Department of Bioethics in Haifa, on the one hand, and Statements of the Church and Social Council on Biomedical Ethics of the Russian Orthodox Church, on the other, was conducted. It proves that bioethics as a type of modern medical ethics exists and will exist in the near future in conservative and liberal forms. Disclosure of their content contributes to solving the problem of finding compromises in specific situations of medical practice.

scholarly journals The Belarusian Orthodox Church and Its Role in the Belarusian Regime

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Avanesová
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The One ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
Church Organizations ◽  
The Church

This text, conceived as an interpretative case study, deals with the role that the Belarusian Orthodox Church plays in the contemporary Belarusian regime. In light of the fact that the Belarusian Orthodox Church is an exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the author will also look at whether the Belarusian Orthodox Church can actually be considered an instrument of Russian in Belarus. Within the research, the author will show that on the one hand, there are favorable conditions for the development of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. But on the other hand, although the state declares the de facto independence of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, any opposition activity on its part is seen as a threat to the state, which allows the state to interfere with its policy. This leads church organizations in such systems to become significantly weakened within this “cooperation with the state”, even though they have an influence on society and thus a legitimizing potential. As a result, the church is strongly dependent on the state and limited as an actor in civil society within the Belarusian regime. In addition, the author will also conclude in the study that it is difficult to consider the Belarusian Orthodox Church to be a tool of the Kremlin’s influence.

scholarly journals The Influence of Political Regimes on Romanian Psaltic Music in the Second Half of the 20thCentury

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-34
Author(s):  
Elena Chircev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Church Music ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Religious Music ◽  
Original Works ◽  
Romanian Revolution ◽  
Difficult Times ◽  
The Church

During the second half of the 20th century, the Romanian society was marked by two events that had a profound impact on its destiny: the establishment of the communist regime after the abdication of King Michael I in 1948, and the Romanian Revolution of 1989, which marked the end of this regime. The Byzantine monody has had a millenary tradition in this part of Europe, and the contribution of the local chanters to the perpetuation of Orthodox church music – also through their own compositions – is evidenced by the numerous manuscripts written by Romanian authors and by the works printed in the last two centuries. In 20th-century Romania, the music written in neumatic notation specific to the Orthodox Church manifested itself discontinuously due to the historical events mentioned above. The church chant in the traditional psaltic style managed to survive, despite being affected by the Communist Party’s decisions regarding the Church, namely the attempt to standardize the church chant. This paper captures the way in which the preservation of tradition and the perpetuation of church music succeeded through the difficult times of the communist period, with special emphasis on the religious music written in neumatic notation and on certain peculiarities of the period, due to the political regime. The musicians trained before the establishment of Communism – by teachers concerned with the preservation of the good tradition of church chanting, in monastic schools and prestigious theological seminaries of the interwar period – were the binding forces who ensured the rapid revival of the music of Byzantine tradition in the last decade of the 20thcentury and who enriched the repertoire of the Romanian churches with valuable original works.

Views on the (Serbian Orthodox) Church Calendar as an Element of Cultural Heritage in Serbia

Philotheos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-130
Author(s):  
Milesa Stefanović-Banović ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Online Platforms ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
The Guardian ◽  
Calendar Reform ◽  
The Church

The Serbian Orthodox Church is considered by a number of Serbian citizens to be the “guardian” of tradition and cultural heritage. Issues related to church reforms are thus often particularly sensitive, and are perceived by some of the public as a danger to the preservation of cultur­al and religious identity. On the other hand, there are opinions in favor of reforms. In this context, the issue of church calendar reform is of special interest. Although it has been raised for more than a century, it is still as relevant as in the first attempts at the reform thereof. This paper explores the attitudes on online platforms in Serbia on this issue. Is the church calendar perceived as an integral part of the cultural heritage? What are the pros and cons of calendar reform? What would be the consequences of its potential change?

The Newly Found Oldest Patriarchal Berat

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Phokion Kotzageorgis
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The Church

Abstract This article discusses a newly found Ottoman document. It concerns the oldest—to date—patriarchal diploma of investiture (berat), which was issued for Patriarch Raphael i (1475–76). This and the other two known berats from that epoch constitute a successive set of such documents, and give scholars the opportunity to study the mechanisms of production of patriarchal diplomas of investiture that were so important for the Orthodox Church in the Ottoman period. Furthermore, these documents date from the formative period of the Orthodox Church under Ottoman rule, providing first-hand evidence on how the Church institution became stabilised under the Ottomans.

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