Suchergebnisse

I discuss the religious life in Ukraine before and after the 2014 «revolution of dignity». The main focus of the article is on the Orthodox сhurches, as the most numerous and influential in Ukraine. I argue that since 2014 the pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) has intensified substantially, with a purpose of creating from this сhurch an image of the «radical other». The pressure was going along several lines: mass-media discussions, actions of authorities and the attempts to make changes in the relevant legislation. At the same time, the Church of Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church were receiving more support. However, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) has kept its status of the most numerous denomination, holding its firm presence in most Ukrainian regions. The attempts to marginalize this сhurch have further divided Ukrainian society, blurring the prospects for reconciliation.

This paper analyses the dialogue of Churches and EU institutions, with a focus on the Churches' representations at the European Union. These representations are described in accordance with the confessional divisions: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) is regarded as the most influential Catholic representation; among the Orthodox representations this status is kept by the representation of the Church of Greece, and among Protestant - the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD). Overall, this paper finds that the existing patterns of cooperation constrain the Churches' ability to influence the process of decision-making in the EU. However, this influence may increase should the practical cooperation on the policy level acquire more intensive forms.

This article argues that Christian Churches should be regarded as special participants in European integration. The Churches embrace features of non-state actors and identity formers, and they take a unique stance as contributors to the initial stages of the integration process. In addition, Churches perform their functions within Church-State regimes - a phenomenon unknown to other actors in European integration. Overall, Christian Churches have established themselves as unique and influential participants in European integration and EU politics.

Based on extensive fieldwork across Belarus, this article analyses an ongoing discussion within the Belarusian Orthodox Church (boc) regarding various issues that are key inassessing the country's identity politics and politico-ideological developments. Since the independence of Belarus in 1991, the Church has continuously played an important public and societal function. A special agreement, signed between the Church and Belarusian Government in 2003, has fostered Church cooperation with various governmental institutions, including educational establishments. Discussing the contribution of the boc to the construction of a distinct Belarusian national identity, we will address the national language, relationships with the state, foreign policy orientation and the Church's autocephaly. The empirical part of this study is based on seventeen in-depth interviews with clergymen and laypeople from the boc. Our study shows that Church representatives have not hesitated to develop their profound perspectives on the important issues of identity politics and the relationships of the boc and state, and these perspectives were often reflective of wider debates within Belarusian intellectual circles.

This article analyzes the position of the Christian churches on the protests in Belarus in 2020. This study contributes to the research on the state-society relationship in autocratic regimes by nuancing the thesis that civil society is either marginalized or fully co-opted by the authoritarian state. The protest wave showed that the initiatives of religious groups fostered collective action in a state system that is punitive of any dissent. The article identifies churches as an ambivalent space: one where the state can exercise social control, but where potential resistance to the repressive state might also occur since they enjoy a greater degree of freedom than other organizations in authoritarian Belarus. Moreover, our study argues that religion can be seen as a privileged arena of protest within existing legal frameworks of the "contract" between the state and the church. By looking at the societal engagement of different religious confessions campaigning for their rights and promoting their visions of desirable political development on the grassroots level, this article addresses a range of opportunities to engage in civic activism in Belarus.