Religion and the Conceptual Boundary in Central and Eastern Europe: Encounters of Faiths

254 Pages·2008·1.439 MB·English

by  Thomas Bremer (eds.)

Religion and the Conceptual Boundary in
Central and Eastern Europe
Studies in Central and Eastern Europe
Edited for the International Council for Central and East European Studies by
Roger E. Kanet, University of Miami, USA
Titles include:
Thomas Bremer (editor)
RELIGION AND THE CONCEPTUAL BOUNDARY IN CENTRAL AND
EASTERN EUROPE
Encounters of Faiths
Graeme Gill (editor)
POLITICS IN THE RUSSIAN REGIONS
Roger E. Kanet (editor)
RUSSIA
Re-Emerging Great Power
Rebecca Kay (editor)
GENDER, EQUALITY AND DIFFERENCE DURING AND AFTER STATE SOCIALISM
Stanislav J. Kirschbaum (editor)
CENTRAL EUROPEAN HISTORY AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
The Meaning of Europe
Katlijn Malfliet, Lien Verpoest and Evgeny Vinokurov (editors)
THE CIS, THE EU AND RUSSIA
Challenges of Integration
Stephen Velychenko (editor)
UKRAINE, THE EU AND RUSSIA
History, Culture and International Relations
Forthcoming titles include:
John Pickles (editor)
GLOBALIZATION AND REGIONALIZATION IN POST-SOCIALIST ECONOMIES
Common Economic Spaces of Europe
John Pickles (editor)
STATE AND SOCIETY IN POST-SOCIALIST ECONOMIES
Stephen White (editor)
MEDIA, CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA
Stephen White (editor)
POLITICS AND THE RULING GROUP IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA
Stephen Hutchings (editor)
RUSSIA AND ITS OTHER(S) ON FILM
Screening Intercultural Dialogue
Joan DeBardeleben (editor)
THE BOUNDARIES OF EU ENLARGEMENT
Finding a Place for Neighbours
Studies in Central and Eastern Europe
978-0-230-51682-3
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Religion and the
Conceptual Boundary in
Central and Eastern Europe
Encounters of Faiths
Edited by
Thomas Bremer
Department of Catholic Theology
University of Münster, Germany
Editorial matter,selection and introduction © Thomas Bremer 2008
All remaining chapters © respective authors 2008.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-55076-6
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bremer,Thomas S.,1957–
Religion and the conceptual boundary in Central and Eastern Europe :
encounters of faiths / Thomas Bremer.
p.cm.— (Studies in Central and Eastern Europe)
Includes index.
1. Europe,Eastern—Church history. 2. Europe,Central—Church history.
3. Europe,Eastern—Religion. 4. Europe,Central—Religion. I. Title.
BR738.6.B725 2008
274.7—dc22 2007052500
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgements x
Notes on Contributors xi
1 Religion and the Conceptual Boundary in Central and
Eastern Europe: Introductory Remarks 1
Thomas Bremer
The conception of borderlines 3
Church and state, church and nation 4
Church and democracy 7
2 Geography, Eschatology, and Religious Conversions
in the Ninth Century 16
Leonid S. Chekin
The missionary task 17
The geography of nations 21
The conversion of Gog and Magog 26
The first conversion of the Rhos 29
3 Ruthenian Lands and the Early Modern Multiple
Borderlands in Europe: Ethno-confessional Aspect 40
Liliya Berezhnaya
Frontier history and the Ruthenian lands 41
Early modern Ruthenian identities in the light of
A. J. Rieber’s scheme 44
Religious and ethnic, religious versus ethnic 48
Antemurale Christianitatis: Poland or Ruthenia? 51
4 Confessionalization in the Slavia Orthodoxa(Belorussia,
Ukraine, Russia)? – Potential and Limits of a Western
Historiographical Concept 66
Alfons Brüning
5 Situational Religiosity: Everyday Strategies of the Moscow
Christ–Faith Believers and of the St Petersburg Mystics
Attracted by This Faith in the First Half of the Nineteenth
Century 98
Ekaterina Emeliantseva
v
vi Contents
The spiritual brotherhood of Ekaterina Tatarinova 100
Mar’ia Borisova’s Christ–faith community 102
Situational religiosity 103
Domestic life of Mar’ia Borisova’s associates 106
Religious practice of Mar’ia Borisova’s associates 107
Religious practice of Tatarinova’s adherents 108
Conclusion 111
6 The Chapel of the Polish Kings: History, Religion, and the
Borders of an Imagined Nation 121
Robert E. Alvis
Mieszko and Boleslaw in Life and death 123
The eclipse of Poland and the rise of Polish nationalism 125
Building the Chapel of the Polish kings 128
Decoding the chapel 133
Aftermath and conclusion 140
7 Romanian Orthodox Theologians as Pioneers of the
Ecumenical Dialogue Between East and West: The
Relevance and Topicality of Their Position in
Uniting Europe 146
Mihai Sa(cid:2)sa(cid:2)ujan
General considerations of the ecumenical activity of
the Romanian Orthodox Church during the first half
of the 20th century 146
The position of metropolitan Nicolae Balan (1920–55)
of Transylvania regarding the ecumenical movement 152
The position of Professor I. G. Coman towards the
ecumenical movement at the Orthodox Conference in
Moscow (9–18 July 1948) 155
The Romanian Orthodox Church’s implication in the
ecumenical movement after 1961 160
The relevance and topicality of the mentioned
theologian’s ideas in uniting Europe 161
8 Peace Through Reconciliation: Aktion Sühnezeichen and the
Lutheran Church in the GDR 166
David Doellinger
Summer camps 168
Annual assembly 170
Contents vii
Regional groups 172
Conclusions 174
9 Religiosity in European Comparison – Theoretical and
Empirical Ideas 182
Gert Pickel
Introduction 182
Theoretical structures or groups of countries in Europe 184
Data, indicators, and measurement for religious vitality 190
The situation of Religiosity in Western and Eastern
Europe 2000 193
Sources of Eastern European religiosity 202
Conclusion 208
10 Catholic Tradition and New Religious Movements: What Is
New in the Present Religious Landscape in Croatia? 215
Zrinka Stimac
General information about the religious situation in the
Republic of Croatia 215
New Religious movements, ‘New Age’ and familiar
phenomena 219
Croation youth in past and present: an overview 222
Conclusion 223
11 The Concept of Canonical Territory in the Russian
Orthodox Church 229
Johannes Oeldemann
Historical and canonical background 230
The meaning of the term ‘canonical territory’ 232
Some remarks on the assessment of the concept of
canonical territory 233
Index 237
Preface
When the International Council for Central and East European Studies
(ICCEES) was founded at the first international and multidisciplinary
conference of scholars working in this field, held in Banff, Alberta, Canada,
on 4-7 September 1974, it was given the name International Committee
for Soviet and East European Studies (ICSEES). Its major purpose was to
provide for greater exchange between research centers and scholars
around the world who were devoted to the study of the USSR and the
communist states and societies of Eastern Europe. These developments
were the main motivation for bringing together the very different national
organizations in the field and for forming a permanent committee of
their representatives, which would serve as an umbrella organization,
as well as a promoter of closer co-operation. Four national scholarly
associations launched ICSEES at the Banff conference: the American
Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), the National
Association for Soviet and East European Studies in Great Britain (NASEES),
the British Universities Association of Slavists (BUAS), and the Canadian
Association of Slavists (CAS).
Over the past three decades six additional Congresses have been held:
in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, 1980; Washington, USA, 1985;
Harrogate, UK, 1990; Warsaw, Poland, 1995; Tampere, Finland, 2000;
and Berlin, Germany, 2005. The next Congress is scheduled for 2010 in
Stockholm, Sweden. The original four national associations that spon-
sored the first congress have been joined by an additional seventeen full
and six associate member associations, with significantly more than a
thousand scholars participating at each of the recent congresses.
It is now a little over three decades since scholars felt the need to
coordinate the efforts in the ‘free world’ to describe and analyse the
Communist political systems, their societies and economies, and East–
West relations in particular. Halfway through this period, the Communist
system collapsed, the region that was the object of study was reorganized,
and many of the new states that emerged set out on a path of democratic
development, economic growth, and, in many cases, inclusion in Western
institutions. The process turned out to be complex, and there were set-
backs. Yet, by 2004, the European Union as well as the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization had welcomed those post-Communist states that
had met all of the requirements for membership. Not all of the applicant
viii
Preface ix
states achieved this objective; but the process is ongoing. For this reason,
perhaps even more than before, the region that encompassed the former
Communist world demands study, explanation, and analysis, as both
centripetal and centrifugal forces are at work in each state and across the
region. We are most fortunate that the community of scholars addressing
these issues now includes many astute analysts from the region itself.
ROGERE. KANET
Series Editor