Balcanica Posnanensia. Acta et studia, 2023

The aim of the article is to present the concept and actions taken by the Soviet diplomacy and the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church to subjugate the Orthodox communities in the communist Balkan countries. The mechanism of the subjugation of the Balkan churches has been included into a comparative perspective and integrated into the broader concept of the Moscow Patriarchate towards gaining a leading role in the Orthodox world in the first years after the end of the Second World War. The process of dependency and its effects are reflected in diplomatic documents, but also in those produced by the Orthodox Churches themselves. The key element for gaining central position in the Orthodox world by Moscow was the organisation of anniversary celebrations and conferences to integrate the community and to involve it in the implementation of plans towards Soviet political domination. The results of these efforts were very limited in relation to ambitions outlined by the leadership of the Soviet state, revealing differing positions of the major patriarchates, as well as a real strength of authority and prestige that the Ecumenical Patriarchate invariably enjoyed.

2016

This article addresses the role of the ecumenical organization, the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through the Churches, in the complicated process of religious and political rapprochement between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in the 1920s and 1930s. It argues that the Bulgarian and Yugoslav National Committees of the World Alliance formed a diplomatic channel for tackling the problems between the two countries, predominantly the question of 1 An earlier version of this article appeared in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, vol. 50, no. 4 (Fall, 2015), pp. 583-605, titled "The World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches and Religious and Political Rapprochement between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in the 1920’s and 1930’s." This expanded version is used with permission from J.E.S. OCCASIONAL PAPERS ON RELIGION IN EASTERN EUROPE (JANUARY 2016) XXXVI, 1 42 Macedonia, but ultimately the rapprochement process between the two countries failed du...

The Politics and Religion Journal, 2013

After World War II, multi-religious and multi-national socialist Yugoslavia faced the need to resolve the complex national issue or actually to bring it into accord and make closer to the internal, but also to the international goals and interests of the Yugoslav state. Its atheistic-secularist nature basically conditioned its relationship to the religious communities in the state, whose “potentials” should be controlled, directed and used in a desirable way. The state, actually, supported the secular (non-church) principle by which every nation should have its own Church, striving in time directly, consistently and firmly to exert influence on its application in practice as such. Taking such activities, it disregarded the church reasons and needs, what particularly made a negative impact on the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). The Roman Catholic Church (RCC), as the second church (religious) community in the country by the number of its believers, recognised that its interests coinci...

Review of Croatian History, 2011

The clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the most influential institution among the Serbs, split over the political solution involving establishment of the Banate of Croatia on August 26, 1939. On one side were those who endorsed the solution to the Croatian question as negotiated in the Agreement concluded by Dragiša Cvetković and Vladko Maček, followed by the establishment of the Banate of Croatia, while on the other side were those opponents of these negotiated policies whose activities were rooted in Greater Serbian ideology.

2022

The term theopolitics was coined by the philosopher and professor of Judaism Martin Buber in his work Kingship of God.[1] Bubers theopolitics stressed that politics must be rendered theological, not theology rendered political. Hence, he prioritized theology over politics. In other words, in his view, all politics must be placed into the service of God.[2] Orthodox Christianity is often defined as the Eastern branch of Christianity that split from the West.[3] In the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, the Orthodox Church is described as a family of Churches, situated mainly in Eastern Europe: each member Church is independent in its internal administration, but all share the same faith and are in communion with one another, acknowledging the honorary primacy &[4] of the İstanbul Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate (hereupon, Patriarchate in İstanbul). Eastern Christianity has a polycentric structure. This is mainly the result of political changes. Especially the emergence or disappearance of centralized political authority of the state. In this period, Miaphysitism, which considered Jesus is fully divine and fully human in one nature or substance (physis), gained influence over Orthodox Christianity in Egypt-Alexandria, Antioch, and Armenian churches. The Armenian Church later adopted the Gregorian-Apostolic way to differ itself from the Byzantium practices. Academic resources draw attention to the fact that this division reflects the dissatisfaction with the domination of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, and it is mentioned that ethnocultural differences play a key role in the divisions within the church.[5] As per academic sources, Bulgaria is a prime example of these divisions and the existence of independent (autocephalous) Eastern Churches in the Balkans. After establishing independent Bulgaria,

Biserko, Sonja (ed.), The Warp of the Serbian Identity, Belgrade: Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, 2016

(2016): “The Role of the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches in Shaping Governmental Policies”, in: Biserko, Sonja (ed.), The Warp of the Serbian Identity, Belgrade: Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

Journal for The Study of Religions and Ideologies, 2018

With the aim of exploring in detail Serbia’s modern nation-building, this paper reveals and examines three stages in the relationship between the state and the Church. Their interaction was first observed in the late-1980s, when the Church leadership began to interfere in the state affairs, offering religious solutions to a wide range of national issues. Following the collapse of Serbian society during the 1990s, the Church has become an ideology supplement to the state-driven national project. As such, the Church was embraced by the state authorities, and after the fall of Milosevic in 2000, nationalism continued to exponentially increase in Serbia. Following the assassination of the Prime Minister Zoran Đinđic in 2003, the Church emerged as the key factor of nation building, thus substituting the disoriented state structures. A significant part of our conclusions are based on primary quantitative sources.

Journal of Balkan and Black Sea Studies, 2024

Following the revitalization and politicization of religion that happened in Serbia during the late 20th and early 21st century, the Serbian Orthodox Church became an important non-state actor in the country. This article explores its involvement in Serbia's relations with other countries, with a particular focus on the Church's and the country's religious diplomacy efforts. It provides an overview of the Church's multifaceted roles, including advising Serbian and foreign diplomats, engaging in track II diplomacy, as well as other small-scale initiatives.