Sowing the Seeds of Hate - The Antisemitism of the Orthodox Church in the Interwar Period Cover Image

Sowing the Seeds of Hate - The Antisemitism of the Orthodox Church in the Interwar Period
Sowing the Seeds of Hate - The Antisemitism of the Orthodox Church in the Interwar Period

Author(s): Ionuț Biliuță
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Jewish studies, Pastoral Theology, Eastern Orthodoxy, History of Antisemitism, Canon Law / Church Law
Published by: Wiener Wiesenthal Institut für Holocaust-Studien
Keywords: antisemitism in the Orthodox Church; clergymen and theologians; Romanian Iron Guard; radicalization of Orthodox nationalism; patristic theology and canon law; Transnistria;

Summary/Abstract: The present article is focused on the antisemitic mindset of several prominent Orthodox clergymen and theologians associated with the Romanian Iron Guard and the radicalization of Orthodox nationalism under the impact of fascism. During a wave of right-wing ideological radicalization, Orthodox clergymen and theologians shifted from understanding the Jew according to the patristic theology and canon law to a more confessional, exclusivist trend of theology. It also discusses the Romanian Orthodox Church’s position towards the development of an antisemitic theology and the implementation of this theology during the Holocaust by the Orthodox priests affiliated with the Romanian Orthodox Exarchate in Transnistria.

  • Issue Year: 3/2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 20-34
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: English