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Sacrum i łzy. Fenomen płaczących ikon w wyobrażeniach religijnych w prawosławiu (wybrane zagadnienia)

Author(s): Ewa Kocój / Language(s): Polish Issue: 02/2015

This article analyzes selected issues related to the phenomenon of the so-called weeping icons in Orthodoxy from the perspective of cultural anthropology. In this part it portrays the regions of the Orthodox world that host the weeping icons, as well as the main themes and motifs associated with the subject of the “weeping persons” on icons (Mother of God, Christ, saints, monks and politicians), hierotopy and the time of weeping. The research carried out while interpreting the beliefs related to the origin of weeping, presents their historical consistency in the collective memory of Orthodoxy, as well as its contemporary transformation. The study involves qualitative methods of research. Selected examples of weeping icons in historical and ethnographic sources from various ages and Orthodox countries were subjected to comparative analysis. Contemporary beliefs referring to weeping icons were also exposed to qualitative research – I conducted interviews with the Orthodox Church believers as well as residents of the places hosting weeping icons (Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Eastern Slovakia) and engaged in participant observation (Greece and Macedonia). The research also included internet research – the narration of the new media on weeping icons was analyzed, including blogs and web portals. The analysis employed the use of interpretivist paradigm facilitating the research of hidden meanings and cultural codes connected to the representations of Orthodox believers on the weeping icons.

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Každodennosť u uniatskych presbyterov vo svetle latinských prameňov

Author(s): Peter Zubko / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 02/2018

Knowing the realities of the everyday life of the Uniate priests in the 18th century is necessary for further exploration of the sites with the inhabitants of the Eastern ceremony, customs, economy, spirituality. The article is based on several years of research above the eastern rite by Latin sources in today‘s Eastern Slovakia and speaks of the following: the priest‘s house, vegetable gardens, economic security, the physical condition and equipment of the churches. It is possible to make a model or standard picture of the classic uniate parish in the east of Slovakia in the first half of the 18th century. The knowledge of this human background is important for understanding the power of the spirit and the motives of various writings with sacral and secular themes that have been preserved in the Greek-Catholic parish and episcopal archives and libraries.

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Transformation of the Orthodox Religiosity in the 1920s–1990s in the Komi Republic

Author(s): Victoria V. Vlasova / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

This article analyses the influence of Soviet religious politics on society’s attitude to religion, as well as on the transformation of religious practices taking as an example the Komi Republic. I focus on the Orthodox tradition, as the vast majority of residents of the Komi Republic were Orthodox (Russian Orthodox Church, Old Believers). The article starts with a brief review of theoretical approaches to the study of the religious transformations during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The churches’ closing in the 1920s – 1930s and their partial reopening in the 1940s – 1950s are used to discuss changes in the manifestation of religiosity in public space. A correlation between gender, age and religious activity is demonstrated. The total control by the state over the church rituals led to a privatization of religious life, which significantly limited both the state and the church control over them. The article also describes how folk religious practices, unrelated to the church, influenced the believers’ resistance and adaptation to the political and ideological changes.

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Cyrilo-metodská tradícia a Andrej Hlinka

Author(s): Róbert Letz / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 01/2024

Andrej Hlinka (1864–1938), a Roman Catholic priest, as a prominent personality of the Slovak political and re- ligious life, identified himself with the Cyril and Methodius reverence and tradition. He considered it an important element of the Slovak and Slavic religious and national identity. He showed his reverence for Cyril and Methodius by participating in pilgrimages and congresses held in the Moravian town Velehrad. Hlinka spread the Cyril and Methodius cult despite the opposition of the Hungarian church hierarchy. After the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1919, he organized the central Cyril and Methodius festivities in Slovakia. He considered the Cyril and Methodius cult to be the orthodox cult which, in union with the Catholic Church, could overcome the onslaught of secularism and sects.

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Jednání o dovolení slavení staroslovanské liturgie pro české a moravské diecéze ve 20. letech 20. století

Author(s): Jitka Jonová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 01/2024

In response to the establishment of the Czechoslovak Church (in January 1920), which introduced using the vernacular language in the liturgy, the Czech and Moravian bishops requested permission to extend the use of the vernacular language in the liturgy and, following the Cyril and Methodius tradition, to allow the celebration of the Old Slavonic liturgy. The Holy See allowed some extension of the use of the vernacular language in the liturgy and the celebration of the Old Slavonic liturgy in selected places on selected days (approved in May 1920). This was done especially for apologetic reasons, to prevent a greater exodus of the faithful to the Czechoslovak Church. This permission was also meant to be an example of the Holy See's friendliness towards Czechoslovakia.

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К истории исправления богослужебных книг по политическим причинам

Author(s): Aleksandr Kravetskii / Language(s): Russian Issue: 02/2024

History of the Correction of Liturgical Books for Political ReasonsThe article deals with materials related to the exclusion of expressions offensive to Muslims from liturgical books sent to Orthodox Slavs in the Balkans, and aims to introduce such materials into scholarly discourse. In order to avoid problems with Turkish customs officers, the Synod proposed to refrain from sending the Menaia and the Great Eu- chologion (Trebnik) to the southern Slavs and to exclude references to the Bulgarian martyr George the New from other books, as the very title of the service to this martyr refers to Yavuz Sultan Selim as 'impious king'. It is significant that the service to George the New containing extremely insulting anti-Muslim statements was composed in Russia, while Bulgaria used a different version of the same service, which was devoid of any derogatory characteristics of Muslims. The article confirms the assumption that it was primarily due to political concerns that harsh statements directed against non-believers were removed from liturgical books.

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Words to things: religious cosmologies in the context of the (Russian) Orthodox philosophy of language

Author(s): Stephen Pax Leonard / Language(s): English Issue: 65/2023

Religious cosmologies put forward by Russian philosophers and thinkers at the beginning of the last century had important things to say about the linguistic construction of personhood and the relations between words and reality. Not shying away from personal phenomenologies which regard words as cosmic self-expression, these philosophers help us rediscover both the sensuality and physicality of language. This article explores how such apparently long-forgotten philosophies of language live on to some degree in religious Orthodox practice in Russia today. What is more, it serves to remind us of the connections between language, spirituality, and the sacred. By engaging with the spirit of prophecy, thinkers such as Bulgakov (and indeed some contemporary worshippers) show us the significance of what it means to ‘feel’ language.

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THE WORKS OF LEONARD AS A MODEL FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE IN EX - YUGOSLAVIC AREAS IN THE XXI CENTURY (FROM NATIONALISM TO INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE)

Author(s): Aleksandar Stamatović / Language(s): English Issue: 69/2024

The article examines the work of Leonard Swidler as a model for inter-religious dialogue in ex-Yugoslav areas in the 21st century. It aims to analyse the role of interreligious dialogue in the neutralisation of nationalism. This is particularly evident in the interweaving of nationalist and religious communities, where religious communities emerge as the instigators of nationalism. In addition, religious leaders assume the role of unofficial national and state leaders. The national and state interest is derived from the interpretation of religious interest. Consequently, politicians and national and state leaders frequently become mere puppets in their hands. This pattern was particularly evident during the Yugoslav conflict in the late 20th century. The traumatic effects of the conflict are still evident in the present day. Concurrently, religious leaders in the former Yugoslav territories occupy a significant position, not only in the formulation of state and national policy, but also in the formation of public opinion within the regions over which they hold religious authority. In his oeuvre, the American theologian Leonard Swidler analyses the processes of interfaith dialogue as a model for resolving conflict situations involving religious opposites. It should be noted that his works do not present a definitive formula for such conflict resolution; rather, they offer a contribution to this issue. Religious dialogue is a practice that is not characteristic of the contemporary era of bourgeois society; as a result, it is timeless and extraterritorial. It is for this reason that a sample of ex-Yugoslav areas was selected as representative, given that religious contrasts are a significant factor.

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CHURCH LIFE DURING THE PHANARIOT PERIOD

Author(s): Nicolae Nucă / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 39/2024

The Phanariote period in the Romanian Principalities (1711-1821) was characterized by significant transformations in the religious landscape. The Phanariote rulers, appointed by the Ottoman Empire, exerted considerable influence over the Church, often intervening in its internal affairs. This intervention led to a series of reforms and regulations aimed at consolidating their control and generating revenue. The Phanariote period also witnessed efforts to reform and modernize the Church. Some rulers, recognizing the importance of the Church in society, implemented measures to improve its administration and financial management. These reforms included stricter control over the appointment of abbots, the regulation of monastic life, and the establishment of new administrative structures within monasteries. The Phanariote period left a lasting impact on the Romanian Orthodox Church. While some of the reforms introduced during this time contributed to the modernization of the Church, the interference of the Phanariote rulers in ecclesiastical matters and their exploitative practices led to a decline in the Church's autonomy and financial stability. The legacy of this period continued to influence the Church's relationship with the state and its internal organization even after the end of the Phanariote regime.

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Triptic editorial: Maxim (Iuliu-Marius) Morariu

Author(s): Iulia Medveschi / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 4/2024

In the book Maica Domnului: Taina discretei însoțiri (2022), Father Maxim Morariu emphasizes the twofold role of The Virgin Mary, as witness and as a bridge to Christ, "guided by values that determine Her unwavering fidelity and complete sacrifice" (p. 22). For this prolific writer, reading and meditation go hand in hand. This can be seen in the book Evanghelie și actualitate (2023). The 49 meditations dedicated to the Sunday Gospels together with the six occasional thoughts (do not appear) as a mere association and/or stringing together of random thoughts, but in the denouement at the end of the soul/spiritual ease of Father Maxim during the pandemic period (2020-2021). The analysis of the revealed text is accompanied by words of patristic wisdom, historical accounts and moralizing advice. Finally, with the third project, twinned with the previous one and entitled Evanghelia - editoriale în har (2023), the young author offers us a way to access the spiritual content of the Gospel or rather he urges us to feast ourselves with the eternal Word of God.

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PRESIONET KISHTARE DHE POLITIKA E GJUHËS: ROLI KUFINDARËS E KUFITREGUES I PËRDORIMIT TË SHQIPES NË SHEK. XVII-XVIII

Author(s): Albert Doja / Language(s): Albanian Issue: 02/2022

In this article, I argued that the early religious literature in the Albanian language, which proliferated especially during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in combination with ecclesiastical rivalries and a differential opposition to Ottoman rule, must have promoted an inherent cultural process of differentiation, especially between Greek-speaking and Albanian-speaking Orthodox Christians. Historians of language and written texts have accumulated sufficient empirical evidence to provide a comprehensive picture, and the aim here was not to complement and even less to correct them, simply because historical accounts are always superior regarding the detailed description of available data. At once, they show the lack of social-scientific relevance, which would correct the conventional ideology behind the “dusty bundles” of accumulated data. Indeed, the explanation of historical “truth” is not necessarily found in the archives. Collected data must be understood on the basis of a functioning rationale, which cannot be in the data since they are what needs to be explained. A working assumption is required to face the observable reality of social phenomena, which do not teach anything and are not even observable except from the viewpoint of the assumption that is concerned with them. Albanian studies remain fixated with issues of the immutable origin and autochthony of Albanian identity, which is uncritically defined by means of historical, linguistic, cultural, or social data, while critical questions of how issues of processual identity dynamics are articulated with fixed documented data are never asked. It is precisely this attitude that has compromised a phenomenon polluted by the search for an eternal and unchanged autochthonous Albanian identity at any cost. What is needed here is to make sense of the important historical, cultural, and political role that early religious texts in the Albanian language must have played during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Following a distinctively anthropological approach based on available data from both archival and published sources, I did not offer a description however detailed or based on historical research however exhaustive, but a theoretical interpretation of the positive and negative reactions that contributed at that time to a boundary work of cultural differentiation. In particular, the boundary work of the social reorganization of linguistic and cultural differences is examined without taking into account neither ethnonationalist nor self-explanatory notions and determinations. The question is to move attention from the ethnic or proto-national notions and determinations of identity processes, which have long plagued both nationalist historiographies and postmodernist approaches, to the unconscious symbolic processes of formation, negotiation, contestation, and redefinition of ethnic group boundaries. These processes do not rule out but are a prerequisite to intergroup exchange and communication, just as they are a condition of peaceful coexistence or conflict and violence.

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FILANTROPIA ORTODOKSE DHE KONTRIBUTI I SAJ NË QYTETIN E KORÇËS (SHEK. XVIII-XIX)

Author(s): Vasiljano Buba / Language(s): Albanian Issue: 02/2023

The conception of our paper evidences the impact that the orthodox factor has played in the city of Korça. As can be clearly seen, the contribution of the Mitropolis institution has played a key role in the cultural, economic and urban emancipation. In addition to the Christian community, other communities have also played their role in this aspect. Since our focus is only on the Orthodox community and its contribution, we have tried to present their achievements in the educational, social, economic and urban fields. The special feature of our articulation lies in the fact of the philanthropic spirit that built the city of Korça, was inspired by the religious dimension of the people. The institution of Metropolis undoubtedly had a primary role in the cultivation of this feeling. The latter was the moving engineering of the social-cultural life of the city. Product of the affiliation of the Orthodox community were some of the biggest philanthropists of Korça, leaving an indelible mark on the city and its cultural level.

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Ruska kultura in boljševizem v delih Franca Grivca ter njuna refleksija pri Slovencih

Author(s): Simon Malmenvall / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1-2/2023

Franc Grivec (1878–1963), a long-time professor (1920–1963) at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana, is considered a pioneer in systematic research of Eastern Christianity and Slavic cultures among Slovene authors. A significant part of Grivec’s published work is dedicated to the reception of the “Russian theme”, including the intellectual and spiritual causes and consequences of the revolutionary upheaval in Russian society with its peak in the October Revolution of 1917, which presented a topical political and cultural issue of his time. This issue is most thoroughly addressed in the monograph for a wider audience “National Consciousness and Bolshevism” originally written by Grivec on the basis of his lectures to the primary school teachers and high-school professors of Ljubljana in 1944. According to Grivec, the extremism of the Bolsheviks represents a part of the wider mechanism of Russian cultural history, in which the concept of a messianic mission of Russia, starting with the idea of Moscow has the “Third Rome”, appeared several times. Grivec also emphasises that socialism is primarily a question about God and the transformation of the whole of human life, which can unfold also on Slovene soil. Based on this, Grivec calls on Catholic leaders and intellectuals to assert Christian principles in public and foster a relectiv national consciousness (as opposed to the internationalist socialism), in order to prevent the success of the revolution.

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STUDIU JURIDICO-ISTORIC CU PRIVIRE LA DEZVOLTAREA ÎNVĂȚĂMÂNTULUI RELIGIOS ȘI TEOLOGIC ORTODOX

Author(s): Andrei-Cristian Pătrașcu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2024

The legislative and historical contributions regarding the cults recognized in Romania were complex and followed a difficult path, marked by difficulties in respecting their rights. In this sense, we wanted to present a part of these legislative norms in an accessible way, accompanied by historical moments relevant to the development of Orthodox religious education. The legal and historical comments offer a perspective on the organization and functioning of the first catechetical schools and oriental theological institutes from the first centuries, as well as on the subsequent evolution of religious schools, seminaries, institutes and theological academies, up to the Faculties of Theology in the current romanian space.

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HALYCH AND GALICIA (UNTIL 1772) IN THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE RULERS OF MOLDOVA. EXPERIENCE OF THE SOURCE STUDIES AND PERIODIZATION

Author(s): Myroslav Voloshchuk / Language(s): English Issue: 19/2023

The article is devoted to the image of Halych and the Galicia (Halych land) in the pages of written sources primarily of Moldovan origin from the archival and library collections of Romania. The author assumes that Halych and Galicia occupied a significant place in the foreign policy of the rulers of Moldova, first of all due to the so-called ecclesiastical memory. Galician Metropolitan Antony, having consecrated the first Moldovan bishop on the hills of Krylos (ancient Halych) in 1387, contributed to the establishment of the separate Moldovan Metropolitanate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. That’s why, during the crisis of the non-institutionalized Kingdom of Rus’ at the turn of the 14th–15th centuries, the representatives of the Moldovan House of Mușat and their successors tried in every possible way to consolidate the neighboring territories of Pokuttia and the Halych land. According to the periodization we can single out four long periods: 12th century – 1359; 1359-1538; 1538-1699 and 1699-1772. The most active is the second period, when a number of Moldovan rulers, first of all Stephen III the Great, actively tried to put their plans in practice. After the defeat of Peter Rareș’s troops near Obertyn on August 22, 1531, and subsequent unsuccessful attempts to reverse the situation in skirmishes with the crown troops of Poland (and in fact, the Ruthenian Voivodeship), which took place until 1538, the Princes of Moldova gave up their intentions, eventually turning into the vassals of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty. They took part in the campaigns of their suzerains to Podolia until 1699, for example in 1620-1621 or 1672, but practically could not set independent tasks for themselves. After the conclusion of the Peace of Karlowitz in 1699 and the restoration by the Kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of control over Kamianets in Podolia, which had been a part of the Ottoman Porte for 27 years as a separate eyalet, the Halych land de facto ceased to suffer from the enemy attacks from the south. Halych, its monastic centers entered, rather, the times of closer interaction with the Orthodox monasteries of Moldova. A prominent place among them was occupied by the Great Skete in Manyava – equally revered by the rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Moldova, the Cossack Hetmanate and Muscovy (later – the Russian Empire). A complex of published and unpublished sources from the archives and libraries of Bucharest, Cluj, Iași, Suceava, Brașov Botoşani systematically and comprehensively reflects the outlined relationships. Unfortunately, it does not seem possible currently to find the lost fragments of chronicles of Galician provenience in the Romanian collections, which under various circumstances were taken outside the territory of their origin. The largest part of the sources counts various monuments of the church literature – the living witnesses of very close inter-monastic relations of the 14th-18th centuries.

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DESPRE RELAȚIA DINTRE CREȘTINISM, CREDINȚELE RELIGIOASE ȘI PLURALITATEA RELIGIOASĂ

Author(s): Gelu CĂLINA / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3/2024

Four aspects of religious pluralism are discussed that help to clarify the meaning of this concept. First of all, it refers to the fact that pluralism is not only diversity, but also its energetic correlation with diversity. Second, it highlights that pluralism does not only mean tolerance, but also the active search for understanding that appears as beyond the lines that draw differences. Third, pluralism is not relativism, but the making of mutual commitments, which means the responsibility to preserve what makes us who we are in the deepest way, even the differences in our beliefs. Fourth, pluralism is based on dialogue, which means speaking and listening to the other, crossing the threshold and entering the religious world of the other and then returning home, enriched by this sacrament of marriage. In light of these approaches, we will summarize four scenarios regarding the future of religion and spirituality worldwide. Through this approach we want to highlight the role of the relationship between Christianity, religious beliefs and religious plurality.

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THE BEGINNINGS OF THE COMMUNIST DICTATORIAL REGIME IN ROMANIA. THE STATUS OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (1945-1947)

Author(s): SERGIU-GRIGORE POPESCU / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2023

On February 27, 1945, the Deputy Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R., Andrei Ianuarievici Vâșinski, asked King Mihai I of Romania (1921-2017) to immediately dismiss the government led by General Nicolae Radescu and appoint Petru Groza, one of the leaders of the Communist Party, as Prime Minister of Romania. In order to forestall any trace of disobedience from the Romanian authorities, the Soviets ordered the demobilization and disarmament of numerous units of aviation, artillery, infantry, police, and firefighters in Bucharest. All firearms were placed under Soviet custody. In vain were the protests of the Romanian General Staff, which showed that "disarmament has the most serious consequences on the morale of the entire population, as well as the Romanian army, which cannot be subjected to such contradictory treatment, namely: on the front, Romania is a comrade in battle whose joint efforts are required, and on its territory, the object of capture, disarmament, and vexation." In addition to Russian tanks and patrols, 4.000 N.K.V.D. agents were also sent to the capital of Romania. (the future K.G.B.), their mission was the complete neutralization and disarmament of all Romanian defense units and the imposition by force of a communist totalitarian regime following the Russian (Soviet) model. Between 1945-1947, the early years of the communist dictatorship in Romania, the Romanian Orthodox Church was among the institutions that enjoyed "special attention" from the new regime. Atheists, according to the political doctrine they had embraced, the Romanian communists of this period drew up the coordinates of State-Church relationships that would define Romanian Orthodoxy for 45 years. In just a few years, about twothirds of the Romanian Orthodox hierarchs in office at the time of the establishment of the communist regime were forced to retire or resign. The removal of the hierarchs was considered undesirable. The appointment of obedient people in the Orthodox dioceses became a priority for the communist regime after taking power. However, the pressures would intensify at the beginning of 1946, when Patriarch Nicodim initiated a series of meetings with Roman Catholic prelates, meetings that indicated a possible orientation of the Romanian Orthodox Church towards the West and a separation from the Russian Orthodox Church. In the years to come, thousands of priests, church singers, theological students, monks, and nuns will be arrested and sent to re-education camps, tortured, and killed because they did not want to collaborate with the communist authorities, continuing to think freely and, unacceptable for a dictatorial regime, to abuses and injustices of any kind.

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Simpozionul ,,Maramureș - promotor al culturii și identității românești în lume" (3-5 septembrie 2021)

Author(s): Andrei Farcaș / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3/2021

Between the 3rd and the 5th of September 2021, there took place in Baia Mare the international symposium "Maramures - Promoter of the Romanian Culture and Identity in the World". This symposium took place within the context of "The Homage Year of the Pastoral Activity of the Romanians from outside of Romania'' and was organized by the Diocese of Maramure§ and Satmar, in co-operation with other institutions partners within the project.

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Pravno-religijski modeli Evropske unije i Crne Gore: Pravoslavno pitanje i jeretički odgovor

Author(s): Nikola B. Šaranović / Language(s): Montenegrine Issue: 10/2021

The paper is the first text in a series entitled “Law-religious Models of the European Union and Montenegro”. It examines the variable of the Montenegrin “Orthodox question”, through the optics of “memory mutation”, borrowed from one of the leading sociologists of religion, Grace Davy. This is an attempt to clarify the murky waters of current interpretations, returning to the source of key civil and canonical acts of the Kingdom of Montenegro and the search for the true meaning of their provisions, through authentic interpretations of their creators — Valtazar Bogisic and Nikodim Milas. On that Verstehen path, we stop at those places where the primary historical sources are condensed, and on which the author bases his contributions to answer the Montenegrin “Orthodox question”, such as “Monument to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the archbishopric service of His Eminence Metropolitan of Montenegro Mitrofan Ban”. The goal of this path is to determine the coordinates for the synthetic overcoming of thesis and antithesis in the dialectic of Montenegrin identity controversy, as a broader, antecedent variable, from which the Montenegrin “Orthodox question” arises, requiring an answer as a precondition for the final establishment of a sustainable law-religious model of Montenegro depends.

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Conferința ,,Bucuria vindecării. Știința și credința" (Paraclisul Catedralei Naționale, 13 decembrie 2021)

Author(s): Marinel Laurențiu Marcu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3/2021

On the 13th of December 2021, the Conference "The joy of recovery. Science and faith" took place in the Chapel of the National Cathedral, with the blessing of His Beatitude Father Daniel, Patriarch of Romania. His Grace Father Varlaam Ploiesteanul, patriarchal Vicar-Bishop, in his capacity as representative of the Head of our Church, Romanian doctors and university professors, volunteers and faithful of the Chapel of the National Cathedral also participated in this special event.

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