Marian Apparitions as New Religious Movements

Abstract

Marian apparitions, as diverse, global, and dynamic phenomena, offer opportunities for multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural analysis. We are pleased in this special issue to offer seven essays highlighting the increasing internationalization of Marian devotional movements. Our contributors, using both local case studies and a global, comparative view to explore instances of apparitions in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, collectively indicate three major points. First, apparitional movements are globally-connected, complex, and multi-layered. Second, apparitional movements are situated among so many social and political nodes that they are diverse, even internally, and therefore difficult to categorize. Third, apparitions are informed by both grassroots activism and institutional religious structures. These themes challenge categories in the study of religion, including disciplinary categories, and pose questions for further research.

Syncretism and Identity: The Integration of Lutheranism among the Mari People of Bashkortostan, Russia

“…Previous studies have highlighted the complexity of religious syncretism among Marians, with a particular focus on the interaction between traditional religious beliefs and Russian Orthodoxy. Research into how this syncretism manifests and is debated in a global religious context has challenged traditional religious categories, suggesting that Marian aparition is a complex and layered global phenomenon, which challenges traditional religious categories (Krebs & Laycock, 2017). The concept of syncretism, or the incorporation of various beliefs into a single religious system, has been a controversial topic in religious studies, with several studies highlighting the controversial dynamics of syncretism in the contemporary European context, especially regarding theological criteria for the limits of syncretism in the Christian faith (Koertner, 2013;Leopold & Jensen, 2016).…”