On the Shifting Nature of Religion during the Ongoing Post-Communist Transformation in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine

Abstract

The author discusses the issues of religiosity in Belarus, Ukraine and especially Russia raised by Irena Borowik in her articles in Social Compass: the revival of religiosity after the breakdown of the Soviet Union, the mixed nature of contemporary beliefs and religious practices among the post-Soviet population, and specific features of the Russian Orthodox Church, its relationship with the state and its current problems. The author combines empirical data on religiosity in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine with the particular historical circumstances of this region that made it possible to apply the theoretical framework of such theories as post-communist trauma, modernization and multiple modernities.

Religious Change among Cohorts in Eastern Europe: A Longitudinal Analysis of Religious Practice and Belief in Formerly Communist Countries

“…Although we do not have data to support or deny it, this argument seems visible in the increase of beliefs that can also be syncretic. In addition, this increase in levels of personal belief is supported by the minor growth we found in traditional and institutional religiosity, which people use as a way of burning bridges with their communist past (Mitrokhin 1994), and is consistent with religion becoming an integrating factor in Russian society (Titarenko 2008). This growth is visible within the increasing trend for church attendance among the youngest cohort.…”

“…In addition, Pollack (2003) finds that predominantly Catholic Eastern European countries show high attendance rates that are comparable to their Catholic Western European peers. Titarenko (2008) also finds these high rates of mass attendance in Catholic countries compared to predominantly Orthodox countries; she interprets this situation as the ability and the willingness of Catholic churches to educate their adherents' systems of belief. Overall, the Catholic Church seems to have more strongly resisted the political and ideological pressure of the regime (Pollack 2003).…”

Religion and Civil Society in Europe

“…According to the theory of post-Communist trauma, the turn towards religion was a strategy of adjusting to the new market reality and preparing for radical change Titarenko 2008 ). According to sociological studies, during the 1970s, the level of religiosity (belonging to a denomination) in USSR ranged from 10 to 15 % in the cities and from 20 to 30 % in rural areas.…”

“…Even though Catholics in Ukraine and Muslims in Russia are the second most popular denominations in terms of belonging, both of them have a lesser number of organisations compared to Protestants in the region. But, as Titarenko has stressed, the Orthodox Church does not control believers' behaviours to the same degree as the Roman Catholic or Protestant churches, mainly because of the lower level of 'external religiosity' in the former Soviet countries, as well as non-effective instruments for increasing regular church attendance (Titarenko 2008 ). Faith-based organisations as mediating institutions generate social capital differently than other social institutions, making up for the democratic defi cit caused by the relative weakness of trade unions, national federations and anonymous umbrella organisations (Coleman 2003 ;Campbell and Yonish 2003 ).…”

Religious Identity and the Gospel of Reconciliation A Central European View

“…Beyond historical evidence a large amount of contemporary social scientifi c data shows divergent behavioral and social consequences of religiosity in both branches of Western Christianity. Th e end of the cold-war division of Europe, attempts at European unifi cation and the search for European identity have intensifi ed debates about the specifi city and social and cultural content of Orthodoxy (Flere 2008, Titarenko 2008, Tomka 2006b). Maybe Europe is now breathing with two lungs.…”