Fortieth Anniversary of Publishing OPREE (REE)

Forty years ago in February 1981 the first issue of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe appeared. The Executive Committee of the now defunct “Christians Associated for Relationship in Eastern Europe” of which I was a member and occasional president supported my initiative to start printing information as one of our tasks is to educate church leaders and scholars with reliable information about the religious situation under communism. Previously a fair number of American church leaders and travelers were misled not only by communist government officials who dealt with religious affairs of their respective countries but even by some local church officials who were not free to disclose the real situation in their churches. Misleading information was passed on asserting that those countries legalized and practiced real and unhindered religious freedom. When more accurate and realistic information was obtained it was necessary sometimes to protect the identity of persons who provided such specific information as they were under close surveillance by the secret police

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IN THIS ISSUE Most of the ordinary issues of OPREE contain articles dealing with diverse subject matters. This issue is different; it is special because it is devoted to the jubilee fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The initiative for it came from one of our advisory editors, Prof. Ruzhica Cacanoska, from Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, a country both ancient and new. The proclamation of autocephaly, i.e., a totally self-governing Orthodox church on July 17, 1967, has not only been rejected by the Serbian Orthodox Church within which the Orthodox Christian churches of the Republic of Macedonia were situated, but has not yet received canonical acceptance by any other Orthodox church. This is not unusual; other Orthodox churches also had to wait lengthy periods before such independence was confirmed by their sister churches. Details of the history and current issues can be found in this issue. The special issue is lengthy as it contains ten articles, nine by Macedonian authors and one by a Russian. In addition to acknowledging the very labor-intensive coordinating role by Prof. Cacanoska Skopje, we wish to acknowledge the support by the Orthodox Theological Faculty Sv. Kliment Ohridski, especially its dean, Prof. Gjoko Gjorgjevski, and Prof. Aco Girevski. Special thanks to our editorial assistant, Ms. Lena Van, who, as a volunteer holding a full-time job, somehow managed to copy-edit all articles in a very short time

Methodism in Macedonia Between the Two World Wars

After World War I ended, the part of Macedonia commonly called Vardar Macedonia was incorporated into the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (subsequently renamed Yugoslavia). It was officially proclaimed to be a part of Serbia as the Serbian government did not recognize a separate Macedonian nationality. Some 10 stations of the American Board, including the Bitola Girls\u27 School, were in this area. The American Board attempted to maintain a semblance of unity in the Balkan Mission, but Greece, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia were on such unfriendly terms that this was not feasible. For a while the American Board was planning to establish a strong mission in southern Yugoslavia, and the missionaries in Bulgaria made various recommendations in this direction, primarily suggesting sending out a competent missionary Serbian-speaking couple speaking, since the new government insisted that Serbian be the official language of Macedonia, and tried to obliterate the Macedonian or Bulgarian languages even though they were spoken by the majority

Religion in Eastern Europe After the Fall of Communism: From Euphoria to Anxiety

In the decades prior to the implosion of the communist system, change could be discerned here and there in Eastern Europe. The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of the most pertinent developments that spurred the transition from communism to post-communism, employing some fairly broad brushstrokes to make my case

The Methodist Church in Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1965: A Case Study of an Ecumenical Protestant Free Church in a Hostile Environment

Though in size resembling a sect, the Methodists of the former Yugoslavia functioned as a Protestant “Free Church” due to its international structural connection with a large worldwide Methodist Church. After disparate beginnings in the two locations, the Methodist of Vojvodina began to function in 1898 while in Macedonia, the former Congregationalist (called Evangelical) began their work in 1870 but were transferred to the Yugoslavia Methodist Mission Conference after World War I. In Vojvodina, most of the members were of German and Hungarian ethnicity who had already been Protestants before they joined the Methodists while in Macedonia, the members were ethnic Macedonians, formerly Orthodox Christians. In both localities, they sporadically experienced harassment and unequal legal status. When Yugoslavia became a communist country after World War II, ironically they obtained equal legal recognition as the other religious communities, but experienced various levels of persecution that were intense in the first decade after the war but gradually subsided with the liberalization of the society. In Vojvodina, the Methodists lost almost their entire German membership but these were replaced by the adherence of ethnic Slovaks in the late 1940s and early 1950s when their Blue Cross Society was banned. Theologically, the Methodists adopted the predominant view of nineteenth century pious Protestants that the large historical churches, especially the Catholic and Orthodox, have drifted away from the Gospel, but after World War II when the world-wide Methodist Church joined the World Council of Churches, a spirit of greater tolerance caused the Evangelical Methodists to cooperate with other churches. After the fall of Communism and the end of the wars following the disintegration of Yugoslavia, greater liberties were enjoyed. The greatest achievement was the election of one of its members, Boris Trajkovski, to the presidency of the Republic of Macedonia. Currently, the Evangelical or United Methodists are among the most dedicated proponents of dialogue and ecumenism in these lands

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Readers of OPREE are likely to consider different articles to be of importance to them and perhaps to the wider readership. Generally, I avoid trying to influence the readers as to the importance of the content of this publication as I rely on the intelligence and goodwill of the readers. In this issue, I am making an exception. Often I have heard friends in the USA and abroad complaining that so-called moderate Muslims do not publically condemn Islamist terrorism and do not provide alternative voices to the militants. From my extensive contacts with Muslims, I know this not to be true. What I did discover is that the authentic voice of the majority views of Muslims is often not afforded publicity in our media, press, and publications. In the writings of Dr. Mustafa Cerić, the Grand Mufti emeritus of Bosnia and Herzegovina, our readers will encounter a powerful voice directed both to Muslims and non-Muslims appealing for an effective coexistence and cooperation. The article, “Invitation: Declaration of European Muslims,” though originally written in 2006, seems as relevant in 2017 as it was when it was written and deserves wide dissemination. The article was recently published in an unusual multi-language book in Sarajevo which I also reviewed in this issue. My hope is that our readers around the world will read it carefully as Cerić is a prominent representative of a multitude of Muslim voices around the world who have not yet received due attention. In these tense times, it is important for those who believe in the possibility of forgiveness, reconciliation, and peaceful cooperation across various human barriers to respond to the former Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Dr. Mustafa Cerić and build good-will on this solid foundation. I invite you to this by sending me your comments

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Mojzes, Paul (2017) Frontmatter, Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 37 : Iss. 1 , Article 1

Book Review: Za bolji i pravedniji svijet: Etika politika religija [For a Better and More Just World: Ethics, Politics, Religion]

The book contains 98 columns written in the period from 2006 to 2009, by one of the best known and influential Protestant religious voices from Eastern Europe. A review of Peter Kuzmič, Za bolji i pravedniji svijet: Etika politika religija. [For a better and more just world: ethics, politics, religion], Zagreb-Sarajevo: Synopsis, 2019. Hard cover, 326 pp. ISBN: 978-953-7968-85-4