Religious education in Serbia

Grußwort zur Eröffnung des Centrums für Religiöse Studien (Wolf D. Ahmed Aries) 27 Festvortrag Kinder Abrahams. Zur Möglichkeit und Notwendigkeit eines Miteinander von Juden, Christen und Muslimen (Karl-Josef Kuschet) 33 Beiträge ..

Questioning Western Approaches to Religion in the Former Yugoslavia

The paper examines to what extent the policies of the United States and West European countries and international organisations affect ethno-confessional segmentation, political attitudes of religious leaders and institutions and contribute to the goal of stabilisation and peaceful reintegration of the successor states of former Yugoslavia to Europe and the wider world, which most of them purport to achieve. It does so by three-tier level analysis into: 1) Symbolic promotion of religious leadership; 2) Political, legal and financial involvement and policies; 3) Fostering interfaith dialogue and reconciliation.Cet article pose la question de la façon dont les politiques des États-Unis, des pays d’Europe occidentale et des organisations internationales affectent la segmentation ethno-confessionnelle, les attitudes politiques des dirigeants et des institutions religieuses et contribuent à l’objectif de stabilisation et de réintégration pacifique des États successeurs de l’ex-Yougoslavie dans l’Europe et dans le monde, objectif que la plupart d’entre eux entendent atteindre. L’analyse se développe à trois niveaux : 1) celui de la promotion symbolique des dirigeants religieux ; 2) celui des politiques et de l’implication politique, juridique et financière ; 3) celui de l’encouragement du dialogue et de la réconciliation interconfessionnels

“Symphonia”? A New Patriarch Attempts to Redefine Church–State Relations in Serbia

The authors examine the relationship between Church and state in Serbia since the election of the new patriarch in February 2021. They demonstrate the ways in which Church and state have begun to take divergent paths. This is not to suggest that political and ecclesiastical power are not deeply entwined in contemporary Serbia—they are. However, the authors show how—contrary to accounts which present Church and state as practically homologous—clerical and political leaders are increasingly pulling in different directions. They evaluate the key features of what has so far been a brief, but momentous tenure of the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije. A particular emphasis is placed on the new patriarch’s ecclesiastical diplomacy, the ever-increasing role of the Church as a mnemonic agent, the Church’s reaction to Belgrade hosting an LGBT pride parade and, finally, its rapport with the Serbian government

Nationalism in Construction: The Memorial Church of St. Sava on Vračar Hill in Belgrade

The role of St. Sava, whom the late Serbian Patriarch German praised as the “Sun of Serbian heaven” in Serbian oral tradition during medieval and Ottoman period was to al-ways watch over Serbian people. In the age of nationalism however, the Serbian cult of St. Sava acquired different tasks representing and reproducing, depending on circumstances, powerful images of national golden age, national reconciliation and unification and/or martyrdom for the Church and the nation. For more than a century now, a church dedicated to this saint is being built in Belgrade, aimed to epitomize and monumentalize these images. After years of oblivion the Serbian Church in mid-1990s drew attention back to the St. Sava Church and began holding services on the plateau in front of the construction site or recently even inside the unfinished church. In the atmosphere of the complete breakdown of the Serbian society, where basic economic and political security could not be provided, not to mention spiritual or cultural revival, “Serbian National Cathedral” was again hailed as a celebration of “victory over the enemy” and the segment of its role as the act of societal repentance for the communist era was lost. In the year 2000, after the overthrow of Milošević and almost a ten-years break, the work has begun again. More than a century after its construction was initiated, the Church on Vračar Hill is still awaiting completion and to assume the monumental and memorial role it was assigned

RESISTING THE YUGOSLAV WARS: TOWARDS AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHY

Unatoč organiziranju nekoliko masovnih protesta i znatnom izbjegavanju vojne obveze, antiratnom aktivizmu u bivšoj Jugoslaviji posvetio se mali broj ljudi. Opažanja i analize u ovom tekstu bave se najmanje dokumentiranom temom prigovora savjesti i dezerterstva, koje su bile moja preokupacija između 1991. i 1999. Tekst kontekstualizira antimilitaristički i antiratni angažman u (bivšoj) Jugoslaviji i ukazuje na neke od glavnih faktora koji su ga oblikovali, počevši od neizostavne uloge majki, preko feminističkog antimilitarizma, stranih aktivista/aktivistkinja, anarho-punka, pa sve do Kristova Govora na gori. Svjedočenje o mom učešću u antiratnom pokretu podijeljeno je na tri cjeline – kako sam postao aktivist, aktivizam i razmišljanja o aktivizmu. Posebno se bavim razlikama i vezama koje su postojale među antiratnim aktivistima/aktivistkinjama diljem bivše Jugoslavije koji/koje su se našli/našle na suprotnim stranama fronta, kao i našim kontaktima s aktivistima/aktivistkinjama iz inozemstva. Efekti postjugoslavenskog antimilitarističkog angažmana su analizirani i prezentirani kako bi eventualno mogli koristiti međunarodnom mirovnom pokretu.Despite some massive protests and draft evasion, anti-war activism in the former Yugoslavia remained a minority affair. Centred on my own activist trajectory, my observations and analysis focus on the most controversial and least documented issues of conscientious objection and military desertion that were my main concerns during the 1991–1999 period. In addition, I briefly contextualise anti-militarist and anti-war resistance in (ex-)Yugoslavia and account for various forces that have shaped it from the perennial role of mothers, to feminist anti-militarism, international activists, anarcho-punks and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The testimony of my involvement in the anti-war movement is structured around three themes of ‘becoming an activist’, ‘being an activist’ and ‘thinking about activism’. It addresses the differences and the links between anti-war activists in the former Yugoslavia, who found themselves on opposite war ringsides as well as our contacts with international activists. Finally, it examines the impact of post-Yugoslav anti-militarism and the lessons it can offer to the international peace movement

Traditional Eastern European diet and mortality : prospective evidence from the HAPIEE study

Purpose: cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality rates in Eastern Europe are among the highest in the world. Although diet is an important risk factor, traditional eating habits in this region have not yet been explored. This analysis assessed the relationship between traditional dietary pattern and mortality from all-causes, CVD and cancer in Eastern European cohorts. Methods: data from the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors in Eastern Europe prospective cohort were used, including participants from Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic. Based on food frequency questionnaire data, we constructed an Eastern European diet score (EEDS) from nine food groups which can be considered as traditional in this region. The relationship between categorical (low, moderate, high) and continuous (range 0-18) EEDS and mortality was estimated with Cox-regression. Results: from 18,852 eligible participants, 2234 died during follow-up. In multivariable adjusted models, participants with high adherence to the traditional Eastern European diet had significantly higher risk of all-cause (HR 1.23; 95% CI 1.08-1.42) and CVD (1.34; 1.08-1.66) deaths compared to those with low adherence. The association with cancer mortality was only significant in Poland (high vs. low EEDS: 1.41; 1.00-1.98). From the specific EEDS components, high consumption of lard was significantly positively related to all three mortality outcomes, while preserved fruit and vegetable consumption showed consistent inverse associations. Conclusion: our results suggest that traditional eating habits may contribute to the poor health status, particularly the high CVD mortality rates, of populations in Eastern Europe. Adequate public health nutritional interventions in this region are essential