Nationalist Hagiopolitics: Orthodox Canonization in Romania and Russia, 1988–2025

Purpose – This qualitative multiple-case study research attempts to examine controversies associated with national education and national identity by exploring the perceptions of national identity of Hong Kong secondary school teachers. Since the resumption of Hong Kong's sovereignty by China in 1997, national identification with Chinese has been a policy priority. Hong Kong has seen an increase of national education, which aims at cultivating a Chinese national identity. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted with case study method with a convenient sampling method on ten purposively chosen sample of Hong Kong secondary school teachers, who are responsible for citizenship education in their schools. It is a qualitative research design with each teacher interviewed twice to obtain in-depth interview data. Findings – The findings reveal that teachers perceive their national identity with different emphases, which include both elements of civic and ethnic nationalism. Also, Hong Kong teachers showed a diversified perception of their national identity both before and after 1997, and it was found that political, social and personal events exerted influences upon their national identification. These have implication for understanding identity issue and teaching citizenship education in Hong Kong. Originality/value – This paper attempts to make a contribution towards understanding teachers’ perceptions of national identity by revealing that Hong Kong teachers perceive their national identity with both elements of civic and ethnic nationalism, and their perceptions are mediated by political, social and personal events. Furthermore, multiple levels of identities, namely, local, national, and global levels, should be observed.

The aim of this article is to provide a detailed analysis of the fundamental principles of the state-church relationship model in the Republic of Romania, which can be classified as a specific model of friendly separation. This model is based on a balance between the formal separation of state and religious institutions and the possibility of state support for religious activities in areas such as education, culture and social welfare. A significant element of the Romanian model is its acknowledgment of the historical and cultural role of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which holds a prominent position in shaping Romanians’ national identity and public life. The Church plays a crucial role in maintaining social bonds and transmitting the nation’s heritage. The article also highlights unique features of the Romanian model, such as its three-tier legal classification system for religious communities, which differentiates the legal status of registered denominations, religious associations, and religious groups. This system, combined with the historical significance of Orthodoxy, gives the Romanian model distinctive characteristics that set it apart from other countries implementing a model of friendly separation, an example being Poland. The analysis demonstrates how local historical, cultural and social conditions influence the development of Romania’s specific version of the friendly separation model. The author argues that although the autonomy of both spheres is formally maintained, cooperation between the state and recognized religious communities (particularly the Romanian Orthodox Church) is essential for the fulfillment of many public tasks, especially in areas requiring the fostering of national unity.

For the most part, contemporary Romanian Orthodox spirituality is still heavily based on a rhetoric which builds on the notion of ancestry with the intention not only to provide Romanians with a safe comfort zone, but also to secure its privileges and influence over most of today’s Romanian society. In attempting to go back in history to demonstrate that the ancestry of Romanians is sufficient proof for their full and unconditional adherence to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in its local Romanian version as the Romanian Orthodox Church, most of today’s representatives of Romanian Orthodox spirituality—notably Dumitru Stăniloae, Ioan Rămureanu, and Teoctist, the former Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church—focused on a rhetoric that, on the one hand, takes Romanians back to their Thracian, Dacian, and Roman ancestors, while on the other hand, seeks to inculcate the idea that an unflinching adherence to this specific ancestry, which is described as Christian by nature and birth, must be kept at all costs. Thus, this specific kind of rhetoric attempts to build a protective fence around Romanians, who are taught that they need to preserve their Eastern Orthodox Christianity and their allegiance to the Romanian Orthodox Church mostly because, since their ancestors were Christians, they are in fact born Christian. The process of building this protective wall around Romanians is described by means of the term ‘ecodomy’ and, unlike its general use in contemporary debates as focusing on positive aspects, the particular focus of the Romanian Orthodox Church on ecodomy based on the idea of ancestry is going to be revealed mostly through a chain of negative connotations. Thus, the contemporary rhetoric of the Romanian Orthodox Church based on the notion of ancestry as ecodomy—one may even call it negative ecodomy—is going to be explained in connection with three fundamental aspects, namely church, nation, and culture, all intended to preserve not only the influence of the Romanian Orthodox Church in nowadays Romanian society, but also a set of privileges in its relationship with the state.

There exist many popular ideas as to the supposed negative effects of English as a foreign language (EFL) education on local and national identities in Colombia, and this study examines whether there is any truth to such claims. While the relationship between target language and target language identity has been amply studied in the field of language and identity, the relationship between foreign language learning and original national and regional identities has yet to be explored in the nation-of-origin context. This study used a quantitative survey applied to 400 people with different levels of EFL instruction in Ibague, Colombia, to seek to determine the nature of the relationship between EFL and variations in the worth and perception of regional and national identity over a period of exposure to EFL. The findings were that, in contrast to popular beliefs, EFL instruction over time not only increased the perceived worth of Colombian national identity significantly while slightly increasing the positive perception of regional (Tolimense) identity over the course of three years but also that national language identity, i.e., being a Hispanophone, increased as well. Additionally, in contrast to study abroad research conducted on language learning and identity, this study found that country-of-origin foreign language instruction does not entail the increased ethnocentricity found in study-abroad situations.

During the last 30 years Romania has experienced a revival of church attendance, and a significant increase in the number of houses of worship, having the highest rate of construction in Europe. The paper provides theoretical arguments that support the idea that the increase in church attendance has roots in the fast growth in the number of houses of worship, which provide easier access to religious services, and help the development of parish communities, which are highly relevant for Eastern Orthodoxy. This growth is the outcome of the privileged position of the Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC), which received funding from the central government and in-kind support from local authorities to extend the ROC's infrastructure, in exchange for active support in the political arena granted by the ROC to the party in power. Different from other religious organizations in Romania or other Orthodox churches in post-communist societies, the ROC is a powerful organization, and played its cards to get privileges from the political power during the communist and post-communist eras, which made the ROC more visible and attractive to the Romanian public. The research uses a composition of pooled datasets derived from 18 national and international surveys in Romania, covering a time span of 27 years, from 1991 to 2018, and employs multilevel logistic regression. The hypothesis regarding the relationship between the growth in church attendance and the increasing number of houses of worship is supported by the empirical data. Data have shown that growth in the number of houses of worship may fuel religious revivals, even if the offer is homogenous, and comes from nearly only one religious provider.

The acknowledgment of autocephaly represents ahistorical moment for the Romanian Orthodox Church, it means full freedom inorganizing and administering internal affairs, without any interference orcontrol of any church authority from outside. This church act did not removethe Romanian Orthodox Church from the unity of ecumenical Orthodoxy, but, onthe contrary, was such as to preserve and ensure good relations with theEcumenical Patriarchate and all other SisterOrthodoxChurches, and promote a dogmatic,cult, canonical and work unity. The Orthodox Church in the Romanianterritories, organized by the foundation of the Metropolis of Ungro-Wallachia(1359) and the Metropolis of Moldavia and Suceava (1401), became one of thefundamental institutions of the state, supporting the strengthening of theruling power, to which it conferred spiritual legitimacy. The action of formal recognition of autocephalyculminated in the Ad Hoc Divan Assembly’s 1857 vote of desiderata calling for“recognition of the independence of the Eastern Orthodox Church, from theUnited Principalities, of any Diocesan Bishop, but maintaining unity of faithwith the EcumenicalChurch of the East withregard to the dogmas”. The efforts of the Romanian Orthodox Church forautocephaly were long and difficult, knowing a new stage after the Unificationof the Principalities in 1859 and the unification of their state life (1862),which made it necessary to organize the NationalChurch.This was strongly supported by the metropolitans Nyphon of Ungro-Wallachia(1850-1875) and Calinic of Moldavia (1865-1875) and warmly embraced by theruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866) and by the political class of that time. The efforts forautocephaly did not cease on Cuza’s abdication, but they also continued underKing Carol I, who supported the efforts of the Orthodox Church in Romania tofulfil its aspirations, in accordance with the will of the Romanian clergy andbelievers, while acknowledging that the institution of the Church “has alwaysbeen closely bound to the destinies of the country.”It was a long, yetso impressive way that the Romanian Orthodox Church has come, from centuries ofbrilliant history to a period of over two decades of the nineteenth century, atthe end of which the status of Romanian Orthodoxy as autocephalous church wasdefinitively sanctioned.

Aim. The Romanian Orthodox Church in Hungary and Yugoslavia encountered a series of shortcomings between the two world wars.
 Conclusion. Regardless of the political realities of the times, the Romanians coalesced around the Romanian Orthodox Church. That is why, not by chance, the great poet Mihai Eminescu identifies the Romanian Orthodox Church with the institution that preserved the Latin element near the Danube. The activity of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Hungary and Yugoslavia in the interwar period was mainly performed by priests.

This thesis is primarily concerned with how London West End revue engaged in the construction and representation of national and racial identities. The central research question is: what do these representations of national and racial identities in West End revue tell us about wider British culture and society in this period? In answering this question, I explore and develop a number of understandings of how national and racial identity operated in mainstream popular culture. How important was the influence of national and racial politics to revue’s success? Why was identity so compelling a theme in these shows? How did other dimensions of difference, such as gender, sexuality and class, interact within these representations of race and nation? What does revue tell us about the changing state and status of Britain under the influence of new technologies, migration and early globalisation? How does this particular focus on national and racial identities change or challenge our wider understanding of revue and its significance in British culture across this period? My thesis proposes that London West End revue was a topical, satirical popular theatre that engaged in national identity discourse and reconstituted identity formations through music, dance and wordplay. Through contextual and textual analysis, I highlight the attitudes, assumptions and beliefs that informed revue performance and narratives and reflected provocative new lifestyles, values and politics. Often politically conservative, protective of the status quo and concerned with appealing to a mainstream audience, revue was highly sensitive to the status and position of both Britain and London and cultivated a sense of itself as the defender of a colonial empire and, at the same time, the centre of a cosmopolitan culture that competed with other metropolitan centres such as Paris, Berlin and New York.

In an increasingly globalized world, the tension between global citizenship and national identity has garnered significant academic interest. For Uzbek female students studying abroad, the intersection of national identity and international education presents unique challenges and opportunities. This study explores how participation in international programs influences the national identity and patriotic sentiments of these students, who are often seen as cultural custodians within Uzbek society. Drawing on theories of cultural identity, globalization, and educational sociology, this research examines how Uzbek female students navigate their sense of patriotism while engaging with diverse cultural environments abroad. Through a mixed-methods approach involving surveys and interviews, the study reveals that, despite challenges of cultural dislocation and identity negotiation, most students retain a strong connection to their homeland, with a clear intention to return and contribute to Uzbekistan’s development. The findings highlight the dual role of social media as both a bridge to home and a source of global perspectives, shaping students' perceptions of national and global identities. The study concludes with policy recommendations for educational institutions and policymakers to foster environments that strengthen national identity and promote a sense of responsibility toward Uzbekistan, ensuring that international education supports the cultivation of globally aware yet culturally rooted future leaders. Additionally, recommendations are given to Uzbek female students studying abroad to help them maintain their cultural identity, adapt effectively to new environments, and leverage their international experiences for the benefit of Uzbekistan upon their return.

At first glance, the nationalist ideology of the French Revolution seems to have had little impact on the Orthodox Church in Romanian-speaking territories. Romanians were the predominant inhabitants of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia and the neighboring territories of Transylvania (including Crisana, Maramures and Banat), Bukovina, Bessarabia, and Dobrudja. The majority of ethnic Romanians belonged to the Orthodox faith while their communities were at the intersection of geopo liti cal interests of the Rus sian, Ottoman, and Habsburg empires. In 1859 the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (known as the Old Kingdom between 1866 and 1918) united into a single state under the rule of a local prince. The term Romania began to be used by the new state in its of cial documents in 1862. Two years later, the state supported the declaration of a Romanian autocephalous (in de pen dent) church that was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1885. As an integrative part of the Orthodox commonwealth, the church was situated between the competing jurisdictions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Rus sian Orthodox Church, while its declaration of autocephaly followed a pattern in the spread of national churches in Southeastern Europe. From the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainardji of 1774 to the beginning of the Greek War for In de pen dence in 1821, the Romanian principalities were under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, which had full control of their po liti cal and economic affairs. The sultan appointed princes, and the Porte determined their po liti cal and judicial status. The princes were drawn from the Phanariots, and were directly appointed by the Porte from preponderantly Greek elite rather than the Romanian local elite, the boyars (boieri).1 In each principality, the church was headed by a metropolitan who was under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. That religion mattered to local population as a means of social cohesion was suggestively depicted by Anatole de Demidoff, an En glish traveler in the region in 1837. Arriving in Bucharest, the capital of Wallachia, he claimed that: I know of no city in Europe in which it is possible to find more agreeable society, or in which there is a better tone, united with the most charming gaiety⋯. Religion, which is here of the schismatic Greek creed, does not, properly speaking, hold any great empire over the minds of the Wallachian people, but they observe its outward forms, and particularly the austerities of fasting, with scrupulous exactitude. The people are seen to attend divine ser vice with every sign of respect, and the great number of churches existing in Wallachia, bear witness to the ardent zeal with which outward worship is honored.2 The Romanian Orthodox Church was a national institution, closely linked to social, economic, and po liti cal structures. In most cases, Orthodox hierarchs were appointed from the families of boyars, thus ensuring a close relationship with the state authorities and its policies. As one of the largest landowners in the principalities, the church had a prime role in administrating healthcare and education. Although the majority of the clergy was uneducated, it dispensed both ecclesiastical and civil justice and in many cases worked closely with boyars in local administration.3 The lower clergy not only contributed directly to the economy but also benefited from tax privileges. Some small villages had an unusually high proportion of clergy in comparison to the overall population. For example, in 1810, Stənisləvesti, a village in the south of Wallachia, was composed of eleven houses and had two priests, five deacons, and three cantors; similarly, the Frəsinet village of nineteen houses had two priests and five deacons.4 Although these cases were exceptional, they indicate both the economic value of being a member of the clergy and the wider canonical dimension of church jurisdiction. The special status of the clergy was reflected not only at lower but also at higher levels. Bishops and metropolitans engaged with state policy and in many cases opposition to the authorities led to the loss of a spiritual seat. The metropolitan of each principality worked with the prince and was president of the divan, the gathering of all boyars. He held the right to be the first person to comment on state policy and to make recommendations when the prince was absent. The metropolitan replaced the prince when the principality had no political ruler, such as in the cases of Metropolitan Veniamin Costachi of Moldavia in 1806 and Metropolitan Dositei Filitti of Wallachia, while the bishops of Buzəu and Arges were members of the provisional government during the Rus sian occupation of the principalities in 1808. The higher clergy had both religious and political prerogatives in relation to foreign powers as evident in their heading of the boyars' delegation to peace negotiation between the Rus sian and Ottoman empires at Focsani in 1772 and addressing memoranda to the Austrian and Rus sian governments in 1802.5 The primary role of the church in the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia was paralleled by the national mobilization of Orthodox communities in the neighboring territories that had Romanian inhabitants. Although throughout the region Orthodox communities were incorporated into church structures as part of the Habsburg, Austrian or Rus sian empires, the nineteenth century was characterized by the leadership's search for political autonomy and the building of a Romanian national identity. The Orthodox communities outside the Old Kingdom maintained relations with the faithful in principalities across the Carpathian Mountains and the Dniester River and sought support in their struggle for political and religious rights.

This article examines the relations of the Romanian Orthodox Church (RoOC) towards the Romanian Greek Catholic Church (rgcc), a Byzantine rite church formed around 1700. Until World War ii, the rgcc was a substantial ecclesial entity, but in 1948 the new communist leaders of Romanian dissolved the ugcc and seized its properties, allowing the RoOC the use of most religious properties. Former rgcc clergy who did not join the RoOC were persecuted, but the church survived underground, emerging in 1989 with considerably fewer adherents than in 1948. Attempts by the rgcc to recover properties seized in 1948 were met with strong resistance by RoOC hierarchy and parishes. Notwithstanding the involvement of the RoOC in ecumenical undertakings, it has not acted in accordance with Christian principles and in conflict with its commitment to ecumenism, by supporting the dissolution of the rgcc, and its opposition to the restoration of seized properties.

his article analyses the views of Ioan Mateiu, a prominent Transylvanian Orthodox intellectual and theologian, on the relationship between the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR) and the Romanian state in the interwar period. Mateiu strongly advocated for the autonomy of the BOR considering it is a fundamental institution for the national identity and spirituality of Romanians. He criticised the Romanian state’s policy of excessive centralisation and saw this as a threat to the autonomy of the church and its specific traditions. Mateiu was also an ardent critic of the extended rights granted to minority cults, as he believed that they marginalised the BOR and weakened its influence in society. At the same time, he argued for a clearer definition of the BOR’s status as the dominant church and emphasised its fundamental role in preserving the national and spiritual identity of Romanians. The article is based on a detailed analysis of Mateiu’s articles in the interwar press. This analysis reveals a complex picture of his view of the relationship between church and state, emphasising both conservative and modern elements of his thought.

This chapter looks at the evolution of the work and philanthropic network of the Romanian Orthodox Church (RoOC), helping to shed light on some apparently contrasting views of Orthodox engagement in modern society. It discusses several documents, including the Law no. 489/2006 on religious freedom and general status of denominations, the 2008 Statutes of the RoOC, and various documents related to the Church's status as a social services provider. The task of developing a Romanian Orthodox thought or social theology is largely delegated to theologians, save on the key topic of human rights, where Patriarch Daniel Ciobotea appears to be interested in taking the lead. This paradoxical evolution of work and thought of the Orthodox Church on separate tracks may be due, in part, to the partly decentralized construction and incremental institutionalization of the RoOC's role. Keywords: paradoxical evolution; Patriarch Daniel Ciobotea; philanthropic network; religious freedom; Romanian Orthodox Church (RoOC); services provider; theology; work

In 2006 a bi-lateral donor working with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) in Cambodia identified the need for improving the quality of literacy. The bilateral donor outsourced the contract to a team of British consultants to design and lead an early literacy project working alongside Khmer national consultants. This article begins by discussing and analysing how globalized perceptions of teaching, learning and national identity were enshrined in the development of training and classroom materials for both teacher and pupils. It uses the example of the place of phonics in the teaching of reading to explore the contradictions in practice between donor and low income countries. By examining the perceptions and assumptions made by all parties and analysing the discourse that took place in the development process it is possible to identify how national education and perceptions of identity and citizenship come into conflict with what was identified as a ‘global pedagogy’. As more agencies become involved and agendas change, the conflict between issues of national identity, citizenship and global pedagogy become increasingly blurred leaving the authors the task of unpacking the relative importance of these concepts on the impact of the project. We conclude that in educational project design there is a need to strike a balance between the influences exerted through international practice and priorities against the effects of local conditions, culture and context.

The Ecumenical ReviewVolume 39, Issue 3 p. 352-355 The Romanian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Movement An Assessment of 25 Years of Membership in WCC Nifon Ploiesteanu, Nifon Ploiesteanu Bishop Nifon (Romanian Orthodox) is vicar to the Patriarch in Bucharest and Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church.Search for more papers by this author Nifon Ploiesteanu, Nifon Ploiesteanu Bishop Nifon (Romanian Orthodox) is vicar to the Patriarch in Bucharest and Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church.Search for more papers by this author First published: July 1987 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6623.1987.tb01426.x Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume39, Issue3July 1987Pages 352-355 RelatedInformation