Religious Identity as the State’s Tool in Modification of Public Space and Its Identity: The Yugoslavian Concept of the Two Squares in Maribor

In 1934, after several years of struggle, the Orthodox community of Maribor was awarded a lot to construct a new sacral object on General Maister Square (then Yugoslavia Square) in Maribor, at the site of the recently removed monument dedicated to vice-admiral Wilhelm Tegetthoff. The square boasts a rich symbolic history, wherein the very names of the square have clearly indicated the identity of the city through time. The new government sought to modify public space in accordance with the new state – these spaces had to be given not only a Slovenian but also a Yugoslav outlook. The first modification was changing the square’s name to Yugoslavia Square, after which a Serbian Orthodox church was built in Serbian national architectural style by the architect Momir Korunović (1883–1969), who designed all three Serbian sacral objects in the province of Dravska Banovina (in Maribor, Ljubljana, and Celje). The Church of St. Lasarus was to be ideologically connected to the monument dedicated to King Aleksandar Karađorđević on Liberty Square, which would provide a clear Yugoslav identity to the city district. However, the construction of said monument was disabled by the beginning of the Second World War, while the church was destroyed by the Nazis in April 1941 and thus erased from local collective memory. Maribor was the northernmost city of Dravska Banovina and indeed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, yet its public space still failed to reflect a “Yugoslav identity” in the 1930s. Local residents primarily identified as Roman Catholic, while the city was politically predominantly ruled by the Slovenian People’s Party which imposed additional difficulties on the process of selecting the new church’s location. This paper will, accounting for the city’s religious and political climate, present Maribor as a place that obtained one of the biggest and most prominently representative Orthodox sacral objects, despite the fact the Orthodox religion was not dominant in the area. The focus will be on the question of the role and reflection of the unitarian-centralist politics of Belgrade through religion (Orthodox faith) on public space modification, what factors and agents design such space (and memory of such space) and in what way, by analysing commissions and art styles within the context of public spaces of Maister Square and Liberty Square in Maribor.

The Relationship between Religion and the Public Square: Freedom of Religion in the Public Space

The dissolution of Yugoslavia in the nineties brought a series of armed conflicts, civil wars and outright war to the Balkan Peninsula. The Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) was entangled in these conflicts. The SOC’s involvement in these wars has sparked an academic discussion about the role of religion, especially that of the SOC, in these conflicts. This discussion has so far mainly been social scientific in its scope and preoccupied with nationalist movements and political elites, and has therefore not sought to investigate the SOC’s own reflection on the war. Secondly the discussion of the SOC’s role has been on some level detached from the broader discussion of Christianity’s relation to war and violence. This article will provide an in-depth study of a selection of Serbian Orthodox reflections on war and its relationship to Christian, and in particular Eastern Orthodox, tradition, bringing forth ways in which parts of the SOC views war and violence.

The issue of primacy divides Roman Catholic (RCC) and Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in theological field. Painful historical heritage from Second World War is also the great obstacle. Yugoslav atheistic state supported development of inter-church relations in acceptable proportion that would increase national relations in Yugoslav federation. Its fear was related to possible 'common front' against ideological system. Regional inter-church relations were initiated by Vatican and Pope Paul II, while SOC accepted it particularly in the social field. Both agreed on common responsibility for the evangelization an atheistic society. The variety of institutional forms of cooperation was also agreed, Common Commission for dialogue of SOC Council and Yugoslav Bishop Conference, and Theological Faculties Conferences in Post World War II Vatican period. In post-conflict Balkan Societies, RCC and SOC agreed to continue common activities for post-conflict rehabilitation and evangelizational purposes.

This paper presents the competitions for developing urban-architectural solutions for Orthodox churches in Niš which took place from 1998 to 2021. In the past two years, student competitions for churches in Niš have taken place under the theme of "Sacred Architecture" at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Niš, in cooperation with the Orthodox Diocese of Niš. In addition to documenting the award-winning works, the paper analyzes the results of the competitions, with the aim of improving competition practice. The review of the competition entries is also related to the possibility of introducing sacral architecture into architectural educational, with the aim of improving the architectural design of Serbian Orthodox churches and documenting the competitions in Niš in order to development ideas for Serbian Orthodox churches. Based on the entries presented and analysis of the award-winning solutions, the importance of this phenomenon is highlighted.

Abstract: George Radin (Đorđe Radin, 1896–1981) was one of the numerous Serbian emigrants in the USA in the period right before WW2. He studied at the most eminent American Universities and had become an attorney, then a lawyer and finally an expert in international law. He managed to achieve great success and expertise in the field of American foreign politics and diplomacy. In the period between the two World Wars, he met Bishop Dr. Nicholai Velimirovich who made a strong impression on him. He was the Bishop’s guide across the USA during his two visits there: in 1920 and in 1927. During his first visit to the continent, the Bishop had organized the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), considering that at the time SOC didn’t have its residing bishop there. Radin was, according to his own testimony, one of the organizers of the Bishop’s arrival to America at the beginning of 1946. He had been of the opinion that this significant Bishop should live in one of the Protestant Churches and hold lectures at the Universities, thus serving SOC and its members. In other words, it was his conviction that the Bishop should have organized the church life in the same way he did in his previous two visits to the USA. However, the situation between the two World Wars was far more complicated. The Serbian Church had by that time appointed its ruling bishop in America and Canada — Dionisiye Milivoyevich (Dionisije Milivojević, 1898–1979), who parted ways with Bishop Nicholai soon after his arrival to the USA. Immense damage had been done to the SOC by the utter lack of cooperation between these two bishops. Bishop Nicholai found a “Solomon’s solution” for this by deciding to live and work in Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania. It was in this holy place that he reposed in 1956. Until the end of his life, Radin was of the opinion that a fundamental mistake had been made by the secession of the opportunity that through abiding in the Protestant communities Bishop Nicholai might do more for the SOC and the Serbs, especially through his acquaintances and contacts with the representatives of other Christian confessions, primarily Protestants. He mentioned this in his correspondence with Sliјepchevich (Đoko Slijepčević, 1908–1993). Also, Radin made all the efforts in his power to help overcome the current schism in the SOC. He wrote about his opinions, ideas and steps taken in that direction to the bishops of the Serbian Church, as well as the Patriarch German Djorich himself. Even though the Patriarch of the SOC also made efforts to help overcome the schism, at one point he told Radin that this unfortunate and extremely difficult issue is an internal matter of the SOC, and thus should be dealt with internally. In the appendix of this work, there are excerpts from the letters found in the Radin — Slijepchevich correspondence. They illustrate the enormous mutual trust and respect that these two acquaintances had for each other, having met by the mediation of Bishop Nicholai. The excerpts also present the opinions of the respectful lawyer and law expert — Radin who, in his own way, tried to contribute to the benefit of the SOC. They also convey his judgment on the importance of Bishop Nicholai as well as his discernment about the missed opportunity that the above mentioned bishop should have been presented with in order to contribute more to the SOC, its faithful people and all the Serbs in general — on the American continent, as well as in the whole world. It is clear that he remained hindered in that respect — among other factors — by the will of Bishop Dionisiye. Only a few years after the death of Bishop Nicholai, the most complicated problem of the SOC in diaspora unraveled — the schism. Radin directed all his attention and efforts towards the solution of this problem, in the ways he considered to be the most acceptable. In all this he had agreement with and support of Slijepchevich, with whom he had researched the best ways of achieving reconciliation. Fragments of his letters imply that the majority of his emigrant life he devoted to taking care of Bishop Nicholai, as well as fighting against schism and finding the possibilities of its overcoming.

Eat, Swim, Pray

The article evaluates the study by Vasily Shchipkov, “Systemic Pressure of the United States on the Russian Orthodox Church in the Ideological and Geopolitical Confrontation”. Next, it considers the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1990 till present from the point of view of its involvement in political and geopolitical processes. Specifi cally, the Serbian Orthodox Church acted as a subject of political infl uence from the United States and European countries. The article specifi es fi ve periods that diff ered in the vector of the Western policy towards the Serbian Church: 1 — the period of socialism (before the fall of the Berlin Wall), 2 — the period of the rule of Slobodan Milošević (1990–2000), 3 — the period of the Western infl uencer network creation (from October 5, 2000 till 2010), 4 — the period of strengthening of the Western ideology in the Serbian Orthodox Church (from 2010 till 2017), 5 — the period of geopolitical pressure of the West on the Serbian Orthodox Church (from 2017 till present). While analyzing each historical period, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that until 2017, the major pressure vector on the Serbian Church was the ideological one, which allowed to form and institutionalize the liberal, modern- ist, inclusive, anational theology as an infl uential alternative to tradi- tional conservative national theology. Supporters of the liberal, pro- Western worldview started to hold many key positions in the church hierarchy. Starting from 2017, this allowed the West to proceed with direct lobbying its political agenda within the Serbian Church through its infl uencers. In the current situation, the West is interested in at tracting the Serbian Church to its side in the geopolitical confronta- tion with Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church. As a result, the Serbian Church found itself in a challenging situation: the failure to comply with the demands of the West might lead to the rejection of foreign dioceses in favour of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, while the compliance with the demands of the West will consolidate its role as an anti-Orthodox policy tool and might also lead to the internal schism.

The Serbian Orthodox Church is considered by a number of Serbian citizens to be the “guardian” of tradition and cultural heritage. Issues related to church reforms are thus often particularly sensitive, and are perceived by some of the public as a danger to the preservation of cultur­al and religious identity. On the other hand, there are opinions in favor of reforms. In this context, the issue of church calendar reform is of special interest. Although it has been raised for more than a century, it is still as relevant as in the first attempts at the reform thereof. This paper explores the attitudes on online platforms in Serbia on this issue. Is the church calendar perceived as an integral part of the cultural heritage? What are the pros and cons of calendar reform? What would be the consequences of its potential change?

After the end of the Second World War, the Serbian Orthodox Church found itself in new social and political circumstances, but also in the legal system of socialist Yugoslavia, which was significantly different from the legal system of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1946, the new communist government adopted the Constitution of the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia, which, among other things, standardized the relationship between the Church and the state. On the territory of the newly formed socialist Yugoslavia, which had just come out of the war, the war against the Serbian Orthodox Church was still raging. From the positions of the new state authorities, liquidations and persecution of bishops, priests and believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church were carried out. Several laws were adopted that were directly directed against the Serbian Orthodox Church and other traditional churches and religious communities. The Law on the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1931 was repealed by the decision of the new communist government, as well as all other regulations that were passed until April 6, 1941. The Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church could not be convened in a regular or extraordinary session in wartime conditions and due to the imprisonment of Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo (Dožić). On November 14, 1946, Patriarch Gavrilo returned to the country and assumed his patriarchal duties. The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, under the presidency of Patriarch Gavrilo, convened the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church for the first regular session after six years of being prevented from convening the highest church body. The session of the Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church was held from April 24 to May 21, 1947 in Belgrade. Although there is a belief that amendments to the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1931 were adopted at that session or that the "Constitution was changed", based on the relevant archival material and on the basis of the formal-legal element of this general ecclesiastical-legal act, it is established that The Holy Synod of Bishops, regardless of the numerous norms that have been retained from the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church since 1931, actually adopted the new Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The subject of this work is the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1947, which is still in force in the Serbian Orthodox Church today.

In 1958, the “Macedonian” Orthodox Church (MOC) was declared autonomous, and the following year it was recognized as such by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). Since then, ecclesiastical and political men of Skopje have made an effort to upgrade it to the level of the autocephalous Church, removing it from the jurisdiction of the SOC. An important factor in developments would be the attitude that central Yugoslav power would hold in Belgrade, which up until 1966 seemed to consider the MOC's autonomy to date as satisfactory, since the ecclesiastical unity in the country was maintained and idioprosopia of “ Macedonians” of Skopje was emphasized as well. The change in the official state attitude in the matter came after the 4th Plenum of the Yugoslav Communist Party in Brioni in July 1966. In it, Alexandar Ranovic, Tito’s co-leader, was overthrown from power since he was accused of, by extremely supporting the Yugoslavian idea, gave preference to Serbian national sentiment at the expense of the other ethnicities of the country. This development was perceived by many researchers as having influenced the conversion of the state line into the Macedonian question and the support of the separatist Macedonian demands for self-healing of the MOC. In the most formal way senior politicians (such as the chairman of the local Crvenkovski party) from Skopje sought to present the MOC as a victim of Rankovic's faction in order to stimulate the interest of central power and to provoke sympathy with the claim of its autochephaly. On the other hand there is the controversy, again by the highest levels of the Yugoslav political scene. Serbia's representative to the Federation, M. Radosavljevic, denied all suspicions against the SOC, who wanted it to be favored by Rankovic's line, and decomposed Skopje's arguments one by one. Finally, the state line turned to the MOE, which led to the imposition of its autoclassy with the Third People's Assembly in Ohrid in August 1967. The result of this choice was the condemnation of the MOC by the SOC and its severance from the Orthodox Church.

Kosovo and Metohija is a territory in the south of modern Serbia, associated with the history of emergence and development Serbian statehood and the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in the 13th–15th centuries. Being the center of the sacred places of Serbian Orthodoxy, Kosovo and Metohija during the Ottoman yoke was turned into a hotbed of forced de-Christianization by ousting the Orthodox population and replacing it with Islamized Albanians. This strategy survived the Turkish era and was continued during the period of occupation in 1941–1945, as well as in the subsequent period of communism, culminating in the expulsion of Kosovo Serbs and the mass destruction of the SOC’s shrines with impunity under the so-called Kosovo crisis 1998–1999 and NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. The support of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for the Kosovo Serbs and the SOC in Kosovo and Metohija during the years of the Kosovo crisis is relatively well known and studied, including in the author’s monograph. This article, in turn, is devoted to Russian-Serbian interchurch relations in the previous period, starting from 1945 and with an emphasis on the 1980s. The visit of Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia in Kosovo and Metohija as part of his tour to Yugoslavia in 1984, as well as the subsequent development of contacts with the SOC on the Kosovo theme, is presented in detail. The article uses unpublished documents from the Archive of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Archive of Yugoslavia, the Archive of Serbia, as well as materials published on the pages of the official periodicals of the Russian Orthodox Church and the SOC in noted historical period.

Religion has always had a special impact on man's attitude towards animals. In this context, this paper explores the correlation between animal welfare and Orthodox Christianity, with specific reference to the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church on this issue. The research has been conducted with the aim of examining the links between animals and Orthodox Christianity, establishing whether the official position of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) promotes animal welfare, and whether its activities embody the recognition and protection of animal rights. For the purposes of this paper, the author has applied the sociological, legal-dogmatic, and historicalcritical methods. The conducted research shows that the Serbian Orthodox Church does not have an official position on animals; thus, the correlation between animal welfare and Orthodox Christianity cannot be precisely determined. Yet, due to the impact of the canons of the Holy Scriptures, it is quite certain that the Serbian Orthodox priests formally advocate for animal welfare and observance of animal rights, and officially condemn any cruel treatment against animals. On the other hand, man's love for animals must be moderate and never above man's love for God and other human beings. Orthodox Christianity does not prohibit the use of meat and fish in nutrition, nor does it consider killing animals an immoral act. Such an approach is also pertinent to Islam and Judaism, while Buddhism advocates respect for all forms of life by promoting the principle of ahimsa (non-violence), which applies to all living beings. It is clear that Orthodox Christianity does not advocate for the recognition of animals' rights to life, nor does it recognize animals as legal subjects. The twelve-year application of the Animal Welfare Act in the Republic of Serbia has shown that a number of factors hinder a better protection of animal welfare. The Serbian Orthodox Church largely contributes to such a situation by failing to promote animal welfare, protection and a more humane treatment of animals (particularly stray or abandoned animals) in its regulatory acts and social activities.

The paper will elaborate on the cult of Saint Sava and its scope in Bosnia during the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian administrations. The cult of Saint Sava was widely spread among the Serbian people in Bosnia during the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian administrations. Such a great influence of the cult of Saint Sava in Bosnia is not accidental, if one takes into account the number of Serbian Orthodox people in Bosnia at that time. The affiliation of Serbs to the Orthodox faith and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Bosnia is unquestionable throughout history, and national and religious affiliations were especially expressed during the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian administrations and the struggle to preserve national and religious identity. Migrations of the Serbian people also contributed to the spread of the cult to a significant extent, and wherever they migrated during the centuries of foreign rule, they carried with them the memory of the holy lineage of the Nemanjić dynasty, and the cult of Saint Sava, which at the beginning spread as a church cult, and later as a people’s cult. Therefore, it can be concluded that during the period of foreign rule, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian, there was no person in Bosnia who did not know about the medieval dynasty of Nemanjić and Saint Sava.

Music is part of human life and has influence on personal identity and it's growth. In this study it was discussed the influence of music and church surrounding on adopting religious and developing musical and religious identity in orthodox children's church choirs in Belgrade. The characteristics of collective memory were analyzed, with special regard to the aggregative and analytic aspects of collective memory typical for Serbian Orthodox church and present in practice of children's church choirs. Trought activity in children's choir and collective participation on liturgy children become a part of bigger community - Serbian Orthodox church community. Children are building their national identity, as well by adopting musical patterns and formulas typical for this geographical area. At the same time, thanks to quality of ineffable of music, each child is able to achieve transcendent connection with the God and adopt religious truths which is not possible to verbalize completely.