Greek Orthodox Research Articles

The Refugee Sports Clubs in Greece as Carriers of Asia Minor Memory (1922–40)

Abstract After the exodus from their homelands and the population exchange between Turkey and Greece, Greek Orthodox refugees from Asia Minor formed hundreds of associations in Greece’s refugee settlements. These associations served the purposes of recovery and cultural expression, with many among them also functioning as carriers and promoters of the memory of their members’ places of origin. Among these associations were hundreds of sports clubs that young refugees joined. The mnemonic practices that members of these sports clubs pursued included the repeated use of texts, images, and rituals which referred mainly to the geography and history of Asia Minor. Based on the archives of refugee sports clubs from all over Greece, this article analyzes these mnemonic practices and places them in the general context of collective refugee memory.

Sectoral Realism at the Junction of the Partition Plan of Palestine

ABSTRACTThis article applies qualitative dynamic content analysis to archival sources to demonstrate that religious identity was the primary motivation for Orthodox Greek Palestinians to join the Communist Party in 1948. Abandoned by the local Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, this sect of Palestinians hoped to gain the patronage of the Russian Orthodox Church. This was also their motive for supporting the plan of the United Nations to divide Mandatory Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, in contradiction of the national consensus at the time. Marxist theory, depicted as cosmopolitan, multinational, and multisectoral, helped this group camouflage its sectoral organization within the party’s higher echelons. The article stresses the importance of examining time and place when investigating historical decisions of political groups, such as those of the Palestinian communists in Israel, that have a significant impact on the process of shaping collective identity.

The impact of humanitarian values on the architectural development in the Monastery of Temptation

The significance of architecture extends beyond its mere visual and practical aspects, as it significantly shapes human lifestyles and societal dynamics. Its role transcends aesthetics and utility, actively catering to essential requirements and elevating living standards worldwide. One particular example of such architectural prominence lies in Palestine, near Jericho, where the Monastery of Temptation, a Greek Orthodox religious site, is situated. Positioned at an elevation of 350 meters above sea level on the slopes of the Mount of Temptation, the monastery commands a cliff-top vantage, offering panoramic views of the Jordan Valley and the city of Jericho. Its historical roots date back to the sixth century CE, with the initial construction of various structures in the vicinity. The primary objective of this scholarly inquiry is to examine and comprehend the impact of humanitarian principles on the architectural evolution of the Monastery of Temptation throughout its history. This investigation adopts a historical interpretive approach, drawing from a review of pertinent literature and preliminary research. The findings of this study reveal that the architectural design of the monastery has been thoughtfully crafted to harmonize with ecological equilibrium and uphold core human values. Additionally, it serves as a secure haven for the observance of religious rituals and ceremonies, warranting its inclusion in the Tentative List of World Heritage sites. Consequently, this research endeavor contributes to a profound and meticulous grasp of the intrinsic nature of the Monastery of Temptation, with far-reaching implications for fostering the growth of the regional tourism industry.

The impact of religion on changes in end-of-life practices in European intensive care units: a comparative analysis over 16 years

PurposeReligious beliefs affect end-of-life practices in intensive care units (ICUs). Changes over time in end-of-life practices were not investigated regarding religions.MethodsTwenty-two European ICUs (3 regions: Northern, Central, and Southern Europe) participated in both Ethicus-1 (years 1999–2000) and Ethicus-2 studies (years 2015–2016). Data of ICU patients who died or had limitations of life-sustaining therapy were analysed regarding changes in end-of-life practices and patient/physician religious affiliations. Frequencies, timing of decision-making, and religious affiliations of physicians/patients were compared using the same definitions.ResultsIn total, 4592 adult ICU patients (n = 2807 Ethicus-1, n = 1785 Ethicus-2) were analysed. In both studies, patient and physician religious affiliations were mostly Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Protestant, or unknown. Treating physicians (but not patients) commonly reported no religious affiliation (18%). Distribution of end-of-life practices with respect to religion and geographical regions were comparable between the two studies. Withholding [n = 1143 (40.7%) Ethicus-1 and n = 892 (50%) Ethicus-2] and withdrawing [n = 695 (24.8%) Ethicus-1 and n = 692 (38.8%) Ethicus-2] were most commonly decided. No significant changes in end-of-life practices were observed for any religion over 16 years. The number of end-of-life discussions with patients/ families/ physicians increased, while mortality and time until first decision decreased.ConclusionsChanges in end-of-life practices observed over 16 years appear unrelated to religious affiliations of ICU patients or their treating physicians, but the effects of religiosity and/or culture could not be assessed. Shorter time until decision in the ICU and increased numbers of patient and family discussions may indicate increased awareness of the importance of end-of-life decision-making in the ICU.

Four 19th-Century Greek Orthodox Churches in Şiran

Four 19th-Century Greek Orthodox Churches in Şiran

ИНСТРУМЕНТЫ КОНСТРУИРОВАНИЯ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ ДИАСПОРЫ: ЕГИПЕТСКИЕ ГРЕКИ В КОНЦЕ XIX — НАЧАЛЕ ХХ в.

A growth of national ideologies, which became the ideological basis of liberation movements and the creation of national states, can be observed in the 19th century Ottoman Empire. Th is trend is also noticeable in Egypt, which enjoyed wide autonomy within the Empire. At that time, there were favorable conditions for the emergence of large communities of Orthodox Greeks, whose well-being grew rapidly thanks to entrepreneurship and trade. Despite the fact that these people came from diff erent places, by the beginning of the 20th century we can say that they had a common national identity. The article attempts to consider what were the tools for the formation of this identity and how did they act. For this purpose, various sources were analyzed: charters of community associations, memoirs, unpublished diplomatic documents, church journalism and press materials. As a result, it was possible to find out the role played in the formation of a single Greek identity by community organization, Greek consular authorities, schools, the Church, local newspapers and magazines.

Sacred Music in a Sacred Space: Performance as Communal Event


 
 
 During the Easter Week of 1999, the composer John Tavener (1944-2013) visited the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Greek Orthodox Cathedral in New York City, to attend a unique concert, that occured under the auspicies of His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon, featuring Tavener's sacred para- liturgical music, conducted by the late maestro Dino Anagnost (1944-2011). Using this event as a base, regarding its reception and meaning, this paper ventures to compose a theoretical context, in which the performance of sacred works can function in a sacred performance space, while focusing on the composer's understanding of the notion of sacred in composition and in music making in general. Througout the course this research paper, the reader will explore ways in which the systematic application of musicological and theological tools on the complete musical material of the performed works, leads to a provocative analogy of sacred music being performed in a sacred space with a communal event within the church community. Ultimately, this paper suggests that such an occassion is closer to the idea of ecclesial event; an original concept created by the greek philosopher and theologian Christos Yannaras (1936-).
 
 

Low Complexity Deep Learning Framework for Greek Orthodox Church Hymns Classification

The Byzantine religious tradition includes Greek Orthodox Church hymns, which significantly differ from other cultures’ religious music. Since the deep learning revolution, audio and music signal processing are often approached as computer vision problems. This work trains from scratch three different novel convolutional neural networks on a hymns dataset to perform hymns classification for mobile applications. The audio data are first transformed into Mel-spectrograms and then fed as input to the model. To study in more detail our models’ performance, two state-of-the-art (SOTA) deep learning models were trained on the same dataset. Our approach outperforms the SOTA models both in terms of accuracy and their characteristics. Additional statistical analysis was conducted to validate the results obtained.

UKRAINIANS IN SLOVAKIA (ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF THE 2021 POPULATION CENSUS)

The article is devoted to the analysis of data concerning Ukrainians in Slovakia. The cultural and demographic criteria of the 2021 population census program became the information basis of the study.
 Despite the increase in the number of Ukrainians compared to the previous population census of 2011, the prospects for further growth in their number are rather doubtful. The Ukrainian autochthonous population is certainly being assimilated, but it is not known how the life trajectories of Ukrainian labor migrants will develop: whether they will move to Slovakia permanently, or return to Ukraine. The situation is similar with Ukrainian refugees after February 2022, who may move to live permanently, wait for the improvement of the situation in Ukraine to return, or consider Slovakia as an intermediate stage for emigration to another country.
 In general, the total number of Ukrainians and Ruthenians corresponds to the population census of 2001. That is, in the 20 years that passed between censuses, the presence of labor migration had absolutely no effect on the growth of the number of both Ukrainians and Ruthenians. In general, Ruthenians exert a destabilizing influence on Ukrainians. The analysis of the combinations "ethnicity", "other ethnicity" and "mother tongue" proves that Ukrainians and Ruthenians assimilate, quite a significant number of Ruthenians and Ukrainians keep their ethnic identity as a second one, instead, the main ethnicity and mother tongue are Slovak. The ethnic environment in which Ukrainians live can be characterized as quite homogeneous, and some of the largest ethnic minorities live compactly along the borders of their historical homelands.
 The homogeneity of the ethnic environment determines the homogeneity of the degree of multilingualism. Among the most numerous ethnic groups living in Slovakia, Ukrainians were the least likely to indicate the language of their ethnic group as their mother tongue. The presence of labor migration led to the fact that every tenth Ukrainian in the country indicated Russian as their mouther language.
 Compared to the most numerous ethnic groups in Slovakia, the age structure of Ukrainians has the highest share of people of working age, which allowed us to assume that a part of Ukrainians in Slovakia is represented by labor migrants. Additionally, it was found that the high share of Greek Catholics and Orthodox at the level of municipalities coincides with the compact settlement of Ukrainians and Ruthenians in the Pryashiv and Košice regions. Due to assimilation, the majority of Greek Catholics and Orthodox are Slovaks, not Ukrainians and Ruthenians, that is, ethnic and linguistic identity has been lost, but religious affiliation has been preserved.
 Keywords: Ukrainian diaspora, Ukrainians abroad, census of population, ethnicity, mother tongue, religious affiliation, index of ethnic diversity, index of linguistic diversity, ethnolinguistic correspondence.

The Foucault Pendulum of the Phanar Greek Orthodox College in Istanbul: The First in Istanbul?

The Foucault Pendulum of the Phanar Greek Orthodox College in Istanbul: The First in Istanbul?

Laypeople’s Perceptions of Sexuality Education with Young Children Insights from a Convenient Sample of the Greek Orthodox Community

The current study examined laypeople’s perceptions of sexuality education with young children in Greece. This exploratory qualitative web research used data from a convenience and snowball sample where respondents answered the question, “What do you think about sexuality education in early childhood (children aged 2–5)?” This study’s approach is grounded on a feminist poststructuralist framework permitting the exploration and understanding of power relations through analyzing participants’ written discourses. Reflexive thematic analysis was used in the current study. This study’s sample comprised 64 participants aged 19–64 (M = 36.22, SD = 11.02). Based on this study’s results, we identified three fundamental social discourses that influenced the issue of sexuality education in the early years in Greece: the concept of childhood sexual innocence, age-appropriate arguments that oppose sexuality education with young children, and parental influence. The current study questions the role of dominant social discourses acknowledging that they operate as social rules that exert power by creating structural silence on sexuality issues.

Long-term effects of the 1923 mass refugee inflow on social cohesion in Greece

After the 1919–1922 Greco-Turkish conflict, 1.2 million Greek Orthodox were forcibly displaced from Turkey to Greece, increasing the host population by 20 percent within a few months. Refugees were provided with farmland, new houses and schools, and were granted the Greek citizenship. This paper analyses the social integration outcomes of refugees from the first and second generations, as well as the long-term effect of their resettlement on the social cohesion of receiving communities. Combining historical and modern population censuses and surveys, I find that, by the 2000s, refugees display a high rate of intermarriage with Greek natives, report levels of trust in others and in institutions similar to natives, vote for similar political parties, and exhibit higher political and civic engagement than natives. The integration of refugees was notably fostered by the construction of new schools which helped close the literacy gap with native children shortly after refugees’ arrival in Greece. At the local level, places with higher share of refugees in 1928 display greater participation in voluntary associations 80 years later. I find no evidence that refugees either reduced voter turnout, increased political fragmentation, or led to higher levels of crime in places of resettlement. These results may suggest that early investments in inclusion policies can be effective at fostering refugees’ assimilation, at least when newcomers and locals have similar cultural profiles.

Holy Communion in Greek Orthodoxy in the Time of Coronavirus: Ideological Perspectives in Conflict

This article examines the controversy over the mode of distribution of Holy Communion that surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on debates that took place in the Greek Orthodox community. After describing and evaluating the role of secular and religious experts in the context of the pandemic, the paper analyzes three main perspectives on the issue of the Eucharist: (1) the secularist-rationalist viewpoint; (2) the religious–traditionalist outlook; and (3) the “Third Way” perspective. The paper argues that the Church’s Holy Communion controversy is indicative of a deeper struggle between religious and secular thinkers and among various voices in the Greek Orthodox Church concerning the latter’s place in, and influence over, the modern secular socio-political order.

Senses and Perceptions: The Last Decades of Greek Orthodox Existence in Potámia in Cappadocia

The Greek Orthodox Community was uprooted from Cappadocia with the signing of the Convention of the Exchange of Populations between Turkey and Greece at Lausanne on 30 January 1923. Until then Potámia had been one of the prosperous villages of the area, thanks to financial contributions of Potámian migrants in foreign lands. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the village had stone houses, a new church, and a school. The villagers had neighborly relations with the Turks of surrounding villages, with a degree of competition at the communal level which was reflected in their narratives, myths, and songs. These narratives are revealing of their senses and perceptions of their neighbors in the last decades of their existence in their homeland, and they are meaningful in allowing researchers to detect the cohabitation practices of two religious communities at the time.

Two Danish Artists—Two Not So Divergent Paths: C. C. A. Christensen, Carl Bloch, and the Evolution of Latter-day Saint Art and Aesthetics

Two Danish Artists—Two Not So Divergent Paths: C. C. A. Christensen, Carl Bloch, and the Evolution of Latter-day Saint Art and Aesthetics

Gods, Goddesses, and Mortals for the 21st Century: The Reinstallation of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Collection of Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art

Gods, Goddesses, and Mortals for the 21st Century: The Reinstallation of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Collection of Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art

The Greek Military Dictatorship: Revisiting a Troubled Past, 1967–1974 by Othon Anastasakis and Katerina Lagos, eds.

<i>The Greek Military Dictatorship: Revisiting a Troubled Past, 1967–1974</i> by Othon Anastasakis and Katerina Lagos, eds.

‘Signs of the times’: Prophecy belief in contemporary Greek Orthodox contexts

This article examines the structure, content, and function of widely circulating prophetic narratives in contemporary Greece and Cyprus. Prophetologists play a key role in recycling and disseminating prophecies through traditional and modern means of communication in an attempt to explain conditions of crisis and to promote conservative moral values and nationalistic aspirations as salvific remedies in the public sphere. Their highly politicized prophetic discourse blurs the differentiation between religion and politics that characterizes secular modernity. But at the same time, the use of modern media and secular strategies for sacred purposes have unintended secularizing effects on the religious field. Finally, the article explores the reasons why prophecy belief finds fertile soil for proliferation in these countries.

Vaccination Hesitancy Among Greek Orthodox Christians: Is There a Conflict Between Religion and Science?

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic vaccines werehighly anticipated in order to help contain the spread of the virus and mitigate its impact. However, when the vaccination program began, some minorities were reluctant to get vaccinated for numerous reasons. Specifically, at that time in Greece many priests were opposed to getting vaccinated and proceeded to discourage their flock, in stark contrast to the decisions of Greek Orthodox religious leaders who endorsed the vaccination program. It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic doesn't solely affect the health system but also other parts of society such as politics, the economy and, last but not least, religion and worship. In the current article, we aim to present the notions and attitudes that led many Greek Orthodox Christians to be hesitant about getting vaccinated or even to become a part of the movement actively against vaccination that has been growing during this pandemic.

The Relationship between Refugee Pressure and Local Control under the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria

The beginning of the 7th century was of major conflict and changes to the people residing within the borders of the East Roman Empire, with the revolt of Phocas, the seizing power of Heraclius, and later, the invasion of the Persians all happening together within a narrow time duration. All of these conflicts had major effects on regional population and power dynamics structure. This paper discusses the assumption that the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, under the leadership of John the almsgiver, dealt with refugees fleeing Levant. It transformed refugees into hermits and built local influence in the process. The paper uses autobiographical primary sources and references to the geological conditions then. In the fifth century, the Council of Chalcedon re-asserted the teachings of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus against the heresies of Eutyches and Nestorius, leading to a grand division within Egypt. The consequences—the commemoration of two non-Chalcedonian churches along with the absence of imperial influence due to the Byzantine-Persian War—prompted Patriarch John of the Orthodox Church of Alexandria to take measures to create new hermit populations from the refugees in Jerusalem to once again infiltrate church control.