Religious Orthodox Research Articles

The dimensionality of vaccination intentions: One strain or multiple strains?

People likely have different attitudes toward different vaccines (e.g., they may hold a positive attitude toward the measles, mumps, and rubella-vaccine while simultaneously hold a neutral attitude toward the flu shot). To examine the dimensionality of vaccination intentions, we measured vaccination intentions toward 16 different diseases. We hypothesized that people differentiate between child-directed vaccination intentions and self-directed vaccination intentions. Furthermore, we hypothesized that some commonly studied factors (e.g., trust in authorities and fear of needles) might have different associations with the two subtypes of vaccination intentions. We used data from a nationally representative sample of the Netherlands collected in 2021. We used exploratory (N = 865) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 865) to evaluate the dimensionality hypothesis and used linear hypothesis tests (N = 1,779) to test whether the commonly studied factors had different associations with the different subtypes of vaccination intentions. The analysis showed two distinct factors of vaccination intentions: intentions toward childhood diseases and intentions toward nonchildhood diseases. Additionally, spiritual beliefs, trust in authorities, and belief in conspiracy theories had stronger associations with nonchildhood diseases than with childhood diseases. Fear of needles, prosocial personality, and religious orthodox beliefs did not have different associations with both types of vaccination intentions. These findings suggest that vaccination intentions is a multidimensional construct and that interventions may benefit from being tailored to the factors relevant for each specific type of vaccine. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Discursive Strategies of Orthodox Discourse

The theoretical foundations of the study of preaching as a genre of religious Orthodox discourse require the definition of the basic concepts of the communicative and discursive analysis of modern Orthodox preaching and form the basis for its conduct. However, for practical analysis, it is also necessary to develop a research model that covers the fundamental principles of analysis and its
 tools. The problem of communicative and discursive strategies and tactics in linguistics has been studied quite extensively, however, the lack of a unified classification of them, as well as clear and unambiguous definitions, does not yet make
 it possible to provide a complete classification of them.
 The article is devoted to the analysis of the implementation of the maindiscursive strategies. Attention is paid to the discursive strategy of narrative, as well as to the contacting and informing strategies that are basic for Orthodox preaching and are present in all its genres. The study examines the main strategies that are the basic concepts of communicative and discursive analysis. The
 goal of any communicative strategy is to correct the addressee's world model, therefore, within the framework of the strategy, the addressee selects certain psychological parameters, identifies the necessary changes in their values and ways to achieve these goals.
 The purpose of the article is to analyze all the strategies that are the basic concepts of the communicative and discursive analysis of the studied Orthodox sermon. As part of the study, the sermons of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of All Russia were used and analyzed.
 Conclusions: communicative interaction in Orthodox discourse receives adequate implementation in the discursive strategy, which we understand as the global communicative intention of the speaker within a certain discourse and the speech objectification of this intention. Discursive tactics are one or more speech actions that ensure the implementation of the chosen discursive strategy of the speaker and the deployment of a certain speech genre.
 The results of the research conducted in this article can be used in research and teaching activities related to the study of various types of discourses.

대순 신앙의 주문 변화

Incantations are reflected in the fundamentals of the Daesoon faith system and are, thus, key to its understanding. Jeungsan, the yeonwon (fountainhead, 淵源) of the Daesoon faith, created new incantations or transformed existing ones that had been used in old religious traditions such as Buddhism and Daoism. However, there has been no in-depth academic research on Jeungsan’s incantations until now. This study aims to academically clarify the incantatory archetypes of Jeungsan’s incantations based on documents published until the 1970s. Jeungsan’s incantations are then compared to those of Mugeuk-do (Limitless Dao) in the 1920s and Taegeuk-do (Great-Ultimate Dao) in the 1950s. Jeongsan’s transformed incantations are analyzed through this process. Jeongsan reflected the faith system in Jeungsan’s incantations during the period of Mugeuk-do. He transformed the incantations to achieve his goal and realize his wishes by arranging terms that referred to himself before the optative words of the incantations. Jeongsan made several changes to the incantations in the 1950s. First, the majority of incantations used in Mugeuk-do were discarded. This meant making partial changes to the faith system by reflecting awareness because the corresponding incantations were no longer necessary as the Degree Number calibrated by Jeungsan had been realized. Second, Jeongsan organized the incantations in use and institutionalized their instructions. This reflected the essential doctrinal system of the Daesoon faith, namely the completion of the true dharma by Jeongsan. Considering this doctrine, that is, the Fifty Year Holy Work (五十年工夫), the true dharma can be presumed to have been realized before the death of Jeongsan. Accordingly, the institutionalizing and organizing of the incantations were indispensable until the mid-to-late 1950s. Jeongsan, the founder of the Daesoon order, posited himself as the successor of religious orthodox lineage and as the figure who would complete the true dharma by realizing the Degree Number calibrated by Jeungsan. Therefore, Jeongsan interpreted Jeungsan’s incantations to be a rough sketch of the Daesoon faith system that had been drawn for him in advance by Jeungsan. Accordingly, Jeongsan transformed Jeungsan’s incantations and used them to realize the Degree Number, which Jeungsan had planned. Simultaneously, Jeongsan declared that he would fulfill the Degree Number and establish the true dharma by changing those incantations.

The Variety of Religiosities in Contemporary Turkey

The topic of religiosity in Turkey is often restricted to studies of secularization or fundamentalism. However, new religious phenomena, especially deism, are now drawing much attention in Turkey, yet most studies are focusing on small samples. Our study widens this view by presenting questionnaire data on a variety of religious self-assessment categories derived from a representative quota sample in relationship to sociodemographic and other religiosity variables. Only one-third define themselves as orthodox religious while 62 % identify as ‘believers’. The categories deism, non-belief/atheism, and religiously indecisiveness cover 7.2 % in total. Orthodox religious individuals differ in their sociodemographic profile from the rest (are older, more rural, less educated, higher rate of unemployment) and a sharp drop of all religiosity scores was observed from the orthodox religious to the rest. Deists, non-believers/atheists, and religiously indecisive individuals can, together with some ‘believers’, be grouped into a highly secularized cluster. Our findings suggest that there is a huge variety of religiosities in contemporary Turkey, despite the over-religionization imposed by the current government. Religious educators and clergy should welcome such changes by promoting development towards religious maturity independent of political agendas.

Pravoslavni praznici - baština srpske kulture

This scientific paper deals with religious Orthodox holidays and their significance within Serbian culture. The facts that celebration of religious holidays has been very widespread in recent years and that they have been receiving extensive media coverage are indicative of their considerable social importance and topicality. Religious holidays are an inalienable part of the Serbian national heritage, and the UNESCO has even declared slavas to be part of global immaterial cultural heritage. Religious holidays have always had the mission of socializing social groups, as well as individuals. The Orthodox approach to religion has never pretended to abolish or replace before-Christian holidays and rituals with Christian ones. It merely enriched them, drawing on them and endowing them with novel, Christian raiment. This is the very reason why the Orthodox tradition is exceptionally rich in symbiotic layers of the rustic and the Christian. Many old, before-Christian holidays have been preserved thus, acquiring new functions, while the Orthodox Christianity introduced elements of the Eternal, without interfering much with the ingrained habits of community life of earlier eras.

Wanderers of Russian roads: Images of folk religiosity

The article is devoted to the study of the philosophical, theological and religious significance of the Wandering in Russian Orthodox culture, primarily as a unique image of folk religiosity. The author considers the concept of ‘Wanderer’ as one of the fundamental concepts in Russian culture. Its multiple meanings and semantic heterogeneity are revealed and analyzed both in European and domestic cultures; for this, in particular, the author refers to the experience of European and especially Russian literature of the 19th–20th centuries, in which a polysemantic image of a wanderer appears. The author is indicated value of visual image of Wanderer is studied in more detail in Russian painting of the 19th century. The valuable material on the cultural characteristics of Russian Wandering was collected by S.V.Maksimov in the second half of the 19th century. The main attention is directed to the image of Wanderer in the religious and philosophical perspective of Russian Orthodoxy. The author refers to the Christian origins of the image of Wanderer. The specificity of Wanderer’s attitude to the world, his existence, other people, God is specified, as well as the connection of the concept of Wandering with the principles of Hesychasm. The author draws a special attention to the importance of good looks and tenderness as important characteristics of the image of Wanderer. Through an appeal to the traditions of Christology and patristic Orthodoxy, Hesychasm and eldership, the writings Russian literature, the anonymous author of ‘Frank Stories of a Wanderer to His Spiritual Father’, Russian painting of the 19th century, and modern Orthodox religious and philosophical thought, the author of the article is to reveal the unique meaning of the image of Wanderer and emphasize its special meaning-forming role for Russian Orthodox culture.

Communism, Poetry: Communicating Vessels (Some Insubordinate Essays, 1999–2018)

Communism, Poetry: Communicating Vessels (Some Insubordinate Essays, 1999–2018)

Teaching specialized translation in Romania in a Francophone context at Master’s Degree Classes on Translation and Terminology

The present article proposes an analysis of the didactic strategies employed in teaching translationin a francophone context at postgraduate Master’s degree classes on Translation and Terminology at the Universityof Iasi, more specifically on specialized translation of religious Orthodox Christian texts. It focuses mainly onthe didactic strategies deployed by the teacher in this field with a view to developing the students’ readingcompetence in order to achieve translation (while displaying a proper representation of the distinct featuresof the presence of religion/the religious, and especially of Orthodoxy in France), as well as their specializedcomprehension skills in the religious, Orthodox Christian conceptual field, conducive to appropriate rephrasingat the level of the target text and to the construction of a cultural confessional competence. The study also dwellson the biographic and didactic, professional history of the teacher (who is, at first, involved in teaching Frenchas a foreign language in Romania), on his/her formation as a trainer in specialized translation, on the wayhe/she manages the (due) neutrality in relating to the religious nature of the source texts, on the manner he/sheedifies students to manage their own “emotions” during the translation process, when they are triggered bypersonal religious convictions. Last but not least, the present analysis considers the very stances adopted bythe teacher of specialized, francophone translation in his/her role as an evaluator of the students’ translativetechniques (and abilities), as well as the impact of the latter on the efficacity of his/her overall approach topedagogical strategies.

Orthodox Tradition in the Linguistic and Poetic Rarity of the Poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Blessed is the Gentle Poet” (to Help the Teacher of Russian Literature)

In the article, considerable attention is paid to the role of the Orthodox component in the creation of artistic images in this work, and the means of poetic expression are also comprehensively studied. The relevance is due to the fact that this poem has not yet been analyzed in terms of identifying the role of the Orthodox spiritual tradition in shaping the ideal of the poet. The goal is to study the linguistic and poetic means of the work, which serve to form the ideal of the poet, taking into account the Orthodox tradition. The novelty of the article lies in the study of these means on the basis of a cultural and dogmatic approach, the essence of which lies in the fact that the religious component is found in the relationship of the author and the characters of his works to enemies and friends, to the Motherland, people, God through the prism of the religious (Orthodox) worldview. Such an approach helps to reveal the implementation of religious and moral categories in the work of the master of the artistic word, taking into account their refraction in accordance with the author’s position. Based on the work done, the following results were obtained. It is established that the composition of the poem has an obvious antonymic character. It was revealed that the expressive background of the poem is created due to expressive tropes that carry a huge charge of generalization, as well as due to phonetic repetitions and forms of the present tense verb. It is determined that in the semantic space of the poem, thematic groups of words are in opposition and enter into mutually exclusive relationships. It is proved that the poem reflects the traditions of the hagiographical genre, expressed in asceticism, deprivation and sacrifice of a true poet. The value of the study is expressed in the possibility of applying the approach used in it to the study of poetic works of both Nekrasov himself and other Russian poets and writers, which will help to identify the switching of religious energy characteristic of the Russian soul to non-religious phenomena and objects.

Policy of Christianization of Buryat Population of Russian Empire in Late 19<sup>th</sup> — Early 20<sup>th</sup> Centuries

The problem of interaction between the state and religious communities, Orthodox and Buddhist, in Buryatia during the imperial period is considered. The results of a comparative analysis of the policy of the Russian state on the one hand and of the Orthodox Church on the other hand in relation to the Buryats are presented in the article. The objective of the study is to identify the ways and mechanisms through which this ethnic group was included in the Russian community, ensuring the interests of the empire in the east of the country. The relevance of the study is due to the importance of the topic of interreligious interaction in the multi-confessional community, which, in particular, is the population of ethnic Buryatia for several centuries. The author dwells on the interrelated aspects of the surrounding activities as a mechanism for the Russification of the Gentiles and the simultaneous desire of the authorities to bring the Buddhist clergy under their control, legitimized by special legislative measures. As a result of the study, it has been proved that the state policy of institutionalizing Buddhism played an important role in the formation of the Russian identity of the Buryats. It is argued that this was largely aided by the loyalty of the Buddhist clergy to the monarchy and the state. It is shown that Orthodox propaganda had only a formal success, expressed in the number of persons who were baptized.

ОПЫТ ПОНИМАНИЯ ПРОЦЕССА ПОЗНАНИЯ В КАЗАНСКОЙ ТЕИСТИЧЕСКОЙ ШКОЛЕ ВТОРОЙ ПОЛОВИНЫ XIX ВЕКА В КОНТЕКСТЕ ВЛИЯНИЯ ФИЛОСОФСКОГО ЭМПИРИЗМА

On the example of the analysis of the creativity of representatives of the Kazan theistic school, the presence of an empirical model of metaphysics of knowledge in spiritual and academic science as an alternative to Orthodox religious and philosophical rationalism was revealed. The tradition of interpreting the role of religious feeling in the process of knowledge among teachers of the Kazan Theological Academy is outlined. The role of British empiricism as one of the sources of the empirical version of Orthodox philosophical epistemology has been identified

Ben-Gurion to Venezuelan Converts

This study analyzes the development of the unique Law of Return (LOR) of the State of Israel. The LOR is aimed at enabling the immigration of all Jews to Israel and can be viewed as an expression of Israel’s ethno-religious self-definition. The analysis includes amendments made to the LOR since its implementation in 1950 to today, and how different groups of Jewish immigrants have been affected by the law. Moreover, this paper introduces a case study that so far has not received the scholarly attention it deserves; the exodus from Venezuela and the particular case of nine Venezuelan converts to Judaism in accordance with the Conservative branch of the religion. The research uncovers that the LOR contains a core contradiction. While it should be assumed that everyone is treated equally before the law, discrepancies in the treatment of different individuals and groups of people with regard to the LOR continue taking place. The differences in treatment are due to the fact that terms such as ‘Jew’ and ‘Jewish convert’ are subjective in accordance withWeber’s theory on ethnicity and the terms have been given different meanings by Jewish religious law, the Supreme Court, and the legislative power. While recognizing that the definition of these terms form the identity of the State of Israel, which is heavily contested between Orthodox religious and secular forces since its establishment as a Jewish State – this study offers suggestions for approaches to dealing with the randomness of the LOR. These consist of two main points: clarifying who should be responsible for verifying the question of who is a Jew, and listing a set of criteria that a person should meet in order to be eligible for the LOR.

Negotiating Jewishness through genetic testing in the State of Israel

In Israel, several hundred thousand citizens form a minority group that wishes to be acknowledged as Jewish by the state authorities. Most of them immigrated from the former Soviet Union and cannot provide sufficient evidence of their maternal ancestors’ affiliation with a Jewish community. This has a direct impact on their civil rights. Based on a scientific research article on matrilineal genetic markers among Eastern and Central European Jews, the rabbinical dean of an institute for advanced Jewish studies in Jerusalem proposed to accept, under certain conditions, the presence of specific genetic markers as legal proof of “Jewishness.” Genetic testing here is meant to become a tool for empowerment and (re)claiming Jewish status. This case raises many questions concerning a biological understanding of Judaism and shows how genetic ancestry testing could be used to uphold the religious orthodox narrative.

Spiritual Synchronicity: Icon Veneration in Evangelical and Orthodox Religious Practices in the 21st Century

Much scholarship in the dialogue between evangelical and Orthodox believers focuses on doctrinal compatibility. This article contributes to that literature by giving an example of a spiritual practice (icon veneration) that creates additional space for ecumenical dialogue and unity. Some US-evangelicals in the 21st century have incorporated the use of icons into their personal faith practices. Icon veneration is ripe with ecumenical potential for evangelical–Orthodox relations because of its prominence in Orthodox communions while at the same time appealing to a growing number of evangelicals. This article considers three sites of evangelical icon use in turn: the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia (EBCG), Icons of Black Saints, and an evangelical ministry called “Heart of the Artist”. Each site adopts a slightly unique understanding of icons that may appeal to evangelical believers. Although Orthodox and evangelical believers may understand theologies of icon veneration differently, the emergence of icon veneration among evangelicals remains a spiritual synchronicity, and ought to be recognized as such. Evangelicals continue to receive the gift of icon veneration from their Orthodox siblings in ways in line with the EBCG, Black Orthodox icons, and Heart of the Artist, so icon veneration has potential to further resource ecumenical dialogue.

God Representation Types Are Associated With Levels of Personality Organization and Christian Religious Orthodox Culture.

This exploratory study shows that God representation types are associated with levels of personality organization. Among two Dutch samples of psychiatric patients (n = 136) and nonpatients (n = 161), we found associations between the psychotic, borderline, and neurotic personality organizations, and passive-unemotional, negative-authoritarian, and positive-authoritative God representation types, respectively. Both patients and nonpatients reported positive God representations, but only nonpatients and higher-level functioning patients reported an integrated God-object relation. For persons with personality pathology, the relationship with God can be a struggle and might have a defensive and/or compensating function. In addition to personality organization, Christian religious orthodox culture is a statistical predictor of God representations, but not of anger toward God. We offer suggestions for how psychotherapeutic work with God representations might differ for patients with different levels of personality organization.

Bratslav Hasids: historical aspects of the origin and functioning of the orthodox movement in Judaism

The object of research: Bratslav Hasids as a component of the orthodox movement in Judaism.
 Investigated problem: historical aspects of the emergence of the orthodox movement in Judaism, the reasons for its spread among the Jewish population of Volhynia, Galicia and Podillya.
 The main scientific results: the historical aspects of the origin of the orthodox movement in Judaism, the reasons for its spread among the Jewish population of Volhynia, Galicia and Podillya, as a way to achieve the formation of the Jewish religion are analyzed. The role of one of the most influential movements of Bratslav Hasids, founded and led by Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, the main guidelines of his teachings, the reasons for its rapid spread among the communities of Ukraine and many countries, the place of tzaddiks (righteous) – heirs-mediators between God and believers. Highlights the thorny path that believers took to obtain permission to celebrate the Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah, other holidays at the grave of his teacher and mentor, to resolve issues regarding the coordination and construction of the synagogue of the Pantheon-Temple of Rabbi Nachman, hotel, mikvah (ritual pool) for recitation before prayer), other objects. A prominent place in the study is identified by the problems of pilgrims arriving in Uman, their resettlement, everyday life, relations with the local population, law enforcement agencies, security issues and more. Given the growing interest in the teachings of Tzaddik Nachman, the phenomenon of this phenomenon needs further study.
 The area of practical use of the research results: the results of the study can be used by public administration and local government in determining public policy in the field of religion, mechanisms for solving its current problems, during the development and teaching of courses on public administration, history of religion, world history and history of Ukraine.
 Innovative technological product: on the basis of numerous sources, materials, some of which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, a significant gap is filled in ideas about the process of religious orthodox movement in Judaism, the reasons for its spread in Ukraine and many countries and the problem of pilgrims coming to Uman, which contributed to the transformation of the city of Uman into the world capital of Bratslav Hasids.
 Scope of the innovative technological product: the practice of forming, implementing and improving the system of state regulation by religious organizations.

The Christian Sanctification of Suffering Scale: measure development and relationship to well-being

ABSTRACT Sanctification theory proposes that when people appraise an aspect of life as having divine character and significance, this can lead to a number of positive outcomes. While questions remain as to whether a negative aspect of life – suffering – can be sanctified, the Christian tradition supports a sanctification approach. In a series of three online cross-sectional studies with Christian participants, we report on the development of a Christian sanctification of suffering measure, establishing and confirming its factor structure and evaluating its construct in online samples of Christians who indicated they had experienced suffering. In addition, we demonstrate incremental validity over religious commitment and orthodox beliefs about suffering with respect to eudaimonic well-being outcomes. We conclude that the Christian Sanctification of Suffering Scale represents an orthodox Christian approach to the sanctification of suffering that is associated with eudaimonic well-being.

Традиция в условиях военной экстремальности: народные способы осмысления и «преодоления» Великой Отечественной войны

Introduction. In the study the authors consider the ways of understanding and overcoming the extreme conditions of the Great Patriotic The task is to define the forms and ways of “overcoming” the war conditions and its traumatizing consequences developed by Russians and to identify their connection with traditional types of worldview and folk ritual practices. Methods and materials. The analysis of folk stories recorded among different generations and rural Russian areas as well as memories about the wartime and the period after the Great Patriotic War compose the base of the article. According to the main task the authors use the method widely used in the Russian Ethnography which is called the “inside the tradition” view, or analysis from the position of its bearers. Analysis. The natural alternation of periods of prosperity and crises explains the inevitability of war, but according to popular beliefs, the impoverishment of the sacred sphere of life is the main factor of a tragedy. On the contrary, human turning to God and his / her repentance determine the possibility of overcoming a tragedy. The concept of “a rule” (and its violation) as well as the concept of “a destiny” (a shared fate) which must be restored and redistributed under the crisis according to popular beliefs play an important role in the mechanism of developing ways to “overcome” the war among the Russians during the wartime. Wartime ritual practices including baking and cutting bread, redistributing it to the front line, organizing joint meals, etc. confirm the statement. The process of the revival of religious (Orthodox) practices, and the formation of a collective memory of the war and the fallen heroes was inspired from below, from the masses. This initiative included folk forms of veneration and remembrance of the dead, the creation of sacred places associated with the war and the memory about it. Women, who became the main keepers of the tradition, who took upon themselves the functions of harmonizing the socio-psychological situation in rural areas during the difficult war and postwar years, were especially active in these processes. Results. The authors confirm the particular role of traditional types of worldview influencing the modern collective memory as well as social practices during both extreme conditions and everyday life. Ordinary people preferred to turn to centuries-old spiritual traditions of overcoming war traumas and to use the experience of preserving collective memory of them formed in the pre-revolutionary time within the peasant and Cossack communities.

Transformations of Eastern Orthodox Religious Discourse in Digital Society

Digital technologies have exerted a profound influence on every aspect of human life including religion. Religious discourse, like no other type of social-communicative interaction, responds to the slightest shifts in the concepts of life, identity, time, and space caused by digitalization. The purpose of this study was to reveal the digitalization-associated transformations that have taken place in the eastern orthodox religious discourse over more than quarter of a century. This discussion focuses on the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards digital technologies as reflected in the interviews of its official spokespeople. On the basis of extensive empirical material, it is shown that two major factors determine new tendencies in eastern orthodox religious discourse: the necessity to adapt to modern digital environment and benefit from organizing the internet space in order to influence large numbers of “digitally educated” non-religious people, and, at the same time, a distrust of these new digital technologies. The study is based on the theory of discourse, with discourse analysis being the main research method along with the descriptive analytical method. The article also analyzed the changes in traditional genres of eastern orthodox religious discourse (the sermon), as well as the rapid development of new religious discourse genres (the commented liturgy and call-in show) and para-religious discourse genres. It is concluded that with the help of digital technologies, religious discourse penetrates into everyday life of people, regardless of their social status and religious affiliation, eliminating the borderline between the church and society in modern Russia.

Palestine’s Syriac Orthodox community and the Dead Sea scrolls

ABSTRACT In 1947, a shepherd in the hills north of the Dead Sea visited a contact in Bethlehem, a dealer of antiquities to foreign visitors, offering fragments of written material. The dealer, from the Syriac community, was unsure of the items’ value and began enquiries which followed Syriac Orthodox religious and intellectual networks. Despite initial scepticism, the fragments were the first of the now globally famous Dead Sea Scrolls, and ever since have been surrounded by rumours and controversy. Inextricably entwined in these has been the Palestinian Syriac Orthodox church, in a pattern of involvements which link this small Christian community with the creation of knowledge in and about Mandate Palestine, the fate of its members during the Nakba, and internal competition for ownership of valuable resources in a community fragmented by the 1947–1949 conflict. In this paper, I reconstruct the role of Syriac Orthodox community members in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, examining how the parts they played were informed by their status in late Mandate Palestine. As a counterpoint to this, the case also highlights how the needs of the community – particularly in the wake of the Nakba – were tied to a kind of cultural diplomacy as the head of the church in Jerusalem, Mar Samuel, sought to frame his community as refugees, as Christian Palestinians, and as owners and valid beneficiaries of Palestinian archaeological heritage.