Religious Reestablishment in Post-Communist Polities

After the collapse of the atheistic Soviet Union and Communist party-dominated countries in Central and Eastern Europe, many analysts predicted that as new governments ushered in laws guaranteeing religious freedom, a new religious pluralism would result. Public opinion surveys conducted during the first years of post-socialism confirmed that throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet successor states, there was a resurgence in belief in God and life after death, as well as reports of increased levels of church attendance, particularly among the younger generations.1 Two decades after the collapse, however, post-communist countries have not become bastions of religious diversity or practice, and religious relations mirror those of a century past, when traditional ethnic churches dominated the landscape.2 How can we explain what appears to be religious reestablishment across the post-communist countries? What developments have contributed to stalled progress in the realm of religious freedom? When the communist parties that controlled the Eastern bloc countries fell along with the Soviet Union and new “democratic” movements embarked on the mission of writing new constitutions and establishing representative institutions, many countries adopted legislation that significantly liberalized the field of religious freedom. Initially, this liberalization allowed for traditional churches to revitalize and missionaries to enter the countries and start attracting converts. Within the space of a few years, however, many of these same countries began to re-regulate religion. Led by demands from traditional majority churches, governments adopted legislation that reestablished churches and imposed restrictions on missionary activity, international funding for religious groups, and proselytizing. In exchange for legal concessions in the field of religious liberty, churches have offered nationalist legitimacy and stability to regimes. Lacking serious competition from other religious traditions, churches—in particular those in the majority Orthodox countries—have solidified their bases of support and thus contributed to restrictions on religious freedom in the post-communist arena. As a result, levels of religiosity remain low in the countries under consideration. The relatively low level of religious diversity in the post-communist countries is also a symptom of this reestablishment by the traditional majority churches. Religious establishment is not always harmful to societies, as many established democracies have a tradition of state churches and other formalized systems of favoring one or a few religious denominations. England, Denmark, Finland, Greece, and Norway are all examples of democracies that have an official state church, while the Netherlands and Germany have systems in place that allocate state-collected funds to selected religious denominations.3 The difference between these countries and those in the present study is that in the post-communist context, the benefits allotted to formally and informally established churches are often accompanied by legislation that attempts to curb minority religious rights. Moreover, minority religious groups often suffer from campaigns intended to instill fear in local populations, and are perceived as a threat to “traditional” religions and national culture. This essay examines religious relations in the predominantly Catholic and Orthodox Christian countries of post-communist Eastern and Central Europe and Eurasia from the beginning of transition to the present. I focus on majority Christian countries because these share historical experiences and influences not experienced by the majority Islamic republics in Central Asia. Moreover, unlike in Central Asia, where borders and nationalities were often artificially constructed by Soviet authorities, most of the predominantly Christian republics had a clear national identity—one that was often tied to the society's majority church—before coming under communist rule. This fact is important in understanding how traditional groups have succeeded in reestablishing themselves as national churches and in convincing states to adopt laws that restrict religious freedom. The essay first discusses current trends in the literature on religion–state relations to identify a theoretical model that can be used to examine the countries under consideration. Focusing on a set of arguments referred to as religious economy theory, I examine the motivations of religious and political actors as they negotiate the post-communist religious marketplace. I discuss changes in religious regulations from the communist to the post-communist period using both quantitative indexes and close study of specific regulations within selected countries. I also present data on trends in religious affiliation across the region to suggest that religious regulation be an on levels of The of this essay have for the of in the post-communist as they all religious groups can be to be actors to the realm of or is to to be of the In the we religious groups to state and how their can be in to the of religious in the the of the of began to to the in the and and the of in to a of and new that to as a of that can be other are that to examine the of religious movements on Moreover, there are of literature that the between particular religious and of the most of the literature discusses the of the Catholic in in both the and changes in the to the Two for many the Catholic to have from and other of to a of beginning in the The first to for the changes in the to by the in on by the in the and explain that and the of the were of to a in and thus can the in as and that on the in countries as and the the there to movements for also the of on the in that the the a thus an in the and have that the is in because of the of the Catholic to and while the an in the of and in and the with the this difference to of competition from religious on arguments on and and from the religious by on the of the Catholic as important actors in all that be the of the political and to and in of the for the Catholic political in the and literature the of theoretical for and in the field of religious freedom. have a set of referred to as or and a religious economy as of of the religious on in a of current and a set of one or to or and the religious offered by the The religious by the of religious actors and groups, the of their and the or within the groups are is the of in religious that a set of to their in the that an is because for of in the of a in for religious referred to as a in the study of and and with to religious and In the of the used to explain of religious as well as the that to become of churches, and other of religious also as a to theory, that the to the of in Religious is by the of and in the of the particular within the religious the to explain the of state regulations on religious as well as the that for of the religious marketplace. are of this that be used in understanding religious and political relations in the post-communist countries. the and level of religious competition to explain traditional churches have to their the collapse of and this set of countries experienced reestablishment of after a period of the of both and religious groups to national churches have not particularly in and have church to the of and competition in the religious on political The religious that religious regulation the for by a religious while of the religious The of regulation on the level of religious competition in as well as the of their political often on religious regulations on their political can because of as or or as a Moreover, the support of religious groups as as to or their political they be to regulations that are by a religious is that support regulation that the of minority Religious are is to and to set of and to support and their with a or is in this that the of political the competition by the religious to and thus churches and other religious groups to their to to new and current religious be to in political they are with from In these have movements as and as well as new religious is that to to a religious within the same religious to to a new religious movements are particularly to traditional Christian as Orthodox and religious have an in their they support regulation that to their Moreover, when is that they be the of the religious to regulation in their and the for benefits or religious religions be to support legislation that the of religious diversity in In religions that is in their as as the for new religious movements to relations during the Soviet years can be by of by in most by the communist the national churches had experienced of and The on Religious set the under religious groups in the This in The allowed religious to be in with all other religious religious and and religious the and religious groups in the Soviet Union experienced and the period of religious in Soviet by the of was intended to Religious groups in to the Orthodox had their and and their or the Orthodox had to with of the churches and most of or in were place throughout the with and other religious groups the of the during the the of to of and the a in religious as allowed for churches and to and religious groups to have that for the and freedom to the Orthodox in was because of that of the and a of threat from religious other religious groups throughout the as to support for the and to religious throughout the an of churches and and the of that this have a to an of religiosity as a of of This the when adopted a to the for Religious in this many religious groups were to with the they were the period of religion. to many church were or in liberalization of religious began in and by the had adopted a on of and Religious that set the new legal of religious and freedom of to the first religious to the of and within the This also the of nationalist movements tied to in republics as and the and of from the was to to communist and to the of the of for the the same in Eastern Europe, liberalization to increased by the Catholic in and the in Germany communist and establishing a The collapse of the Soviet Union and of communist parties in the Eastern in the and to liberalization of religious regulations under new and attempts to religious freedom in In the Soviet laws freedom of and religious and were to from religious This liberalization allowed for both and international religious to themselves and contributed to the that new religious movements were the traditional religions in attracting to funding and of the many of the republics had adopted legislation that religious freedom for state support to “traditional” religious groups, and in many by religious I discuss specific regulations however, I to a of the of religious freedom in the post-communist countries using a of by in the a of regulations a of the of a religious can a of the of religious regulations across a set of countries. have attempts to of religion–state relations in years, one all of religious and constructed a religious regulation for countries that countries have official state churches, to funds or to not or have state in and other of church and from the Religious to indexes on and regulation of for countries for The or that on the practice, or of missionary and countries on a from to in the of regulation of official support for and support of one or all and legislation of of the the level of religious minority examines of restrictions restrictions on to of or of religious and restrictions on and proselytizing. The the to are from their religious to restrictions in reports the for the and and Religious regulation in majority Christian post-communist countries The regulation data were from the of and were by and The data were from the and the of regulation of the practice, or of on a the of is a of in on a is a the of on Religious regulation in majority Christian post-communist countries The regulation data were from the of and were by and The data were from the and the of regulation of the practice, or of on a the of is a of in on a is a the of on of the regulations indexes for the majority Christian post-communist countries. are by traditional majority thus there are and countries in the post-communist are that can be from the in the level of regulation of and in is in the majority Orthodox countries to the Catholic and post-communist to both the and and is an difference among the countries in level of I for years from both of data to examine restrictions have between the post-communist period and The in of between the of to and the of regulation of between and for the Orthodox and Catholic in the to however, the of in and minority in all of the countries increased between and be for by the fact that the are and because they for both of that regulations have in the majority Orthodox countries. In regulations also to be in the republics in the Eastern bloc countries and In many of the Orthodox there was in regulation or in religion. the in The in and between and were in the Catholic with most in both was the Catholic in of a the minority is a of the the are in the of in minority not mirror the in in that are for restrictions in these countries. This appears to be the in and In minority increased between and while in The countries a of regulation of and analysts that and have both progress in guaranteeing religious freedom to both traditional and new religious groups other often for this is that the church in both and the national that the Catholic and Orthodox churches in the other post-communist as a church, not the same in the of national for the Catholic in Moreover, because both countries were and during the communist pluralism and are in the post-communist religious and the of the present religious suggest that governments are and religious in their religious for all groups, these countries be to majority religious groups while the for or are in I first examine the level of religious diversity in the countries under I regulations in of the countries to laws are groups, or religious regulation an by governments to the religious the of religious freedom that often with regulation of the religious regulation the level of diversity of religious groups in post-communist a majority church, a few countries of religious is often a of historical or religious diversity is not a of religious are the fact that is a religious those to to a religious of religious practice, as church or of religious as the of data used to is as often a of as official and church and data from opinion This is by the fact that during the Soviet period were to to the of of religion. there is the of the of religious religious be in practice, and of and the of in of the religious groups in the predominantly Catholic and Orthodox countries of post-communist Europe and Eurasia in and data are not years levels of to religious during the communist the of and after a period of on religious affiliation from the Christian and an the Christian are to be among the most of data on Christian the As the are Christian missionary the data are particularly for this for they close to the level of of with on missionary the of religious groups in a and other on religious The and are as for data on Religious in majority Orthodox post-communist countries Christian and Christian are of and of other religious In of the of are in the not in for and Religious in majority Orthodox post-communist countries Christian and Christian are of and of other religious In of the of are in the not in for and Religious in majority Catholic post-communist countries Christian and Christian are of and of religious Religious in majority Catholic post-communist countries Christian and Christian are of and of religious have the of the for the Communist countries. that churches their The have that the are on by churches of on church affiliation study of the of the data that were with other data and that the was particularly of of in that to the level of belief in a The data to be for the of this as is with changes in and the the of Moreover, the present study is also with how religious religious to concessions from a to have political support from a of the support in the of with the religious or of by the religious those identify to be and their this is not always for all denominations. as Orthodox is often a a religious Orthodox religious can on of or to for regulations that their religious and the of their religious pluralism or other have on an on on of The is the of the of religious groups in a the pluralism the of the from in a between religious to a one of of the pluralism to religious this to when is used to explain levels of is often used in of the of regulations on I an of religious pluralism using data from and from and As they the of from the religious groups, the the level of diversity in countries. Moreover, because the data are for a they not the changes that have the post-communist of religious pluralism in post-communist countries are from data from the of and were by and data are from of religious pluralism in post-communist countries are from data from the of and were by and data are from The religious economy literature that of the religious diversity and as a result, and religious we increased religious as communist governments and new constitutions were adopted across Central and Eastern Europe and the communist years, official of not to of religious also church and of As the communist churches were and restrictions and support to the of increased religious the same that the of and in all of the majority Orthodox countries experienced in Orthodox during the period between and The Orthodox that experienced a in Orthodox was as the a during this The data also that those countries that were of the Soviet Union a of religious resurgence the communist bloc countries of Central and Eastern This can be by the fact that the of countries experienced of religious In the Soviet the republics were to with Communist of religious restrictions on religious and a to In the Eastern countries most of the majority Catholic states are on the other was often not as most of the Catholic countries not as of a in in the period under for they had not experienced the same level of under for Christian also this is to the in between and the that most to beginning and of post-communist countries in and of changes to Christian In and Christian between and while in and these In all of the Catholic countries Christian experienced between and between and the regulation indexes are not and thus we that there is a between increased regulation of of and in this be to the of and the of data the of a low levels of religious diversity be a of by religious groups and political actors to restrict the religious and for new to In the I examine specific of legislation and their to there have attempts by and groups to religious religion–state relations in post-communist to their specific context, or can they be by that would to a of In the I data and indexes of religious regulation to to between levels of regulation and changes in religious was by data In this I the experiences of particular countries to explain how traditional churches have in religious the collapse of I that is in the of both and religious groups to religious the the support of a religious can a religious establishment both benefits from the and that to and religious in the majority Orthodox the of both church and of these and the to in the of the Orthodox is not to examples of Orthodox were under the of and with church with as in Christian under a referred to as or as of Christian under the The that church the in these the communist when Soviet was perceived as a of thus nationalist of that relations have used to the of they also to the of the national church of the close between and national is that religions to their in an that one church with a on the of to the This be an to the religious one for Christian have not had in most Orthodox countries. I would also that allowed Orthodox churches in communist countries to for religious restrictions that have the of the they in those countries the of communist rule. the Soviet there was a of of the start of transition with or new laws restrictions on religious the Soviet republics adopted most to the Soviet on of and Religious allowed groups to religious Religious was and those religious that began to be across the Moreover, the of restrictions in an of missionaries from all the As new religious groups to the Soviet traditional religious groups that had to under Soviet began to fear the of they to be their As political were established in these the laws these countries established and restrictions on funding of religious The freedom that religious in the period was by increased restrictions that to this developments support to of the of religious the collapse of communist we a liberalization of religious as in the to of religious restrictions on religious have a as in of political of the religious restrictions on religious freedom the political and of the of of the religious was to the “democratic” parties that were in the to set themselves from the communist parties that had for new parties of restrictions on religious and space for religious traditional were not to religious that a their of they began to on governments to new restrictions on religious In set of that religious have the most when they are in the majority and when they are to the political in when their are of What not however, is the of religious that themselves to the of political is in The Orthodox churches have a of the that and this not to have in Orthodox churches have to with nationalist parties during they have to parties that political This to that the churches be to their as the majority to in of the to specific we that the majority Orthodox post-communist governments of and have adopted religious The laws in these countries the or political of the majority identify the Orthodox as the traditional or historical of the and for new groups to be by the those of what to be a and in many a of that in legitimacy to groups most of the countries not have a state the Orthodox and in the of the as a is the state church, a on of and Religious religious on their historical in the and the of the Orthodox in the historical and of and state of the The the and state support for church and religious In the is official as the national church and other groups to as religions are to to on The of and as “traditional” religions in the and also the of to the of and to the establishment and of and of the post-communist Orthodox countries is the restrictions Orthodox groups not with the In the Orthodox was and to for religious In the the majority Orthodox and one of to legal The Orthodox is not and on In where Eastern Orthodox is as the traditional in the the Orthodox to church by state and have with to the Orthodox in and In a from the Orthodox of a Orthodox that the other a and of is a we that what they from the not for Orthodox post-communist countries also have laws that religious to the Orthodox to and by the communist and other benefits that are to the laws are not always they from Orthodox In of of religious restrictions the to other with state that a other religious In the majority Orthodox that a on not restrict freedom of In the Orthodox by the in to in the or other Orthodox in the and in that the the of a in because was to the Orthodox on In the of of religious by a Orthodox religious to new religious and those a low to The Orthodox the of the Soviet Union the of a referred to as and support from the as well as with the by the and have an and this support with the within the to their within the fear of and support for have on the of movements in their relatively is present throughout the post-communist not by religious political as In the of the of Religious religious freedom in the is the of the This was and of for that the is have to adopt What we to is the a to the Orthodox be in other groups are allowed to enter the marketplace. In a the of a new in the of the of the of the Orthodox for to the as the to the national The is as a and the in these and other post-communist countries is with other religious particular Christian and for the of the The Catholic also in the communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in most countries not had as close relations with governments as the Orthodox churches. In the most often used as an of the with the political and in the that ushered in in other communist the was to and support to tied to of important for the in to a that had a of that be used political The of the allowed to as a both and Moreover, the was to to to support was the for with In the Catholic the first of in to in In on the other the had to with and was to the This is to the of the church to remain from the state during the communist period and the of to the of Moreover, was of the other communist bloc states, thus the of that the Catholic was to to in other countries. the of the Catholic in the of countries in Central and Eastern In the to in the of and also to place as the majority in the a with the in relations between the church and the movements with the Catholic that new religious movements as and to of minority religious groups, or the of was by in the first of to be in have not with that these have the in the as the representative of the majority religious the from of religious for in and with from as a the Catholic in as an the nationalist of in the that the was in fact between nationalist in and the Union and the church in the nationalist of in that the was a nationalist to Orthodox during the of Catholic and that in the was in and in the these we that the Catholic in both and regimes. in the of the the was in and under Communist the was to a in and in as an The of the in new democracies is with from a of to that of a in to by the of the had to from the state and how to while an within What are the of on for in the post-communist the Soviet from political majority churches be to the in many countries as a of stalled church and state actors to restrict religious liberty, this in are one of for In a laws be and by of the not traditional churches, are not to their when churches in religious freedom is not thus the and to is also a that can be by As a church with the state to restrict the of religious groups are to in the religious the of religious the of diversity religious the of to and from as a that can of and of to the This can have for of the religious tradition of the