This book explores the tensions that have arisen in the diaspora as a result of large numbers of Russian migrants entering established overseas parishes following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
These tensions, made more fervent by the increasing role of the Church as part of the expression of Russian identity and by the Church’s entry into the global ‘culture wars’, carry with them alternative views of a range of key issues – cosmopolitanism versus reservation, liberalism versus conservatism and ecumenism versus dogmatism.
The book focuses on particular disputes, discusses the broader debates and examines the wider context of how the Russian Orthodox Church is evolving overall.
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
A note on transliteration and convention
Introduction
1 The Sourozh crisis in context
2 Analogous crises and their historical genesis
3 Enculturation and preservation: macrocosmic themes
4 Enculturation and preservation: praxis and devotion
5 The Russian Orthodox diaspora and the Russian World: Church and State
6 The Russian Orthodox diaspora and the Russian World: a global mandate
7 A comparative diaspora: The Armenian Apostolic Church and the Soviet legacy
8 Conclusion
Epilogue
Primary sources and bibliography
Index
Biography
Robert Collins completed his doctorate at Birkbeck, University of London, UK, in 2021. He is now working on a study of Slavophile historiography in relation to Christian eschatology and today’s global culture wars.
A timely, revealing and important study of the religious conflicts between Moscow and the Orthodox abroad.
Professor Orlando Figes
An even-handed analysis of a complex and polarised subject. The divisions between Russia and the West are dissected from the minutia of daily life to macrocosmic rhetoric whilst the author's multi-disciplinary approach makes for compelling reading.
Maria Haemmerli, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
