The Politics of Church Land Administration: the Case of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine

in Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies (in press)

Legal Documents on Islam in Europe: Luxembourg

Book published by Brill (in press)

Annotated Legal Documents on Islam in Luxembourg consist of an annotated book of currently valid legal documents affecting the status of Islam and Muslims in Luxembourg. By legal documents are meant the ... [more ▼]

Annotated Legal Documents on Islam in Luxembourg consist of an annotated book of currently valid legal documents affecting the status of Islam and Muslims in Luxembourg. By legal documents are meant the texts of legislation, including relevant secondary legislation, as well as significant court decisions. Each legal text will be preceded by an introduction describing the historical, political and legal circumstances of its adoption, plus a short paragraph summarising its content. The legal texts will be published in the original language while the annotations and supporting material will be in English. The focus of the book is on the religious dimensions of being Muslim in Luxembourg, i.e. on individuals' access to practise their religious obligations and on the ability to organise and manifest their religious life. It's a part of a project will cover the 28 member states of the European Union (including Croatia), Norway and Switzerland plus the European Union and the European Court of Justice. [less ▲]

Les juridictions religieuses au Luxembourg

in Wieshaider, Wolfgang; Potz, Richard (Eds.) Les juridictions religieuses et l'Etat en Europe (2015, October 01)

(1) La résolution des conflits entre les particuliers membres de confessions religieuses; (2) La position de l’État par rapport aux conflits à caractère religieux : par le biais de la loi, de la ... [more ▼]

(1) La résolution des conflits entre les particuliers membres de confessions religieuses; (2) La position de l’État par rapport aux conflits à caractère religieux : par le biais de la loi, de la jurisprudence ou encore par l’instauration de systèmes de médiation ou d’arbitrage ; (3) La position des confessions religieuses par rapport à l’attitude de l’État relativement aux conflits à caractère religieux avec une présentation du débat public concernant cette question. [less ▲]

Religious Discourse and Radical Right Politics in Contemporary Greece, 2010-2014

in Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions (2015), 16(2-3), 218-247

Building on the ‘pathological normalcy’ thesis, the paper aims at exploring the ideological relationship between the ‘institutional’ Greek Church and the neo-Nazi ‘Golden Dawn’ party. To this end, the ... [more ▼]

Building on the ‘pathological normalcy’ thesis, the paper aims at exploring the ideological relationship between the ‘institutional’ Greek Church and the neo-Nazi ‘Golden Dawn’ party. To this end, the paper seeks to examine two interconnected themes: (1) the religious political discourse as a factor for the party's growth; and (2) the significance of the religious value system within the party's ideological structure. The method of analysis employed is the Essex School discourse theory paradigm. Overall, the paper argues that (1) the Church has not substantially contributed to the establishment of a ‘cordon sanitaire' against the Golden Dawn; (2) the political theology of the Greek Church, as well as the discourse of its former archbishop Christodoulos, have operated as the breeding-ground for the social legitimization of the party ideology; and (3) Golden Dawn has instrumentalized religion as a marker of national identity and an exclusion criterion. [less ▲]

The Effect of the Young Turks Revolution on Religious Power Politics: The Case of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem (1908-1910)

in Jerusalem Quarterly (2014), 56/57

The aim of the paper is twofold: a) to critically assess the socio-political crisis within the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem that arose between the Greek hierarchy and the Arab laity concerning the ... [more ▼]

The aim of the paper is twofold: a) to critically assess the socio-political crisis within the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem that arose between the Greek hierarchy and the Arab laity concerning the implementation of a new regulatory framework of patriarchal operation, according to the Young Turks Constitution; and b) to examine the subsequent internal conflict within the ecclesiastical bureaucracy and its ideological and political connotations. The first question has deep historical roots. From the nineteenth century onwards the Arab lay community demanded emancipation from Greek religious (and economic) control that was perceived as cultural imperialism. Their claim was rejected by the hierarchical apparatus in the name of the identity between ‘Hellenism’ and ‘Orthodoxy’ which was an expression of a ‘hegemonic’ strategy to maintain its institutional dominance. The restoration of the Constitution (1908), following the Young Turk's Revolution, afforded the opportunity for a more liberal modification of the religious administration with the participation of the laity in the decision-making process. The refusal of the hierarchy, however, which perceived any change as a threat to its absolute power and national composition, led to the Arab orthodox uprising. The effort of patriarch Damianos to proceed to negotiations was repudiated by the hierarchy and led to his dethronement by the Synod. Damianos, however, with the support of the Arab laity and its Russian protector managed to re-establish his authority, assenting to the adoption of the so-called Turkish Order (1910) that stipulated the establishment of a Mixed Council for the management of patriarchal affairs. We provide a contextual historical account of the associated events, sketching out the social considerations, the cultural stakes and the political goals of the key-players involved in these interconnected crises. This conflict was strongly influenced by the issue of administration/ownership of vast patriarchal land and properties, and by the broader process of nation building and secularization within the orthodox commonwealth in the late Ottoman period. [less ▲]

The Eastern Orthodox Church and Political Power: a Brief Historical Overview

in Al Tafahom (2014), 43

Religious Politics and Sacred Space: the Orthodox Strategy on the Status Quo Question, 1917-1922

in Journal of Eastern Christian Studies (2013), 65(1-2), 67-96

The First World War and the ensuing disintegration of the Ottoman Empire into western colonies was perceived as an opportunity for a potential alteration of the ‘Status Quo’; namely the special legal ... [more ▼]

The First World War and the ensuing disintegration of the Ottoman Empire into western colonies was perceived as an opportunity for a potential alteration of the ‘Status Quo’; namely the special legal framework, according to which the rights and privileges of each Church were determined within the religious landscape of Palestine. The course of action taken by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem regarding the political developments at that time is the topic of this paper. It is argued that the policy adopted by the religious officials was that of close collaboration with the British Authorities, based on the premise that London was the only Power able to effectively protect their interests. To this end, special attention is paid to the power-strategies of the interested parties as well as the relevant activation of the Greek state, which aspired to assume the role of the protecting Power of the Orthodox commonwealth in the place of Russia after the fall of the tsarist regime. [less ▲]

Authority and Legitimization: The Intra-Ecclesiastical Strategy of Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens

in Religion, State and Society (2011), 39(4), 399-415

The election of Ieronymos as archbishop of Athens took place at a critical moment for the Orthodox Church of Greece (OCG). On the one hand, the social credibility of religious bureaucracy was waning. On ... [more ▼]

The election of Ieronymos as archbishop of Athens took place at a critical moment for the Orthodox Church of Greece (OCG). On the one hand, the social credibility of religious bureaucracy was waning. On the other, a fundamentalist faction within the Synod was essentially questioning his authority. In order to confront these problems, Ieronymos found the necessary social and religious legitimization via the partial democratization of the administrative function of the OCG as well as the restoration of its relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople (the Ecumenical Patriarchate). The decoding of this intraecclesial strategy, starting from his election in February 2008 until October 2009, is the topic of the present article. [less ▲]

Το Κενό Εξουσίας στο Πατριαρχείο Ιεροσολύμων, 1917-1918

in Τα Ιστορικά (Ta Historica) (2009), 51

Constantinople and Jerusalem: the Delegation of Bishop Anthimos in the Holy Land, 1921

in Chronos: Revue d’Histoire de l’Université de Balamand (2007), 15