Eastern Orthodoxy, geopolitics and the 2016 'Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church'

Abstract

In March 2014, at the time of Russia’s takeover of Crimea, the heads of 14 Orthodox churches convened under the leadership of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based primus inter pares in Eastern Orthodoxy, and announced that a ‘Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church’ would be held in 2016. The Synod, which took place in June 2016 in Crete, was a unique ecclesiastical gathering, bringing together competing geopolitical visions of religion, state and power. This article examines the political mobilisation of Orthodox churches by contextualising the holding of the Synod in relation to Russia’s advancement of spiritual security after the end of the Cold War. It provides a textual analysis of Synodical documents and highlights the patterns of religious and political structures in the contemporary Eastern Orthodox world.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2017.1350843
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities > Politics, History and International Relations
College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities > Aston Centre for Europe
Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Geopolitics on 28/7/17, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14650045.2017.1350843
Uncontrolled Keywords: Geography, Planning and Development,Political Science and International Relations
Publication ISSN: 1557-3028
Last Modified: 30 Sep 2024 11:14
Date Deposited: 31 Aug 2017 08:30
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2018-02
Published Online Date: 2017-07-28
Accepted Date: 2017-07-28
Authors: Leustean, Lucian N. (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-1137-2307)

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