Religious Diversity and the Ukraine
Because Eastern Europe has such a storied history, it’s no surprise religious diversity in the region would play an integral role in that story. But also because so much of the Western depiction of Eastern Europe has been homogenizing ill-informed, anyone reading this might still be surprised by some of what I will share here.
So travel with me, if you will, to Slovakia, the nation I’ve spent the most time in Eastern Europe. For starters, let me clarify that Slovakia is not Slovenia. This is somewhat like confusing Arkansas and Alabama. I can see how it might happen, but they’re really different nations, separated by Hungary, a country with a language completely different from the Slavic languages, and with starkly diverging histories.
Slovenia experienced more war and violence during the breakup of Yugoslavia, compared to Slovakia which experienced both the Velvet Revolution (a non-violent transfer of power at the end of the Cold War) and the Velvet Divorce (another non-violent split, this time dividing Czechoslovakia into the two modern nations, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic).
Slovakia sits at an intersection between religious movements in Europe. The counter-Reformation never reclaimed it as fully Roman Catholic, for starters, because Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity took such an early and sizable hold there. But also Roman Catholic, because it was part of the Hapsburg dynasty. But then also Eastern Orthodox, because Eastern Orthodoxy has ancient claim and influence in this whole region to a certain extent beyond what we now see as the borders of 21st century nation-states. And then also perhaps the most intriguing, the eastern rite Catholics, those who retained their Eastern Orthodox liturgical forms while also recognizing the Pope.
You can see this history if you simply travel through northeastern Slovakia, southeastern Poland, and the Ukraine. Many small villages include ancient, wooden churches, some 700 years old or older, and then if there was a shift back from Eastern Orthodoxy to Roman Catholic oversight at some point, a second church of similar make and design but newer.
And as of yet, I haven’t even gone into a ton of detail about how early a movement confessing the Augsburg Confession (Lutheran) was established in the region, or how some Slovak Lutheran expats actually live in small enclaves in the Ukraine, or how the Reformed make up about 10% of the population of Slovakia, or how one of the more significant folks back and forth between Slovakia and the Ukraine now in 2022 are connections between Pentecostal churches established in the region that frequently are multi-ethnic, including Slavs, Hungarians, and Romani people.
And I haven’t mentioned either that thousands of folks in the region are atheists, raised as they were under Communism, and I haven’t mentioned things like the history of the Jewish people in the region (made tragic by the Holocaust because at least in Košice where we lived, there are historic synagogues but hardly any active faith communities).
If you would like to read one book from the region that explores the diversity of this religious history and takes it into even more exotic directions, including Jewish mysticism and more, I highly recommend the Nobel prize winner Olga Tokarczuk’s newest novel, The Books of Jacob.
And now, on top of all of this religious diversity, each state that neighbors each other has different predominate religious leanings. Slovakia is diverse but Roman Catholic. Poland is very Roman Catholic. Ukraine is about 2/3rds Eastern Orthodox (roughly 30% Ukrainian Orthodox, 23% just Orthodox, and 12% recognizing the Moscow patriarch), etc. And then the Ruthenian region, which crosses into all three nations, includes many Eastern Rite Catholics, as mentioned above.
All of this being said, the current president of the Ukraine is Jewish. Which makes Putin’s claims that he is deNazifying Ukraine really bizarre. Bizarre because Russia itself has a lot of work to do to truly recognize the Jewish people.
The Anti-Defamation League recently released a statement on this issue, and it’s worth reproducing here:
"ADL condemns in the strongest terms Russia's unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, a blatant violation of international law. This unnecessary war instigated by President Vladimir Putin has already caused thousands of deaths over the last eight years, will unleash untold misery on the civilian population, and threatens the independence of Ukraine, a fellow democracy.
ADL also strongly condemns and refutes President Putin's stated war aim of "denazification" of Ukraine. Invoking Nazism to legitimize Russia's aggression is unacceptable. Ukraine is a democracy with equal rights for its Jewish citizens, including the right to be elected to its highest office, as President Zelensky has demonstrated.
We continue to stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and call upon world leaders to unequivocally denounce and punish Russia for this flagrant assault on a sovereign nation."