Brian A. Porter

Bruce R. Berglund

Disgraceful collusion. Heroic resistance. Suppression of faith. Perseverance of convictions. The story of Christianity in twentieth-century Eastern Europe is often told in stark scenes of tragedy and triumph. Overlooked in the retelling of these dramas is how the region's clergy and lay believers lived their faith, acted within religious and political institutions, and adapted their traditions---while struggling to make sense of a changing world. The contributors to this volume, coming from the U.S. and Western and Eastern Europe, look beyond the narratives of resistance and collaboration. They offer surprising new evidence from archives and oral history interviews, and they provide fresh interpretations of Christianity as it was lived and expressed in modern Europe: from religiosity in the industrial cities of the late nineteenth century to current debates over immigration and European identity; from theological debates in East Germany to folk healing in post-socialist Bulgaria; and, counter-intuitively, from religious fervor among the Czechs to indifference among the Poles. Addressing Christianity in diverse forms---Orthodox, Protestant, Roman and Greek Catholic---as an integral part of the region's politics, society, and culture, this collection is a major addition to studies of both Eastern Europe and religion in the twentieth century. "A volume that specialists in the history of Christianity in other regions of the world will read with great interest, and a degree of envy. As an historian of religion in Western Europe, I can say that although there is a vast literature on the religious history of the nineteenth century and a growing literature on the twentieth century, there is nothing quite like this." From the Foreword by Hugh McLeod, author of The Religious Crisis of the 1960s. "This is a path-breaking book in two different ways. It contributes to the re-evaluation of the nature of modern European religion generally, and to the nature of religion in the modern world." Jeffrey Cox, University of Iowa, author of Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India.

Christianity and Modernity in Eastern Europe

Jesus instructed his followers to "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke 6:27-28). Not only has this theme long been among the Church's most oft-repeated messages, but in everything from sermons to articles in the Catholic press, it has been consistently emphasized that the commandment extends to all humanity. Yet, on numerous occasions in the twentieth century, Catholics have established alliances with nationalist groups promoting ethnic exclusivity, anti-Semitism, and the use of any means necessary in an imagined "struggle for survival." While some might describe this as mere hypocrisy, Faith and Fatherland analyzes how Catholicism and nationalism have been blended together in Poland, from Nazi occupation and Communist rule to the election of Pope John Paul II and beyond.It is usually taken for granted that Poland is a Catholic nation, but in fact the country's apparent homogeneity is a relatively recent development, supported as much by ideology as demography. To fully contextualize the fusion between faith and fatherland, Brian Porter-cs-concepts like sin, the Church, the nation, and the Virgin Mary-ultimately showing how these ideas were assembled to create a powerful but hotly contested form of religious nationalism. By no means was this outcome inevitable, and it certainly did not constitute the only way of being Catholic in modern Poland. Nonetheless, the Church's ongoing struggle to find a place within an increasingly secular European modernity made this ideological formation possible and gave many Poles a vocabulary for social criticism that helped make sense of grievances and injustices.

Catholicism, Modernity, and Poland

Faith and Fatherland

Pp. 37-42, 161-167, 176-182, and 227-326 deal with Jews. Argues that Polish nationalism did not inevitably lead to antisemitism. Romantic nationalism ca. 1830-63 was inclusive, displaying openness toward Jews. After the uprising of 1863, when antisemitism was temporarily silenced, positivism was influential among the Polish intelligentsia. This movement has been considered philosemitic, tending toward liberalism and allowing for Jews to be assimilated, i.e. "civilized" by the development of history. In the 1880s Jan Jelenski was the first Pole to refer to himself as an antisemite, but he was isolated among the intelligentsia. His ideas then became influential as antisemitism increased in all spheres and forms. The National Democrats lost hope in history, seeing the world as an arena of the struggle for survival. They considered the Jews unassimilable and dangerous parasites who had to be conquered or exterminated.

Brian A. Porter

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