edited by Stefania Palmisano, Isabelle Jonveaux, Marcin Jewdokimow London and New York, Routledge, 2021 194 pp., $46.00 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-367-75709-0
MATTHEW LEE MILLER
Three scholars based at universities in Italy, Austria, and Poland have edited a collection of sociological studies which explore the development of monastic and other religious orders in Central and Eastern Europe. This pioneering work analyzes the past 30 years of development of orders in the region, and the contributors include the leading European sociologists who study this topic. The book focuses on developments since 1945, but several authors provide context with details from earlier times. It includes nine chapters: two serve as introductions, four focus on Poland, and three address the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Russia. Catholic orders receive the most attention, and the book does not address Ukraine, Romania, or the Balkan region in detail. The contributors have chosen a variety of analytical tools from the discipline of sociology: a number provide analysis of published statistical records, others utilize quantitative survey data, and several depend on qualitative fieldwork observations.
In the introductory first chapter the editors provide historical and cultural background information for the subsequent chapters. They present a variety of religious organizations, including male and female monastic orders and other bodies. After the Second World War the rise of Communist governments led to the banning or restriction of these orders, whereas since 1989 political control over them has decreased. Many orders have experienced a revival along with new organizational, economic, and spiritual challenges. The increases in participation during the 1990s have slowed in most regions, with the exception of Poland.
In the second chapter Marcin Jewdokimow presents a quantitative summary of developments of religious orders in Central and Eastern Europe since the 1970s and compares findings to parallel trends across the continent and wider world. He summarizes the recent numerical decline in order memberships. This chapter also explains the different political climates experienced by orders in countries of the region; in Communist Poland, for example, the orders were repressed, while in Czechoslovakia they were almost entirely eliminated. Jewdokimow highlights that the recent decline in participation across Europe contrasts with the increases in other regions of the globe. He pays special attention to one exceptional development in Poland: a sharp increase in the number of religious priests (ordained members of orders), with a 72 percent increase from 3,895 in 1974 to 6,686 in 2017 (17). This chapter also introduces topics which are explored in later chapters, such as the appearance of new monastic orders, new forms of participation in traditional orders, and the interaction of orders with society.
Four chapters focus attention on Poland. Isabelle Jonveaux and Wojciech Sadlon explore the highly significant topic of religious priests in the country; these serve as members of orders alongside brothers who are not ordained. A further chapter by Jonveaux addresses the economies of monasteries in the country. She discusses a wide variety of strategies which attempt to provide for the needs of members and facilities without distracting from the primary spiritual and outreach goals: “in monastic life keeping a work–prayer balance is always challenging” (81). Income is received through providing pastoral services, selling religious goods, or other means.
Agata Mirek considers female orders in Poland. After the Second World War the state authorities began to regulate orders more directly and required sisters to take a more active role in educational and medical service. Nuns were treated as “third-class citizens” with a disregard for basic constitutional rights. During the 1950s, for example, over 1,000 nuns were forced to live in labor camps and endure political training (57-58). In response, female orders devised methods of adjustment and resistance to the new limitations. After 1989 female orders experienced greater freedom to expand their outreach through establishing a wide range of new schools, medical institutions, and social programs. Polish orders attempted to extend outreach to Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, although a variety of difficulties emerged. Mirek also discusses the service carried out in Poland by nuns from western Europe, Africa, and Latin America. The chapter concludes by reflecting on possible reasons for the current decline in the membership of female monastic orders in Poland.
Stefania Palmisano’s chapter explores the growth of “New Monastic Communities” (NMCs) in Poland. These Catholic organizations (for men, women, or mixed groups) developed after the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65 without formal connections to established orders. They see themselves as renewal movements utilizing selected aspects of the traditions of existing orders. Bishops often provide authorization, and Vatican approval may confer recognition as an Institute. NMCs also draw on a variety of religious practices from outside the Roman Catholic Church. The author suggests that they often place less emphasis on established Catholic teachings, such as the doctrine of original sin, and practices, such as confession. These communities frequently model relationships which are more egalitarian than hierarchical.
The chapter by Barbora Spalová, Marek Liška, and Tereza Picková offers a very different account of developments in the Czech Republic. The authors present a case study of several monastic institutions which were returned to the Catholic Church after 40 years in which monasteries were not able to operate (1950-90). In 1991 the Church received 200 buildings, and in 2013 the state restored additional land and financial compensation. The Church has developed the restored properties and assets and allowed non-Catholic Czechs to interact with monasteries which do not currently house monks or nuns. Visitors experience the restored structures as historical-cultural monuments or centers for rest and leisure.
Edit Márta Révay’s chapter discusses the development of religious orders in Hungarian society since 1990. This analysis relies on questionnaires which were distributed among members of orders as well as interviews of selected leaders. Survey questions addressed the motivations of new participants and their experiences in entering and continuing life within their orders. The author explores educational levels, family support, previous church experiences, and geographical background. The analysis also explores expectations of social interaction within the order, financial security, and placement for work responsibilities.
Focusing on Russia, Ksenia Medvedeva’s chapter provides fascinating insights into the roles played by Orthodox monasteries in contemporary life. The author begins by highlighting the contrast between the high percentage of the population which identifies as Orthodox with the low percentage which actively participates in parish life through attending services or receiving communion. She also reflects on a recent study which explores four modes of involvement in Orthodoxy in Russia: parish, pilgrimage, network, and “flashmob” (156-7). Medvedeva’s research illustrates how traditional monastic institutions continue to resonate with a wide variety of Russians who are not formal members of the orders. Her fieldwork was conducted in the Leningrad, Yaroslavl, Kaluga, Ivanovo, Moscow, and Nizhny Novgorod regions, and the chapter pays special attention to the village of Diveyevo in the last of these, whose Holy Trinity-Saint Seraphim Monastery is one of the most well-known and frequently visited monasteries in the country.
Pilgrims often travel to visit “holy places” located across Russia. In the city of Moscow a leader of the Intercession (Russian: Pokrovsky) Women’s Monastery estimates that between 1,000 to 5,000 people visit daily to pay their respects to St. Matrona of Moscow. Outside the capital, St. Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad has attracted more than one million visitors a year. In Diveyevo, thousands of visitors come to the monastery to venerate the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov (158). Such pilgrims participate with differing motivations, of course, and monasteries are often able to accommodate a variety of visitors. Some wish to encounter miraculous icons, saints’ relics, or healing springs, often located in or near monasteries. Visitors travel alone or in groups; they often come on bus tours, but many travel on foot in order to experience hardship intentionally. The purposes of pilgrimages thus vary widely as participants seek to develop faith, enjoy leisure, and/or explore the past.
Pilgrims may also wish to develop stronger ties to their community of believers, ancestors, or nation (163-4). Medvedeva explores the experiences of trudniki (laborers); temporary volunteer workers who have come to a monastery to provide manual labor as well as to experience the life of the community. Often room and board are provided in exchange for labor in the refectory, gardens, or other facilities. They are not formal members of an order, but they are expected to attend services and follow other guidelines.
Medvedeva also describes a number of alternative Orthodox groups she encountered in Diveyevo. Bespasportisty (people without passports) refuse to carry new government documents with numbers they believe may carry the mark of the Antichrist. Tsarebozhniki (tsar-worshippers) believe that Russian monarchs, particularly Nicholas II, have played a redeeming role for the nation (160). In addition to serving as a location for pilgrimage, a Russian monastery may also serve as a base for a starets (elder). These monastic elders have attracted networks of followers who seek their spiritual direction and support. Such believers travel long distances to monasteries in order to ask questions and request blessings from the elders they revere.
Since the collapse of Communism a number of monasteries have also attracted “Orthodox flashmobs”: long lines of people who wish to venerate relics or icons which are temporarily on location. Many people participate after receiving news from a media source, before quickly dispersing once the items have left for a new destination. In 2012, for example, the monastery of Diveyevo served as one of the host sites for the Virgin Mary’s belt, brought from Greece to Russia for 40 days. Approximately 3.5 million people came to see and/or venerate this relic during this period (161).
In summation, The Transformation of Religious Orders in Central and Eastern Europe is a unique, high-quality scholarly work which should be added to research libraries and accessed by scholars as a reliable reference work.
Matthew Lee Miller is book review editor of the East-West Church Report.
