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The Serbian Orthodox Church as a Political Actor in the Aftermath of October 5, 2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

Milan Vukomanović*
Affiliation:
University of Belgrade
*
Address correspondence and reprint request to: Milan Vukomanović, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Čika Ljubina 18-20, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia. E-mail: vukomano@hotmail.com

Abstract

This study tackles the place and role of the Orthodox Church in Serbian society, state, and political life after October 5, 2000. Owing to its present “symphony” with the state, the church now offers a new ideological framework and value-system for state institutions such as the armed forces and public education. This new role of the church is particularly emphasized in the current legislation. One could probably refer to the “etatization” of the Serbian Church, with some negative consequences for non-traditional religious communities. The relations with the Macedonian and Montenegrin Orthodox churches have also been discussed in this context. In post-Milošević Serbia, religious rights and freedoms have been considerably extended, but there is still a great deal of arbitrariness, even completely partial interpretations of the church-state relations. In the concluding section, this article deals with the church's traditionalist perception of society as narod (the people), with some recommendations as for the possible cooperation between the church and civil society in Serbia.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2008

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