Lucian N. Leustean, public orthodoxy
During the last weeks of June 2016, two major international events
took place, namely the ‘Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church’, on
the island of Crete (June 16-27), and the British referendum that
narrowly voted to leave the European Union (June 23).
At first sight,
the two events are unrelated. One is the product of extensive
inter-Orthodox dialogue that began in 1923, nearly a century ago. The
other is the expression of the democratic political vote that took place
in Britain, on Europe’s western periphery. Although neither event
referred to the other, both are representative of tectonic shifts in the
international liberal order of the post-Cold War era.
What do they have in common?
First, the holding of the Orthodox Synod was agreed on at the time of
Russia’s takeover of Crimea in March 2014. For the last two years since
its announcement, regular meetings of hierarchs planning the agenda
were interspersed with references to the religious and political
situation in Ukraine. Subtle allusions to Russia’s geopolitical
ambitions were also made during the Brexit debate, to the extent that on
the day when the official results were made public, President Putin
declared his dissatisfaction with this British criticism. Ukraine was
the unseen face of both the Synod and the British referendum. Fracture
between European political elites was particularly evident during the
last two years. The British Prime Minister Cameron was notably absent
from meetings between Chancellor Merkel, President Hollande and
President Putin negotiating the Donbass conflict and the Minsk accords.
Second, the Synod and the Brexit vote took place at the time of
unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Syria. The decision of the
Patriarchate of Antioch, based in Damascus, not to attend the Synod,
demonstrated the struggle for religious and political survival in the
Middle East. Its conflict with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem over the
jurisdiction of the faithful in Qatar denoted the geopolitical
strategies of churches and their search for authority, recognition and
regional influence. The forced displacement of Syrian refugees also made
headlines during the debate on the British referendum, to the extent
that a few days before the vote, a poster with migrants marching towards
Europe was presented as a sign of a veritable siege on the British
coast.
Third, and more importantly, the Synod and the Brexit vote indicated
the return of nationalism to the midst of the international liberal
order in post-Cold War Europe. The British decision to leave the
European Union has been presented in the media precisely in this way, as
a unique ‘British’ case. The refusal of the Russian, Georgian and
Bulgarian churches to attend the Synod emphasised the ‘national’
dimension of the Orthodox church. Before being part of the wider family
of the Orthodox commonwealth, these churches are ‘national’ with close
links to state structures, diplomacy and political interests.
Both the Brexit decision and the Synod will shape the future of the
European continent for years to come. The conflict in Ukraine continues
to produce headlines and its religious dimension remains unsolved. Will
an independent national Ukrainian Church be recognised by the other
Orthodox churches? The dramatic forced displacement of people in Syria
challenges the very survival of Christian communities in the Middle
East. Will religious communities in the Middle East engage with their
counterparts or focus exclusively on national objectives? These are
potent questions directly linked to nationalism. The unleashing force of
nationalism in Europe shapes the ways in which religious communities
and state structures engage with the international liberal order. The
rebuttal of the status quo was evident on the first day after
the official conclusion of the Orthodox Synod, when the Moscow
Patriarchate criticised the ways in which decisions were adopted by
stating that ‘democracy is irrelevant in church life’. Both churches and
states will become more involved in the return of nationalism as a
subterfuge to European integration and liberal values. The impact of the
Brexit vote and the holding of the Synod may not immediately
reverberate across Western Europe, but more in the East, where the
interplay between Eastern Orthodoxy, geopolitics and nationalism
provides the source for transnational alliances based on interests,
security and political power.
Lucian N. Leustean is a Reader in Politics and International Relations, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.