The Church, the Nation, and the State: The Serbian Orthodox Church After Communism

Abstract

My chapter focuses on the role the Serbian Orthodox Church has played in Serbian politics since 1989, but especially since 2000, with the end of the authoritarian rule of Slobodan Milošević. Centering the discussion on four principal dimensions that capture the Serbian Church’s influence in this period—nationalism, conservatism, homophobia, and religious intolerance—this chapter pays special attention to two main social and political fault lines in post-2000 Serbia and the Church’s central role in them: the status of its LGBTQ community and the continuing contention over Kosovo’s secession. The chapter concludes that the SOC continues to serve as a political force in Serbian society—a foundational source of Serbian national identity and an organization deeply immersed in contemporary Serbian politics. It is a Church that is deeply conservative, opposed to change, and primarily interested in preserving its status and privilege in Serbian society.