Konferenz: Churches and Religion in the Cold War

Fachbereich Bibelwissenschaft & Kirchengeschichte
Universität Salzburg

26. - 27. September 2024
Salzburg

The interactions between politics and religion during the Cold War have profound historical, social and theological implications. This era, dynamic on many levels, not only influenced geopolitical relations, but also shaped the development of churches and other religiously determined entities on a global, but above all on a local level.

Protagonists, entities and networks in the field of religious actors in the second half of the last century in the context of the Cold War are considered in particular as those who found their fields of activity in the social, cultural and ethical issues of the time.

They were initially characterized by an analytical approach to the relevant social contexts and thus their own perspective on the signs of the times, from which they attempted to develop solutions to overcome ideological boundaries, a possible improvement in the living conditions of believers and, in any case, the protection of human existence. In this context, for example, the "preservation of creation" was recognizable as a theological perspective and task and was repeatedly a mainstay in the field of action of religious actors. In church or non-hierarchical religious spaces, both in the international diplomatic arena and in the local sphere of activity, everyday life on the ground, it was evident that in the "half-century Cold War" religious entities and networks were ostensibly prepared to take on a more neutral, politically independent and moderating role. They were ostensibly able to act more independently than state, politically integrated actors of the time and were thus, for example, important partners in the development and course of the CSCE process.

ReCoNet ("Religion and Cold War Network"), a network of various international universities (Bielefeld, Fribourg, Helsinki, Lund, Cagliari, Salzburg, Villanova), is dedicated to this broad field of research topics. We invite researchers to the third follow-up conference in Salzburg to submit their contributions to this international conference on "Religion in the Cold War" in order to evoke and deepen a comprehensive understanding of this topic, with its interactions between churches/religions and society, politics and diplomacy.

Program:
September 26, 2024
9.00 – 9.30 o’clock:
Greetings

9.30 – 11.00 o’clock:
Cold War discourses

Thea Sumalvico (Halle a. Saale; D)
Lutheran identity after the end of the Second World War in various European countries

Marco Lavopa (Paris; FRA)
From the religious spirit to the spirit of Helsinki. The Holy See and the Polish Catholic Church in the construction of the « Common European Home » (1950-1977).

Katharina Kunter (Helsinki; FIN)
The Helsinki Process – An event that made history – and Helsinki, 50 years later

11.00 – 11.30 o’clock:
Coffee break

11.30 – 13.00 o‘clock:
Orthodox Christianities

Karina Khasnulina (Leipzig; D)
The Russian Orthodox Split and Transnational Mobility of the Émigré Communities in China during the Early Cold War Period

Nuri Korkmaz (Bursa; TUR)
Creation of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and Strengthening the Macedonian National Identity by Yugoslavia Times

Alfons Brüning (Nijmegen; NL)
The Soviet Roots of Russian Orthodox Post-Soviet Moral Discourses

13.00 – 14.30 o’clock:
Lunch

14.30 – 16.00 o’clock:
Catholic actors

Kristian Geßner (Marburg; D)
Werenfried van Straaten – God’s last General of the Cold War?

Karim Schelkens (Tilburg; NL)
John Willebrands, a ‘cardinal’ figure in the tensions between Rome, Moscow and Kyiv during the Cold War Era

Maximilian Aigner (Salzburg; AUT)
Valentin Pfeifenberger - Dispector Procul – Observer from a local distance

16.00 – 16.30 o’clock:
Coffee break

16.30 – 18.00 o´clock:
Female actors

Stephanie Jungo (Fribourg; CH)
Christian female activists in the context of the women's movement and the Cold War

Nadezhda Beliakova (Bielefeld; D)
Religious Women from the Eastern Bloc as Actors of Communication during the Cold War: A Multidenominational Dimension

Daria Bochkova (Bielefeld; D)
Christian Women's Dissidence in Leningrad: Soviet Resistance During the Cold War

19.30 o´clock:
Dinner
Location: Müllner Bräu Salzburg

September 27, 2024
9.30 – 11.00 o’clock:
Christianity on other side of the Iron Curtain

Sebastian Holzbrecher (Hamburg, D)
The European Aid Fund. Church networks during the Cold War (1970-1994)

Anja Schade (Hildesheim, D)
Insight into the support of the South African liberation struggle by the Protestant church in the GDR and its significance for ANC exiles

Julian Sandhagen (Rome; IT)
From Victims to Martyrs. Pope Pius XII, Bishop Joseph P. Hurley and the struggle for Catholicism in Socialist Yugoslavia

11.00 – 11.30 o’clock:
Coffee break

11.30 – 13.00 o ‘clock:
Religion resistance from inside and the strength of the religious tools

Sourajit Ghosh (Nālandā, Rajgir; IND)
Lotus in Sea of Fire: Nipponzan Myōhōji Pacifism in the Nuclear Age and Nuclear Disarmament Advocacy Based Peace Movements in Cold War Period [Ort]

Marion Dotter (Munich; D)
With Faith against Communism: Austrian Pastoral and Symbolic Support for the Catholic Church in the East as Part of an Anti-Communist Strategy in the Cold War (1945-1968)

Erik Sidenvall (Lund; SWE)
Public Praying in the Cold War

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