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Yugoslavia Eastern Orthodoxy
Since Byzantine times, the Eastern Orthodox churches have had
an almost symbiotic connection to individual nation states such
as Greece and Russia. Yugoslavia had two main Orthodox churches:
the Serbian Orthodox Church, present since the Middle Ages, and
the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which split from the Serbian
church in 1967. The Romanian Orthodox Church was also present in
Vojvodina. An estimated 11.5 million Yugoslavs, primarily Serbs,
Montenegrins, and Macedonians, were Eastern Orthodox by family
background.
The self-governing Serbian Orthodox Church was founded in the
thirteenth century by Saint Sava Nemanja, brother of the first
Serbian king. In the centuries after its founding, the church
served a series of kings and emperors, and it acted as the
repository of Serbian culture during the centuries of Ottoman
domination (1459-1829). The Serbian church supported the
Karadjordjevic Dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
between the world wars. The brutal religious persecution of
Orthodox priests in World War II enhanced the church's popular
standing throughout Serbia. After the war, the communist regime
took advantage of the Serbian church's loyal support of the
Yugoslav state to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the Serbian
population. But the church soon came into direct conflict with
the communist regime's policy on nationalities and lost its
secular role and influence. One result of this conflict was the
refusal of the Serbian church hierarchy to recognize the
Macedonian Orthodox Church, given self-governing status by the
Yugoslav state in 1967.
In 1987 the Serbian Orthodox Church, headquartered in
Belgrade, included about 2,000 parishes; 2,500 priests, monks,
and nuns; 180 monasteries and convents; four seminaries; and one
school of theology. It also published ten periodicals. The
Serbian church was very active in defending the Serbian and
Montenegrin minorities in Kosovo. Following the upswing of ethnic
tensions in Kosovo in the 1980s, identification as an Orthodox
churchgoer became more popular in Serbia. In 1985 completion of
the long-delayed Cathedral of St. Sava in Belgrade received
government approval. When finished, St. Sava was to be the
largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world.
At various times before World War I, the Eastern Orthodox
diocese in Macedonia was under the jurisdiction of Serbian,
Bulgarian, and Greek Orthodox authorities. Between the world
wars, the Serbian church was in control. Until 1958 the Serbian,
Bulgarian, and Greek Orthodox hierarchies recognized no distinct
Macedonian nation or independent Macedonian Orthodox Church. In
1958, however, the Serbian Orthodox hierarchy recognized the
Macedonian dioceses by consecrating a Macedonian bishop. Shortly
thereafter the Macedonian Orthodox Church came into official
existence, but it remained under the authority of the Serbian
Orthodox Church. In 1967 Macedonian clergymen proclaimed their
church independent, prompting the Serbian Orthodox Church to
refuse all further relations with it. Aware that a self-governing
Macedonian church would enhance the sense of Macedonian
nationhood within the Yugoslav federation, political authorities
gave the church their full support. Without recognition from the
Serbian hierarchy, however, the Macedonian church remained
isolated from the world's other Orthodox churches. By the
mid-1980s, the Macedonian Orthodox Church had six dioceses in
Yugoslavia and two abroad, 225 parishes, 102 monasteries, about
250 priests and about 15 monks, and one school of theology.
Data as of December 1990
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