Global Orthodoxy. Religion, Politics, and Human Rights, University of Padova, 12 May 2017

During the last decades, sociological interest in religion and globalization has grown due to the novelty of socio-political, economic, and cultural changes, which forced existing religious groups and organizations to revise and redesign their own institutional structures, practices, and agendas.
The role and place of Orthodox Christianity in this process is still understudied, while it is affected worldwide by multifaceted societal changes during the last 30 years: the end of communism, international migration, growth of religious diversity, entering the European Union, the secularization processes, and human rights challenges.
This conference intends to highlight three intertwined aspects - religion, politics, and human rights - related to the global context of Orthodox Christianity.

Programme

8:30 - 8:45 Welcome Addresses
Marco Mascia, Director of Human Rights Centre, University of Padova
Giuseppe Giordan, Coordinator of Joint PhD Programme “Human Rights, Society, and Multi-level Governance”, University of Padova

8:45 -10:15 Plenary Session One | Library

Global Orthodoxy and Politics

Chair: Paolo De Stefani, University of Padova
Alexander Agadjanian, Russian State University of the Humanities, Russia
Orthodox Holiness against Globalization: an Essay on Drawing Borders
Kathy Rousselet, Sciences Po, Centre de recherches internationales (CERI), CNRS, France
The Russian Orthodox Church and the Mapping of the World

10:15 - 10:30 Coffee Break

10:30 -12:00 Plenary Session Two | Library

Global Orthodoxy and Religion

Chair: Siniša Zrinščak, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Maria Hämmerli,University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Orthodoxy Going Global: the Quest for Identity
Alexei Krindatch, Research Coordinator, Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America
Singing an Old Song in a New Land: How Orthodox Churches Contribute to America’s Diverse Religious Landscape

12:00 - 12:15 Coffee Break

12:15 - 13:30 Parallel Session One | Library

Chair: Alexander Agadjanian, Russian State University of the Humanities, Russia

Emmanuel Clapsis, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School, USA
Religion in a Participatory Democracy
Paul Gavrilyuk, University of St. Thomas, USA
Patriarch Kirill’s Ideology of Russkii Mir and the Geopolitics of the Council of Crete
Ekaterina Grishaeva, Ural Federal University, Russia / Uppsala University, Sweden
Intertwinement of Religious and Political Discourses in Russia: from Orthodox anti-Westernism to Political Mistrust to Europe

12:15 - 13:30 Parallel Session Two | Room Iqbal Masih

Chair: Maria Hämmerli, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Georgios E. Trantas, University of Erfurt, Germany
Greek-Orthodox Cultural Heritage and its Strategic Importance to the ‘Representation of the Church of Cyprus to the European Union’
Marko Veković, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Where Religion Meets Politics: Orthodoxy in the Former Yugoslav States
Marco Guglielmi, University of Padova, Italy
Orthodox Christian Diasporas in Italy: Patterns of Negotiations in a Catholic Country

13:30 - 15:00 Lunch

15:00 - 16:45 Parallel Session Three | Library

Chair: Kathy Rousselet, Sciences Po, Centre de recherches internationales (CERI), CNRS, France

Roy R. Robson, Pennsylvania State University, USA
A “Community of Young Old Believers:” Patterns of Tradition, Acculturation, and Hybridization among First-Wave Old Believers in the United States
Maija Grizāne, Daugavpils University, Latvia
Old Orthodox (Old Believers) in Modern Latvia: Challenges and Perspectives
Anastasiya Cherkasova, researcher, Auckland, New Zealand
The Struggles and Joys of Orthodox Diaspora in New Zealand: Cases of Russian, Serbian and Greek Churches
Eleni Tseligka, Staffordshire University, UK
The Centrality of Orthodoxy to Migrant Cultural Retention: The Case of Greeks in Germany

15:00 - 16:45 Parallel Session Four | Room Iqbal Masih

Chair: Vasilios N. Makrides, University of Erfurt, Germany

Elizabeth H. Prodromou, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA
Discovering Unity in Diversity as the Reality of a Global Church at the Pan-Orthodox Council of Crete, 2016: Identifying Possibilities for Orthodox Christian Contributions to Contemporary Human Rights Challenges
Sergey Trostyanskiy, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, USA
Is the Notion of Human Rights Compatible with the Orthodox Concept of Personhood? The Assessment of Human Rights by the Russian Orthodox Church
Ivan Zabaev, Saint-Tikhon University, Russia
Humility, Dignity and Economy: Contemporary Russian Orthodox Church Practices and the Logic of Human Rights
Olga Breskaya, University of Padova, Italy
Silviu Rogobete, West University of Timisoara, Romania
Religious Freedom in Context: A Comparison between Belarus and Romania

16:45 - 17:15 Coffee Break

17:15 - 18:45 Plenary Session Three | Library

Global Orthodoxy and Human Rights

Chair: Giuseppe Giordan, University of Padova
Kristina Stöckl, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Transnational Aspects of the Russian Orthodox Debate on Human Rights
Vasilios N. Makrides, University of Erfurt, Germany
Orthodox Christianity and Human Rights: Local Problems, Global Challenges, Glocal Developments

18:45 - 19:00 Closing Remarks

20:00 Dinner