The Role of the Orthodox Churches in Defining the Nation in Post-Soviet Moldova
The Role of the Orthodox Churches in Defining the Nation in Post-Soviet Moldova

Summary/Abstract: Abstract. This study looks into current nation-building processes in Moldova on both sides of the Dniester and the role of Orthodoxy in enforcing them. It demonstrates how the clerical and political hierarchy of Moldova utilized the category of Orthodoxy in order to construct and implement their respective ideas on nation- and statehood. The paper argues that institutional heritages had a strong influence on the autocephalous churches, which led to a divergence in interpreting canonic issues, especially regarding nationalism. This allowed both political and church elites to agree on an understanding of nation- and statehood that was conducive to their respective nation- and state-building processes. The article further argues that the collapse of communism enabled Orthodoxy to quickly fill in the resulting ideological gap by replacing the discursive fields previously occupied by communist discourse.

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