Religious life in Greece in the period of Balkan Wars 1912-1913 in the view of the Russian Central Church periodic (1912-1914)

Abstract

Basedon the material sofsuch periodical press journals, as «Церковные ведомости»,
«Сообщения Императорского Православного Палестинского общества» and
«Богословский вестник», the given article analyses the church life in Greece during Balkan
Wars of 1912-1913. The article also studies the impact which the political events of this period
had on the position of the Church of Greece. The development of the relationship between the
Orthodox churches on Balkan Peninsula was described in the article. A special attention was
paid to the formation of Athos. As a result, it was found out that the periodical press of the
Russian Church was particularly interested in describing the religious life of Greeks. The article
considers the fact how the events of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 influenced the church life in
Greece. Attention was given to the activities of the Orthodox clergy, and the fact how the church
influenced the life of society in Greece was examined. In the article, the relations of Bulgarians
and Greeks were stated, and interfaith relations in Greece were investigated. A special attention
was given to the position of The Patriarchate of Constantinople, and its relations with the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church were investigated. The position of the monasteries of Athos and its
significance in the religious life of the Orthodox population was investigated.
The consequences of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 for the church life of the Greek
population were considered. The fact how the Russian church press shaped public opinion
among readers was analyzed. The position of Russian church publications in relation to the
policy of the Greek government was analyzed. The opinion of journalists and correspondents of
magazines regarding the religious policy of the Greek government was considered. As a result, it
was revealed that there was an interest of Russian church journalism in covering the events of
the Balkan Wars of 1912 – 1913. The attention was given to the issues of confessional life in
Greece and the Greek population of Turkey. Journalists were especially interested in the
position of the monasteries of Athos. The analysis of the given topic enables to understand how
the events of the war were presented to the readers and how the periodical press could influence
the public opinion in the Russian Empire.