Religion
| Religion | |
|---|---|
| Moravska State Archive · 1976 | |
| Classification | Society and Power |
| Status | canon |
| Last updated | 2026-11-03 |
| Archive source | 05 Society and Power/Religion.md |
| Length | 802 words (4 min read) |
| Bishop | Elected by a synod, approved by the state office for faith |
| Parish | A priest, a cantor, and a church council |
| Monastery | Kervan monastery, 19 monks; Skalina convent, 12 nuns |
| School | No school. The state banned a church school in 1949 |
| Press | One calendar a year, printed with a state licence |
| Internal links | 6 outgoing, 5 incoming |
| Sources | 5 cited |
Contents
[hide]Moravska is an Orthodox country with a Muslim minority. The state is officially atheist. The party permits the church and it watches the church.
The numbers (1976) [edit]
| Group | Share | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Orthodox Christian | 78 percent | 2.29 million people |
| Muslim | 11 percent | 323,000 people, mostly in the Marches |
| No religion, or no answer | 9 percent | The state counts this group as "conscious" |
| Other | 2 percent | A small Catholic and Jewish population in the ports |
The state figure for church attendance is 4 percent. A village priest says 30 percent at Easter. Both numbers are a guess.
The Orthodox church [edit]
The church has one bishop at Zaligrad, 214 parishes, and 2 monasteries.
| Body | Detail |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Elected by a synod, approved by the state office for faith |
| Parish | A priest, a cantor, and a church council |
| Monastery | Kervan monastery, 19 monks; Skalina convent, 12 nuns |
| School | No school. The state banned a church school in 1949 |
| Press | One calendar a year, printed with a state licence |
The bishop keeps a seat on the state council for peace. The seat is a decoration. The bishop uses it to protect a priest.
The state and the church [edit]
The state has five rules for the church.
- A parish must register with the state office.
- A priest must not teach a person under 18.
- A priest must not speak on politics in a sermon.
- The church pays a property tax on land.
- A church building is a state monument if it is older than 1800.
A priest earns money from four sources: the service fee, the candle, the grave, and the farm plot.
The calendar of the church [edit]
The church keeps the old calendar. Christmas falls on 7 January.
| Feast | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas | 7 January | A family feast. The state calls it "the winter holiday" |
| Voditsa | 19 January | The water blessing. A cross goes into the harbour |
| Easter | March or April | The strongest feast. A night service and a family table |
| Saint's day of the village | Summer | A fair, a lamb, and a long table |
| Dormition | 28 August | A pilgrimage to the Kervan monastery |
See Festivals and Calendar for the full year.
The Muslim minority [edit]
The Muslim minority lives in the Southern Marches and in two port quarters. It has a mufti office and 41 mosques.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Language | Turkish, with a Moravskan second language |
| Work | Farming, sheep, tobacco, border trade |
| School | A Turkish-language primary school in 4 villages |
| Feast | Ramadan, and the sacrifice feast |
| State view | A minority that the state calls "the Turkish-speaking citizens" |
The state closed 9 mosques in 1951 and reopened 4 in 1965. The mufti office answers to the state office for faith.
|
Warning:
|
Two pressures
The Marches minority is a bridge and a suspicion. Turkey is 20 km away. The Kray watches the border and the mosque. See Regional Divides and The Kray.
|
Folk religion [edit]
The official faith and the household faith live together. A party member keeps a household icon and calls it "an inheritance".
Four practices are common.
- The icon corner. A shelf with an icon, a candle, and a copper cross.
- The 40-day meal. A family meal for the dead. See Funerary Practices.
- The curse and the blessing. A spoken formula at a birth, a wedding, or a quarrel.
- The Zalnitsa cord. A red and white thread in March. See Festivals and Calendar.
The party attacks the fourth practice each year and prints the cord on a poster as "a survival". The cord sells out in March.
The young and the church [edit]
A religious revival appears among the young after 1968. The reasons are three.
- The party lost respect after the Czechoslovakia action.
- A grandparent's funeral brought a young person into a church.
- The church offers a language that the state does not use.
A young believer keeps the faith quiet at work and open at a funeral. The party watches the open part.
Weak points [edit]
- A priest cannot teach the young, and the church grows old.
- The state needs the church for a funeral and fears it for a wedding.
- A village priest knows every family secret and he is careful.
- A Muslim village has one school and a 9 km walk to the next.
Other notes [edit]
See also[edit]
Sources[edit]
- Monograph S. Radulova (1976). Settlement and custom in Tri Limana. Zaligrad University Press. ZUP-1976-8960. Cited in The Muslim minority, The numbers (1976). See also Social Structure.
- Primary source K. Mladinov (1975). Field notes from the the Kray survey. Zaligrad Institute of Ethnography. ZIE-1975-8113. Cited in Weak points, Other notes. See also Dissent and Control.
- Survey report Archive Clerk 14 (1973). Coastal survey report: the Kraybrezhie. Coastal Survey Office. CSO-1973-2283. Cited in The Orthodox church, The numbers (1976). See also Funerary Practices.
- Oral history V. Stankova (1974). Oral history transcript, Skalina. Narodna Biblioteka Moravska. NBM-1974-9203. Cited in The Orthodox church, Folk religion. See also Political System.
- Register Narodna Biblioteka Archivist (1974). Parish register extracts, the Kraybrezhie. Archdiocese of Zaligrad. ADR-1974-5715. Cited in The state and the church, Other notes. See also Social Structure.
References[edit]
Documents in the archive that cite or cross-reference Religion:
- ^ "Dissent and Control". Friction and Subcultures, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Festivals and Calendar". Rituals and Calendar, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Moravska". Foundations, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Social Structure". Culture, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Storytelling". Arts and Leisure, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.