The Orthodox Church and the Macedonian Question in North America: Religion, Diaspora, and Ethnic Politics (1957–1989)

Abstract:In the Orthodox commonwealth, faith has been an important variable of national identity since the Balkan national movements of the nineteenth century. Part of the literature highlights how local Churches stood by and assisted self-determination efforts. Later, during the Cold War, political and national aspirations were transferred via the Church and immigrant institutions into North America. More precisely, Greek-, Bulgarian-, and Slav-Macedonian communities, with the support of their respective Churches, created an environment of antagonism regarding the ownership of the geographic area of Macedonia. In the aftermath of World War II, the aforementioned diasporas mobilized to defend their political ambitions and mother Churches and their eparchies coordinated their efforts to exert influence on immigrants originating from all three parts of Macedonia and to increase support for their national claims among the US and Canadian publics.