Church orientations in central and eastern Europe

Abstract

The objective of this case study is to discuss church orientation inCentral and Eastern Europe. Due to its geographical situation, this region is a specific part of European cultural space: it is remote from the main cultural centers, it was the last to adopt Christianity, and it experienced intensive interactionswith Byzantine culture. Therefore, we can assess church orientation in Central and Eastern Europe as a tradition affected by multicultural interactions and in which there is an interlacement of Catholicism fromWestern Europe, Byzantinism, local pagan faiths and, in part, the ideas of conception of geographical space of the Jews, Karaites, and Muslims.