ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates primarily on these national churches, addressing three issues: the effect of the communist period on the churches, the role of the churches in the liberalization process under Gorbachev, and the role of the churches in the post independence period of democratization. The role of the Baltic churches in the post communist period owes much to the legacy of the communist period. Thus the Baltic national churches pursued policies designed to promote national independence and curtail church ties to the union. Their conservative character relative to Western churches in both internal church affairs and issues of public policy has become more obvious in the Baltic churches since independence. Recent electoral shifts in the Baltic States have not affected the church-state relationship uniformly. Another potential impediment to the democratization process is the loss of credibility due to previous ties to the Soviet regime and, more particularly, the security forces.
