ABSTRACT
In the absence of independent statehood, the churches were the only non-state institution that carried historical memories of past statehood. They maintained national languages through religious rituals, kept many traditions alive, and constructed the narrative of ethnic unity. These factors strengthened the bonds between churches and ethnic groups, which, in turn, resulted in the nationalization of Orthodox Christianity in Serbia and Georgia in sharp contrast with Christian theological foundations. Church-state relations were later influenced by communist rule, which Ukraine, Serbia, and Georgia experienced for approximately 70 years. The collapse of communism and the regaining of independence led to the formation of a hybrid model of church engagement with the new regimes. On the one hand, churches replicated some of the old patterns of church-state relations under which they historically operated. On the other hand, churches found the momentum for legitimizing new nationalist elites by employing constructive-accommodative operational tactics that advanced their organizational interests in the sense of their ideological aspirations.
