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“The Romanian Orthodox Churches in Italy: the Construction of Romanian-Italian Transnational Orthodox Space”

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“The Romanian Orthodox Churches in Italy: the Construction of Romanian-Italian Transnational Orthodox Space” UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO DIPARTIMENTO DI SOCIOLOGIA E RICERCA SOCIALE SCUOLA DI DOTTORATO IN SOCIOLOGIA E RICERCA SOCIALE XXI°CICLO Tesi di Dottorato “The Romanian Orthodox Churches in Italy: The Construction of Romanian-Italian Transnational Orthodox Space” Dottoranda: Suna Gülfer Ihlamur Relatori: Prof. Giuseppe Sciortino Prof. Gianfranco Poggi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is a result of intensive work and effort, which has been a very important learning experience for me. However, it would not have been possible to complete this work alone. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all those who assisted me in the completion of my research project. First and foremost I would like to express my sincere gratitude and thanks to my supervisor Prof. Giuseppe Sciortino, who has supported and guided me throughout the conduct of research and writing of the thesis. All his valuable suggestions and constructive criticisms have encouraged me to be more creative and helped me to improve my thesis. I would like to also convey my special acknowledgement to my second supervisor, Prof. Gianfranco Poggi, for his important contributions and for giving me the enthusiasm and inspiration for my research project. Attending his seminars and discussing my thesis work with him was always encouraging and entertaining. I consider myself very fortunate for being their student. During my research project I have met many researchers and Ph.D. students, whose contributions were very important. I would like to express my heartiest thanks to Iuliana Conovici with whom I met during my first visit to Bucharest. Her detailed comments and insight have been of great value to me. Even though she was extremely busy writing her own Ph.D. thesis, she assisted me during my last visit to Bucharest and brief archival work. Her generosity in sharing her own research material with me facilitated my work considerably and allowed me to finish the brief archival work on time. I would like to extend my thanks Valentina Sandri, who conducted research on Romanian community in Trento for her master thesis, for sharing and discussing some of her own research findings with me, which helped me confirm my own findings. I would also like to thank Remus Anghel for helping me to establish contact with other researchers working on my research topic, Pietro Cingolani for sharing his research experience related with Romanian migrants in Italy, particularly on the Romanian Churches in Italy and his articles on the issue, László Fosztó for sending me his doctoral thesis and drawing my attention to other academic work on the issue and Dr. Annette Freyberg-Inan from University of Amsterdam for her suggestions and for helping me to contact research centers in Romania and many other researchers and friends that I could not mention all their names here. I would like to express my thanks to the Faculty of Sociology of University of Trento for funding my studies and my research initiative and providing me with an environment and resources to increase my knowledge and improve my academic skills. My sincere thanks also go to to my Ph.D. colleagues for their support in helping me to get used to a new academic environment. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania for inviting me as a visiting fellow for one month period to Bucharest and helping me to contact researchers and research centers. I would like to thank all the Romanian Orthodox priests, i priests or representatives of other religious institutions, representatives of the Romanian associations, Romanian researchers and all the research participants for sharing their knowledge and experiences with me and for making the research process interesting and entertaining. Without their contributions this research would not have been possible. There are a couple of dear friends that deserve special thanks. I would like to express my warm and sincere thanks to my dear Ph.D. colleague and friend Letizia Caporusso, who has been of great help. Her academic, practical, emotional and psychological support throughout the three years of Ph.D. means so much that I cannot thank her enough. I am also deeply indebted to my dearest friend Syed Arsalan Jawed. I received invaluable help and encouragement from him, without which this research initiative would not have been completed. Talking to him has always been very psychologically uplifting and encouraging, especially when I felt discouraged or uncertain throughout the research process. He exalted my imagination with his challenging questions, comments and suggestions. He patiently read and commented on the long chapters of the thesis. His technical and logistical support was also vital for me to handle technical issues. I would also like to thank Muzaffer Şenel for his suggestions, assistance and his invaluable help, particularly during the last phase of the thesis writing. I consider myself lucky for being friends with these special people, who encouraged me to do my best. I cannot end without thanking my family, on whose constant encouragement and unconditional love I have relied on all my life, throughout my studies and during my Ph.D., even from far far away. Their affection and support has always provided me with a position of strength against ups and downs of life and helped me to bring out the best in me to become a better human being and hopefully a researcher. Even though I cannot mention all the names here I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis for their help, support, interest and valuable hints. While the research for this project could not have been completed without the stimulating support of many, any shortcomings, mistakes or omissions are all mine. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THESIS INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 1 I.1. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................................. 1 I.2. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS ......................................................................................................................... 3 I.3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FIELDWORK .......................................................................................... 6 I.4. THESIS OUTLINE..................................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................... 17 II.1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 17 II.2. SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION...................................................................................................................... 19 II.3. TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION STUDIES ................................................................................................ 28 II.4. TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION IN GLOBAL RELIGIOUS SYSTEM ............................................................ 55 CHAPTER III. THE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX TRADITION FROM PAST TO PRESENT ............ 66 III.1. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES......................................................... 66 III.2. THE ORTHODOX WORLD IN THE POST-COMMUNIST ERA .................................................................... 81 III.3. THE ORTHODOX TRADITION WITHIN THE TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION CONTEXT............................. 99 CHAPTER IV. FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT: EVOLUTION OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH.............................................................................................................................. 122 IV.1. THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND UNTIL 1989 REVOLUTION ......... 122 IV.2. RECONQUESTING AND RECONSTRUCTING: COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM IN ROMANIA AND THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ............................................................................................................... 140 CHAPTER.V. A PROCESS IN THE MAKING: IMMIGRATION AND RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IN ITALY...................................................................................................................................................... 191 V.1. CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR RELIGION(S) IN ITALY.............. 193 V.2. IMMIGRATION AND CHANGE IN THE ITALIAN RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE................................................ 201 V.3. THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS AND CHURCHES IN ITALY..................................................................... 220 CHAPTER VI. THE ROMANIAN-ORTHODOX TRANSNATIONAL SPACE AND ITS ACTORS 230 VI.1. MAPPING OUT THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN ITALY ..................................................... 231 VI.2.INSTITUTIONAL ACTORS IN THE ROMANIAN-ITALIAN TRANSNATIONAL SPACE AND THEIR RELATIONS WITH THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ............................................................................................... 246 CHAPTER VII. ADAPTIVE PRACTICES OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN ITALY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROMANIAN-ITALIAN RELIGIOUS SPACE ....... 276 VII.1.THE CHURCH OF SAN MARCO: THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN TRENTO............................ 277 VII.2. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN ROMANIAN-ITALIAN TRANSNATIONAL SPACE............................................................................................................................
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