Christians in the Borderlands of Central and Eastern Europe
in Times of Global Tension
Can Christianity become an ideology of war?
What happens when Christian symbols, sacred narratives, and even alleged prophecies are mobilized to justify nationalism, political power, or war?
And what happens when faith becomes a tool for exclusion rather than a source of hospitality?
Across Europe and beyond, Christian nationalism is re-emerging in powerful and sometimes dangerous forms. Russia’s war against Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East, and growing political polarization force us to confront uncomfortable questions about the relationship between Christianity, national identity, power, and war.
This international conference brings these questions into the Central and Eastern European context — a region where the consequences are not merely theoretical, but painfully real.
We will ask:
- When does legitimate patriotism become Christian nationalism?
- How is Christianity transformed into a civil or political religion?
- How are religious belonging and sacred authority reshaped by war?
- Can churches resist the political weaponization of faith?
- And can Christian hospitality offer a radically different response to fear, exclusion, and polarization?
This is not a conference about condemning national identity or patriotism. It is an invitation to examine where the boundaries lie — and what happens when the boundaries between faith, nation, and political power disappear.
Scholars, theologians, and representatives of Christian organizations from across Europe will come together for presentations, panel discussions, and international dialogue.
The conference takes place in the context of the 2026 General Assembly of Oikosnet Europe, bringing together Christian academies and laity centres from Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions.
Come for a difficult conversation. Stay for the questions we may not have easy answers to.
Conference Program
VENUE: Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science, Pilies St. 8, Vilnius, Lithuania
17:30 Arrival and Entrance
18:00 Welcome from Oikosnet and Hosts
18:15 Rev. Prof. Dr Cyril Hovorun. “Civil and Political Religions: A Hermeneutical Key to Understanding the Russian Civilizational Exceptionalism”
Keynote address, followed by buzz groups and Q&A
19:15 Panel discussion: “Is Russian Civilizational Exceptionalism Unique, or Does It Reveal a Broader Danger—the Transformation of Christianity into Civil and Political Religion? What Alternative Can Christian Hospitality Offer in Wartime?”
PARTICIPANTS: Cyril Hovorun, Katerina Karkala-Zorba, Povilas Aleksandravičius, Gintaras Sungaila
MODERATOR: Heinz-Joachim Lohmann, Executive Secretary of Oikosnet Europe, Berlin
20:30 Conference Dinner at Lutheran Hall, Vokiečių g. 20, Vilnius 01130, Lithuania
09:30 Session 1: Challenges in Times of Global Tension. Perspectives from Germany and Northern Ireland
MODERATOR: Heinz-Joachim Lohmann
Dr Friederike Krippner, Evangelical Academy of Berlin
“Just Peace Today: Protestant Peace Ethics in a Time of Global Disorder” (15 min)
Colin Craig MBE, Corrymeela Community
“Christian Nationalism: A Narrative Fuelled by Fear, Fracture and Loss” (15 min)
Buzz groups and Q&A
10:30 How is Christian Nationalism expressed in our countries?
Small Groups
10:55 Plenary and Feedback
11:10 Coffee Break
11:40 Session 2: Christianity and Nationalism
MODERATOR: Gintaras Sungaila
Assoc. Prof. Tornike Metreveli, Lund University
“The War in Ukraine and Orthodox Christianity — Mapping the Narratives, Examining the Causal Factors, Understanding Teleology”
Dr Rosita Garškaitė-Antonowicz, Vilnius University
“Global Trends, Local Realities — Interrogating a ‘Christian Nationalism’ concept”
Dr Serhii Shumylo, Vilnius University
“Global Trends, Local Realities — Interrogating a ‘Christian Nationalism’ concept”
Buzz groups and Q&A
13:00 Conference Lunch at Lutheran Hall, Vokiečiu g. 20, Vilnius 01130, Lithuania
14:45 Panel discussion: “How Should Religious Organisations and Wider Communities Respond When Christianity Is Mobilized for Nationalism and War? Can Christian Hospitality Offer a Way Forward?”
PARTICIPANTS: Friederike Krippner, Vladimiras Seliavko, Rosita Garškaitė-Antonowicz
MODERATOR: TBC
End around 16:15
Speakers
Sankt Ignatios College, University College Stockholm | Huffington Ecumenical Institute, Loyola Marymount University
Ukrainian Orthodox theologian and scholar of ecclesiology, ecumenism and public theology. He is Professor of Ecclesiology, International Relations and Ecumenism at Sankt Ignatius College and Director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute at Loyola Marymount University. He completed doctoral studies at Durham University and has written extensively on church structures, political religion, and the public role of Christianity.
Director, Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin
Literary scholar and Director of the Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin since 2020. Her work brings together literature and culture, church and politics, and the practice of constructive public debate. She studied German literature, Protestant theology and history in Münster and Lund, earned her doctorate at Humboldt University, and serves in the synods of the EKBO and the Evangelical Church in Germany.
Co-director, Dialogue for Peaceful Change Global | Peacebuilding practitioner
Northern Irish peacebuilding practitioner with more than fifty years of experience in reconciliation and conflict management. Together with Jaap van der Sar, he designed and piloted the Dialogue for Peaceful Change methodology in 2005 and has delivered training in more than twenty-two countries. His leadership experience includes the Corrymeela Community. He received an MBE in 1996 for his contribution to peace and reconciliation.
Lund University | European Studies and Sociology of Religions
Associate Senior Lecturer in European Studies and Associate Professor (Docent) in Sociology of Religions at Lund University. He earned his doctorate in sociology at the University of Bern and was a Research Fellow in Ukrainian Studies at Harvard University. His research examines the intersection of nationalism and Christianity in the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, including Orthodox churches in Ukraine, Georgia and Serbia.
Assistant Professor, Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science
Political scientist working in comparative politics and political sociology, with research interests in religion and politics, Euroscepticism, the radical right and interpretive methods. She defended her award-winning doctoral dissertation on the role of Catholicism in everyday thinking about the European Union in Lithuania. She is also a researcher in the RELIDEM project on religious responses to geopolitical crises and democratic resilience.
International Institute of the Athonite Legacy | University of Exeter | Institute of History of Ukraine
Ukrainian historian of religion whose research focuses on the Orthodox Church in Ukraine and Eastern Europe and on the Slavic spiritual and cultural heritage of Mount Athos. He is Director of the International Institute of the Athonite Legacy, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and a Research Fellow at the Institute of History of Ukraine. He has published widely on Athonite and church history.
Organizers
