Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States

38 balkan idols
Religion Erodes, Churches Grow
In the sixties and seventies, sociological surveys of religiosity showed a decline
in the number of people who declared religious affiliation and attended
worship services. 94 Research showed that the number of Orthodox believers
had decreased from 41.2 percent to 28.9 percent. The number of Catholics
had also declined from 31.7 percent to 21.9 percent. 95 A 1970 international
survey of religious consciousness that also included Yugoslavia among 53
countries, found that 63 percent of the population were self-declared atheists
in the capital of Yugoslavia (with 23 percent who said they were religious).
This survey placed Yugoslavia in second place in terms of the number of
self-declared atheists. 96 A survey conducted among high school students in
Serbia had found that “all respondents had noticeable antireligious attitudes:
68.7 percent expressed an antireligious attitude toward God, 74.4 percent
expressed an antireligious attitude toward the church, 87.5 percent never
prayed, and 89.6 percent never went to church.” 97 According to several
independent polls, the total number of believers in Yugoslavia was steadily
decreasing from 90 percent in 1953 to 70.3 percent in 1964 and 53.1 percent
in 1969, reaching the lowest point in 1984 (45 percent). 98
While religious consciousness was eroding, religious institutions took advantage
of the liberalization in the communist methods of rule to rebuild
and expand their resources. In the second half of the 1960s, the churches
of Yugoslavia were relatively better off than religious institutions in Eastern
Europe and the Soviet Union. According to the official statistics for 1969,
religious communities regularly operated over 14,000 churches, monasteries,
mosques, and other facilities. 99 By comparison, in the ten times more
populous USSR, the total number of places of worship open for regular
service was 11,636. 100 According to a federal government official in charge
of religious affairs, 2,800 sacred buildings were registered as cultural monuments
and historic sites and maintained by the state. 101 According to the
same source, in 1965, over 13.5 million copies of various religious
publications were in circulation in Yugoslavia. By the end of the decade,
some 50 theological schools and seminaries were open, with 4,224 enrolled
students. 102
According to Serbian Orthodox Church sources, between 1945 and 1970,
the Church acquired 181 newly built temples and restored 841. 103 In addition,
the Church built 115 new chapels and 8 monasteries and repaired 126
chapels and 48 monasteries. 104 Another source indicates that Patriarch Germanus
Djorić, upon his enthronement in 1960, set up a permanent team
of architects and designers affiliated with the Patriarchate’s Construction
Office in Belgrade. 105 Based on blueprints and ideas developed by the designers
of the Patriarchate’s Construction Office, “around 200 new temples and
the same number of other church facilities (chapels, belfries, parish homes,
and other), with repairs and reconstruction, had been accomplished before
Patriarch Germanus’ death in 1990.” 106 Furthermore, between 1945 and