By: Kathryn Murphy
April 19, 2021
This paper explores how the leaders of three prominent Eastern European countries—Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine—have employed religion as a means of propagating their parties’ platforms and amassing popular support. It concludes that Hungary’s and Poland’s governments have engaged in ecclesiastical fear-mongering to increase their authoritarian power. Meanwhile, Ukraine has progressed in liberalization and has used religion as a uniting force.
Coman, Julian. “Family, Faith, Flag: The Religious Right and the Battle for Poland's Soul.” The Guardian (October 5, 2019).
Gryvnyak, Natalie. “Opinion | Understanding Ukraine's Jewish President.” The Wall Street Journal (June 20, 2019).
Kalenychenko, Tetiana. “Public Religion During the Maidan Protests in Ukraine.” Euxeinos: Culture and Governance in the Black Sea Region 24 (December 2017): 23–38.
Nyyssönen, Heino. "Viktor Orbán’s Anti-Brussels Rhetoric in Hungary: Barely Able to Keep Europe Christian?" In National Rhetorics in the Syrian Immigration Crisis: Victims, Frauds, and Floods, edited by Rountree Clarke and Tilli Founi, 97–124. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2019.
Schmitz, Rob. “As an Election Nears in Poland, Church and State Are a Popular Combination.” NPR (October 12, 2019).
Walker, Shaun. “Orbán Deploys Christianity with a Twist to Tighten Grip in Hungary.” The Guardian (July 14, 2019).
Kathryn Murphy (C‘21) is an undergraduate student in the College, majoring in history, with a concentration in Russian and Eastern Europe, and double minoring in justice and peace studies and religion, ethics, and world affairs. She is particularly interested in the intersection of her studies, focusing much of her work on exploring how historical issues continue to affect the present. Kathryn enjoys reading, running, and rock climbing. She was born and raised in New York City.
