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'The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church': Orthodox and Catholic Depictions of Martyrdom in Revolutionary Russia (1917-1925)

Sun, November 23, 8:00 to 9:45am EST (8:00 to 9:45am EST), -

Abstract

It is by now well known that the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia was accompanied by violent campaigns against religious believers. Scholars of religious studies, history, and theology have conducted rich and nuanced studies of the significance of the notion of martyrdom throughout the world. In comparison, aside from hagiographical accounts, the concept remains deeply understudied in the Russian context, especially in the revolutionary period as it pertains to religious believers. Yet, Catholic and Orthodox believers constantly referred to the notion as they attempted to make sense of the times they were living through. Drawing on Vatican and Russian archives, this paper will present the myriad of ways that Orthodox and Catholic believers (from lay people to hierarchs) spoke about martyrdom, drawing, as they did, on tropes and models from the early Church, and will theorize about the importance of the concept for making sense of religious experience and religious activity in the early Soviet Union.

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