Columns

Secularism or Militant Marxism? The Debate on Religious Education in North Macedonia

The question of introducing religious education in public schools in the Republic of North Macedonia has been a long-standing and unresolved issue, revealing fundamental challenges in the understanding and application of secularism within a post-communist context. An analysis of this controversy suggests that certain segments of the elite and of the public, in their unsubstantiated…

When Silence Meets Culture: An Orthodox Nun at the Schottenstift in Vienna

A Conversation with Sister Efimija of the Bigorski Monastery on Monasticism, Spirituality, and the Contemporary European Cultural Scene During the Paschal season, Sister Efimija from the Orthodox Bigorski Monastery in North Macedonia spent several weeks in Vienna on a research residency. She was a guest in the oasis of our abbey. In the following interview,…

“Passover” by Gotra – The Musical Code of Freedom

Dedicated to Biljana Vasilevska-Trajkoska (†2024) At the close of the past year, 2024, the 30th anniversary of Before the Rain, the opus magnum of Milcho Manchevski, was commemorated with due attention and honor. This cinematic masterpiece gifted the world a profoundly moving and prophetic testimony of time, space, and the interwoven currents of human life.…

Secularism, Democratization, and Religious Education

Introductory Remarks The second half of the 19th century was marked by immense progress in science and industrialization, as well as the continuous secularization of life and thought. Realism, positivism, Darwinism, Marxism, and liberalism reacted against the romantic, religious, and metaphysical interpretations of nature and society, focusing instead on an empirical worldview that surpassed the…

Marriage and Family as Divine Institutions

Address by Archimandrite Cyril Bigorski at the first interfaith forum in Debar on the topic: “The Family: Pillar of Love and Social Development,” held on November 9, 2024, the Year of the Savior. Honorable attendees, It is with profound honor and joy that we gather today in this renowned and noble city of Debar, a…

The Modern Family: Conditions and Challenges

Address by Nun Efimiya Zajkovska at the first interfaith forum in Debar on the theme: “The Family: Pillar of Love and Social Development,” held on November 9, 2024, the Year of the Savior Honorable Mayor, Mr. Hekuran Duka, Honorable Bishop Parthenius of Antania, Abbot of the Holy Bigorski Monastery, Honorable Mufti, Mr. Reshat Kachalniku, Honorable…