Concordia Theological Studies professor and department chair Lucian Turcescu joined forces with political scientist Lavinia Stan (from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia) to explore the interplay between religion and politics in 10 former Communist countries that are now part of the European Union (EU).
The result of their interdisciplinary research project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, is the book entitled, Church, State, and Democracy in Expanding Europe, published by Oxford University Press in 2011.
In this groundbreaking study, which is bound to challenge widespread theories of secularization, the authors argue that in most of these countries people have shown themselves to remain religious even as they embrace modernization and Western-style liberal democracy.
Turcescu and Stan outline three major models of church-state relations based on political representation for church leaders: governmental subsidies; registration of religions by the state; and, religious instruction in public schools.
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