Representing Religion in the European Union: The Orthodox Perspective

The Second Joint Seminar of the Centre for Eastern Christianity and Heythrop College, supported by the Society of St John Chrysostom,  on Wednesday 23 February 2011, 4.30-6.00 pm.

Dr. Lucian Leustean

For the first time in the history of the acquis communautaire, the Lisbon Treaty institutionalises an ‘open, transparent and regular dialogue’ between European institutions and ‘churches, religions and communities of conviction’. This paper examines the evolution of religious representation in the European Union from the 1950 Schuman Declaration proposing the establishment of a European Coal and Steel Community to the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. It offers an historical overview of religious representation and discusses the mobilisation of Orthodox churches in dialogue with European institutions.

Lucian Leustean is Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Aston University, Birmingham. He studied international relations, law and theology in Bucharest and completed his doctorate in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His publications include Orthodoxy and the Cold War. Religion and Political Power in Romania, 1947-65 (Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan, 2009); editor of Eastern Christianity and the Cold War, 1945-91 (London, Routledge, 2010), and co-editor of Religion, Politics and Law in the European Union (London, Routledge, 2010); ‘What is the European Union? Religion between Neofunctionalism and Intergovernmentalism’, International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, Vol. 9, no. 3, 2009, pp. 165-176. He is currently working on an ESRC project on ‘The Politics of Religious Lobbies in the European Union'.

Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W8 5HN. There is no charge for attendance and registration is not required. Enquiries: j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk