A pagan canary in a Catholic coal mine

All across east Europe a decline in membership in long-established religions is being counterbalanced by rising interest in various alternate forms of religion and spirituality. The case and struggles of Romuva, a neo-pagan spiritual movement that claims that its traditions go back to the ancient period before the Christian conversion of Lithuania, illustrate the tensions between heritage, identity and modern spiritual norms.

In discussions on the improvement of democracy in post-Soviet societies in east Europe, the function of religion is not frequently accorded large importance by political scientists. Yet, a more sociological position reveals that religion frequently serves as a driving origin in public sentiment, policy debates and political decisions. While the constitutions of east European countries mostly warrant a generic freedom of religion, the question of how this freedom plays out for peculiar spiritual groups is far more complicated.