A Long Period of Healing – The Role of Religion in the Transition from Communism to Democracy
Alexander Solzhenitsyn once answered the question of what would follow communism: a very, very long period of healing. Monsignor Professor Tomas Halik, former advisor to Vaclav Havel and Pope John Paul II, reflects on the transition from communism to democracy and the important role of churches and faith-based communities in the process. Could the experiences of Central and Eastern Europe be useful for "creating a biosphere of democracy" in other parts of the world?
Monsignor Professor Tomas Halik is a Czech sociologist and theologian. He was an active participant in underground church activities throughout the communist period, in the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989 and in the following "healing process" in post-communist countries. He was an adviser to Vaclav Havel and Pope John Paul II.
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The Global Europe Program is focused on Europe’s capabilities, and how it engages on critical global issues. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues. We examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our initiatives include “Ukraine in Europe”—an examination of what it will take to make Ukraine’s European future a reality. But we also examine the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE, Europe’s energy security, transatlantic trade disputes, and challenges to democracy. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media. Read more