Church, nation and "diaspora":

This article examines the tensions between Orthodox ecclesiology and nationalism in the contemporary context, with particular attention to the question of the Orthodox diaspora. Pantelis Kalaitzidis adopts a critical theological approach to analyze the ethno-phyletist tendencies that have affected the Orthodox Church since the nineteenth century. The central idea is that the subordination of ecclesial belonging to national identity betrays the eschatological vocation of the Church, conceived as a present anticipation of the heavenly Kingdom rather than as an expression of a particular culture or people. The theological contribution of the article lies in its highlighting of the fundamental contradiction between an authentically Orthodox ecclesiology, universal and eschatological in nature, and the nationalist logics that fragment the unity of the Church, particularly in diaspora communities where several ethnic jurisdictions coexist within the same territory.