The Freedom from Passions and the Freedom for All: St Nicholai Velimirović on Democracy

Abstract

The paper aims to analyse the sermons and writings of the bishop and recently canonized saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church Nicholai Velimirović in regard to democracy. Due to his critique of Europe for abandoning Christianity as its centre of civilization, and slipping into the barbarity of the two world wars, some scholars maintained that Velimirović condemns European democracy. The analysis is focused on two periods from Velimirović’s life, the first one that comprises the period of his studies abroad, the WWI and interwar period, and the second one which includes the period of the WWII and Velimirović’s subsequent emigration in the USA.