Religious Outlook in Times of Deep Mediatization: A Case Study of the Print Media of the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland 1

. this paper discusses the religious outlook of the Russian orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland constructed in its oficial journal. Starting point for the discussion is the social-construc-tivist approach to mediatization highlighting the role of media in the construction of social reality. In accordance with this approach the question is asked how the Church uses its printed media to construct (reimagine) its religious outlook. In order to answer this question the most important topics, motives and phrases published in issues of the oficial journal of the Church are identiied and grouped into analytical categories. In this way a matrix of distinctive features of an Orthodox outlook is created and analysed. The analysis in this article shows that this outlook mostly consists of references to history and rituals. The other important features include topics such as: religious leaders, myths and heroes. This paper shows that the construction of religious outlook is not inluenced by the media narratives of main stream media since the topics such as Brexit and refugee crisis do not appear in the journal.


Introduction
In March 2010, Patriarch kirill of Moscow and all of russia (the head of the russian Orthodox Church) compared the Internet to a nuclear bomb.In his eyes "the Internet has become a test of our authenticity, an enormous challenge to our strength, as in that space one can easily indulge in depravity, lies, vulgarity, and the desire to lash out with aggression and impunity" (rIa Novosti 2010).Diversely, he urges not to reject the Internet as such (Pravamir 2018) but rather educate people and children about its threats and to use it with "reasonable restraint".kirill has also mentioned on numerous occasions that the Internet, as well as other mass media, is a suitable mean for teaching the Gospel: "Communicating with the media is a chance to speak about the Gospel in an accessible language on issues which afect today's people" (DeCr Communication service 2017a).In accordance with these words, the Church engages itself with media, so that the "Orthodox voice" may be heard worldwide.
he goal of this paper is twofold.First, the religious outlook presented in the printed media of the russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland is to be analyzed.In order to do this, this article unpacks the most important topics, motives and phrases used to construct the Orthodox outlook in the media.herefore, the main question of this paper is: How does the Orthodox Church use its printed media to construct (reimagine) its religious outlook? he discussion on religious organisations employing the media for their purposes is not a new one in mediatization studies and has already been asked in diferent contexts (Campbell 2017, p. 16).However, there are also other questions deriving from this main one: What elements of Orthodox outlook are constructed in the Churches media?How religious practices are translated into minority context?Can modern printed medium create new patterns of communications within religious groups (Campbell 2017, p. 18)? he answer to these questions should help to rethink the mediatization process in the context of Orthodoxy.
hese main questions are also elaborated in the overall research project conducted at the university of Bremen, Germany and the Institute of Philosophy and sociology of the Polish academy of sciences in Warsaw. he main focus of this project is on the media-based identity construction of the Christian Orthodox Churches and the 7 th Day adventist Churches in Poland and the united kingdom. he analysis concerns two printed journals of adventist and Orthodox Churches in each country as well as two websites of every Church in Poland and the uk.hus, the material discussed in this paper depicts a part of the overall project analysis only.
he basic hypothesis of this article is that Orthodox Churches use their media both consciously and unconsciously to construct (or reimagine) their religious outlook.I argue that the religious outlook is changed as a result of the use of media regardless of the reasoning behind this usage.even if the Church or religious organisation uses its media without a conscious idea of shaping the outlook, the latter undergoes some changes.By outlook I mean, "the set of views, representations, beliefs, value judgments, principles deining the most general vision, understanding of the world around" (radzhabov et al. 2017, p. 1422).In case of religious outlook, the views, beliefs and other elements have religious (here Christian Orthodox) background.hese elements are, however, neither constant nor unchangeable and may undergo the process of change.Nick Couldry and andreas Hepp have noted that the media play a signiicant role in this process -in what they call -social construction of reality nowadays (Couldry, Hepp 2017, p. 213).It is therefore correct to trace the possible changes in the religious outlook by analysing the Orthodox Churches media.
he second hypothesis is that the social context in which a medium is produced inluences the content and messages sent through it.In the case of a religious medium, it would depend on the larger religious environment.hus, in mono-religious countries, the construction of religious outlook involves the majority-minority relations.In pluralistic countries like the uk, this process relates to perception of the other (minority) religions.
In order to check my hypothesis and to answer the research questions stated above, I will utilize the oicial journal of the russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland (Diocese of sourozh).since May 2017, this monthly periodical is called Sourozh Messenger.However, I want to examine the issues of its predecessor titled Cathedral Newsletter from 2016.In this way I would like to check whether the media discourse on the refugee crisis which broke out with immense strength in 2015, has let its marks on the religious narrative of the Church.
he examination of Cathedral Newsletter from 2016 is evaluated in this article with the use of content analysis.In the irst step, I identify the crucial elements of the Orthodox outlook that are published in Cathedral Newsletter. he most important part of this outlook is made up by elements sometimes deined as identity.since identity "may be imagined rather than experienced directly" (Polletta, jasper 2001), it is a concept diicult to grasp analytically.I understand it as a set of religious practices, tenets and traditions, values and norms (Polletta, jasper 2001).Including, however, the resources like culture and language that are used in "the process of becoming" (Hall 1996, p. 4).hese elements may appear both intentionally and unintentionally in the Churches media but regardless of that fact, they constitute the religious outlook.I want to look for motives, topics and phrases that appear frequently in the media material and in this way unpack the elements crucial for the Churches.so, in the second step I assign mentioned references to analytical categories that will describe the major components of the religious outlook. he setting up of the categories will be done with the approach of a mixture of deductive and inductive analysis.he deductive approach is based on the work of Nancy ammerman (2003), while during the inductive phase, I will group particular motives, topics and wordings in analytical categories without referring to any a priori categories -the choice of these elements will not only be based on the quantity.he role they play in text will be taken into consideration as well.In the third step of analysis I create a matrix of he theoretical framework of this article is based on (1) the concept of deep mediatization and (2) that of mediatized identity construction.I understand mediatization just as Łukasz Wojtkowski stated in an earlier issue of this journal and, as many other scholars of Digital religion studies before, "as a process of transformation" (Wojtkowski 2017, p. 9).I will follow the social-constructivist approach to mediatization which regards the media as an integral part of society and as a tool people have always used for communication (krotz 2014; Lundby 2014).Mediatization is thus, "the process of a construction of social and cultural reality" (Hepp, krotz 2014, p. 3).Consequently, I will draw up on the idea of andreas Hepp who wrote that the media are inseparable from all aspects of social life, be it leisure, work, or religion (Hepp 2016, p. 920).his approach to mediatization allows me to look on the topic of Churches media from the media-use-focused perspective.hus, I am not going to analyze the ways media inluence religious institutions (Hjarvard 2008(Hjarvard , 2013) ) but I will shed light on the religious institutions using the media for their own purposes.his stays in touch with the aforementioned hypothesis that the Churches use media to construct (or reimagine) their religious outlook.I argue that this process of construction is nowadays more interrelated with the media because the mediated communication is "(…) a key element in the construction of social life today" (Couldry, Hepp 2017, p. 5).Due to this fact I talk about "deep mediatization" (Hepp 2016) in order to highlight the fact that the media are nowadays inseparably entangled with our social life.
he latter is strongly connected to the second concept that this paper draws upon, that of mediatized identity construction.Many scholars working in this ield have noticed that the media (and particularly the Internet) should not be regarded as a tool, but rather as "a social context and space where culture is made and negotiated" (Campbell 2017, p. 16).Identity, authority, tradition and other elements which I perceive as constitutive parts of religious outlook are "being made" in the media and not only transmitted through them. he media ofer the space in which religion is reimagined, engaged and performed.his mediatized identity construction may have opposite results.On the one hand, the "reimagining of religion" may lead to diminishing the role of traditions, identity, authority and authenticity (Campbell 2013;Lövheim 2012). he progressive individualization of religion caused by the "bricolage" of religious elements (Hervieu-Léger 2005) and the widening "religious market" (stark, Bainbridge 1985) would be two of the possible efects of media in this perspective.On the other hand, however, the mediatized identity construction may result in strengthening of traditional religious values (Cheong, Huang, Poon 2011).Moreover, as Oliver krüger noticed recently, religious actors employ the media for their agendas (krüger 2018, p. 11).his paper contributes to this discussion and brings out a contemporary case study from the Christian Orthodox ield.
Pobrane z czasopisma Mediatizations Studies http://mediatization.umcs.plData: 14/09/2023 22:34:16 U M C S Both concepts are closely connected with this paper, as I would like to show how the religious outlook is constructed (reimagined) in the media.he question is, how its constitutive elements like identity, authority and tradition are "being made" in the journal of the russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland.Furthermore, I refer to mediatization, since I would like to discuss how a traditional medium just like a printed religious journal (newsletter) is entangled within social reality nowadays.his paper should shed some light on how this traditional medium works in the times of deep mediatization.are there some inluences of the overall modernization process on the materiality of this medium?Does religious print media change nowadays due to challenges of the digitalized media?

Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland
russian Orthodox Church is the biggest Orthodox community nowadays.according to its oicial data, it had 303 dioceses, 39,414 clergy members and 36,878 churches in 2017 (DeCr Communication service 2017b).he parishes and communities are, however, not only located in the russian Federation, but also in many countries abroad.hose parishes were founded in the course of the centuries as the migrants from russia reached the distant places all around the world.In this paper one out of those numerous communities have been chosen as a case study -the russian Orthodox Diocese of sourozh.2 he diocese was founded in 1962 but its history goes back to the irst russian Orthodox Church on the Isles which was built in London in 1716 (Cathedral Newsletter 2/2016, p. 9f.). he irst archbishop of this diocese was a son of a well-situated russian family that had to leave russia ater the revolutions -anthony Bloom.anthony of sourozh, as he is known today, did a lot to develop a well-functioning Church.Indeed, the Diocese of sourozh has today almost ity parishes in the united kingdom and Ireland (sarni 2012, p. 75).It is a small but developing community that is a part of an extremely religiously pluralistic state, which also includes several other Orthodox communities made out of mostly migrants from south-eastern europe.

U M C S
The media of the Diocese of Sourozh and its analysis since May 2017, the oicial journal of the Diocese of sourozh is called, Sourozh Messenger and it is a direct successor of the previous publication named Cathedral Newsletter.While the name changed, other issues like layout, authors involved and newspaper columns stayed the same.Sourozh Messenger is published by the Media and Publishing Department of the Diocese of sourozh and it can be obtained in print and digital version for a suggested donation of £2 (May 2018).here are two language versions of the magazine (english and russian), however, for the purposes of this paper only the english version is analyzed.he older issues of Sourozh Messenger / Cathedral Newsletter are free to download from the webpage of the Media and Publishing Department of the Church.he number of journal pages ranges from 28 to 40.although Sourozh Messenger is the oicial journal of the Church and published "with the blessing of bishop" the articles are written by lay people (mostly women).he collaboration of clergyman is usually limited to one priest.
he layout of the journal is very simple: It is usually printed on a5 vertical pages with the minimal usage of graphics.here are, however, a number of photos in the journal and the cover sheet usually contains a reprint of an icon with a text of a liturgical hymn connected with it (troparion).he journal consists of permanent columns, which may be shited from the back to the front of the issue but are always there.hese columns include: "Diocesan News" and "Cathedral News" which contain the current information on the life in the parish and diocese; "Notes on the Church calendar" explaining the meaning of the upcoming feast and scriptural readings; "Holy places in London" describing history and current situation of diferent places of worship; the column "British and Irish saints" gives the historical overview on the life of saints in the united kingdom and Ireland.here is also a column called "Legacy of Metropolitan anthony of sourozh" which includes the preaching's of the founder of the Diocese.
as mentioned above, the main goal of this paper is to analyze the religious outlook presented in the printed media.his religious outlook is a complex entity, made of various elements.In this paper a closer attention is given to these components and the starting point for this discussion is the work of Nancy ammerman.In her article, she noticed that "religious organizations are the important sites for religious experience and for constructing of religious identities.hey are suppliers of »public narratives«" (ammerman 2003, p. 217).she also stated the components of a "religious narrative" that may be shaped by religious institutions.ammerman stated in this matter the following elements (ammerman 2003, p. 217f.): • Roles he passages from the gathered material will be identiied as possible elements of "religious outlook" and subordinated to these categories. he categories by ammerman are thus the basis for the analysis in this paper.his deductive approach is, however, replenished with the inductive approach.he analysis of the text is also based on the search for other categories that may not be listed by ammerman.I mean here all the motives, topics, people and wording that repeat frequently in texts and thus may be identiied as important elements of a religious outlook.
at this stage, it has to be noted that in some cases, diferentiation between categories used by ammerman is not clear enough.Myths and sacred stories are the best example for this methodological issue.Moreover, ammerman uses the term "identity" without elaborating it any further.In this paper "identity" is understood -as mentioned before -as a general term for distinctive features that make up a meaning and deine how people perceive and deine themselves."Identity" is the answer to the question who am I.It is a vivid construct that may change in the course of time.at the same time, "identity" is an important element of the outlook presented in institutions or Churches.

Religious outlook in the media of Diocese of Sourozh
Let me start the analysis of media material of the russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland with referring to the theoretical relections of ammerman.she stated "roles" as the irst element important for the construction of a religious narrative.he media material seems to conirm the importance of this element in the Christian-Orthodox context. he "roles" mentioned in the journals of the Diocese of sourozh concern above all the engagement in the life of the parish.his "role" appears at last once in every issue of the journal.just to give two examples: In March 2016, an interview with parish secretary was published.she talked on the engagement of parishioners in the work in the cathedral in London who as volunteers help in many everyday tasks (Cathedral Newsletter 3/2016). he second example concerns the article on the new parish in Brighton (Cathedral Newsletter 6/2016).It was founded in 2014 thanks to a huge involvement of a lay person, who gathered people around her and did all the organizational work.In both cases the engagement was rewarded with "spiritual beneits" as it is called.he "role" as an element of "religious narrative" in Pobrane z czasopisma Mediatizations Studies http://mediatization.umcs.plData: 14/09/2023 22:34:16 U M C S the journals of the dioceses has, however, other aspect.I mean here the attendance in religious rituals and feasts.his element of "religious narrative" occurs in many issues of the journal.It is, however, mentioned rather in an indirect manner.still many articles report on church services that was attended by parishioners and quests.his is in my opinion the message concerning the "role" that is to be played by the readers: attendance at religious rituals is crucial for an Orthodox believer.I will elaborate more on this in the section devoted to "rituals".
ammerman labels the second element of a "religious narrative" with the term "myths".In the journal of the Diocese of sourozh there are two columns that are especially connected with this: one is called "British and Irish saints" and the second one -"Holy places in London".While the irst describes the legends and facts on the life of saints (mostly from before the Great schism of the 11 th century), the latter concentrates on the history of diferent places of worship in London.Both columns are a ixed part of the journal and both of them reproduce many myths concerning the people or the places.In regard to this it is mentioned how st swithin made a cross sign over broken eggs and they became whole again (Cathedral Newsletter 6/2016, p. 15) or -to give another example -how st David gave a traveler a horse which was able to cross the sea (Cathedral Newsletter 3/2016, p. 20).Many of such miraculous stories may be found in the journal.at this stage it is worth pointing out, however, that it is very diicult to diferentiate between two categories ammerman wrote about.In my opinion "myths" and "sacred stories" are impossible to distinguish in this case study because both of them relate to the transcendental other, describe miraculous events and are closely connected to people of the church (saints and clergy members).as a result, I do not diferentiate between these two categories.
"rituals" are mentioned by ammerman as the next element important for the construction of religious identity.as a matter of fact, this element is in my opinion a crucial ingredient of "Orthodox outlook" presented in Cathedral Newsletter.ammerman does not explain what she means by a "ritual" -the term widely discussed in religious studies since at least the 19 th century.I understand this term here following the main stream deinition of "ritual" given and widely disused in the Encyclopedia of Religion as "conscious and voluntary, repetitious and stylized symbolic bodily actions that are centered on cosmic structures and/or sacred presences" (jones 2005, p. 7834).rituals are important for the research on "religious narrative" since they express the conceptual orientations like beliefs, creeds and myths (Bell 2009, p. 19) that may be hidden but they are manifested during a ritual.
Cathedral Newsletter contains a huge number of information on rituals.My analysis has shown that a signiicant part of media material is devoted to religious rituals.For example, there are 4 articles explicitly concerning religious rituals in the september 2016 issue of Cathedral Newsletter.hese include reports from two patronal feasts; the liturgy before the new academic year; lengthy theological explanations of feast in the upcoming month.apart from this, there is a higher number of references to Pobrane z czasopisma Mediatizations Studies http://mediatization.umcs.plData: 14/09/2023 22:34:16 U M C S religious rituals in almost all (!) articles.Here I mean description of the youth camp including church services; report from the life of a parish and an announcement of a pilgrimage.hese references to religious rituals make up 8 journal pages and include a number of photographs.he quantity of these references alone shows how important place in the Orthodox outlook is taken by religious rituals.However, they are also important in qualitative sense.
Behavioral prescriptions is the next category of "religious narrative" deined by ammermann.although this category is not that oten represented like religious rituals, the behavioral prescriptions may be found in the journals of Diocese of sourozh.First of all, there is a number of implicit references that I regard as a part of this category.I mean here photos from church services showing women and girls in traditional headscarves; I also mean terms used in articles to refer to clergy members (e.g.His Holiness, Venerable) and articles referring to pilgrimages.he latter appear in the journal in many diferent forms (interview with a parishioner on pilgrimages; announcement of a pilgrimage; report from a pilgrimage) which I regard as a sign of behavioral prescription.In this way, the message is sent to the readers that a pilgrimage is an important part of religious life and, thus, a crucial part of an Orthodox outlook.With regard to behavioral prescriptions, I have to notice as well that there are quite a few explicit references to this category.he most important issue here is the venerating of icons and relics.For example, venerating icons or relics was mentioned explicitly three times in the august 2016 issue of Cathedral Newsletter. he references I mean included speciic descriptions of behavior like: "icon was placed in the middle of the church and decorated with red roses" (Cathedral Newsletter 8/2016, p. 4) or "singing hymns" while carrying an icon (Cathedral Newsletter 8/2016, p. 3).Behavioral prescriptions I mentioned so far concern only liturgical events or rituals but there is an entire journal column devoted to behavior in everyday life -I mean "the Ten Commandments of God" section. he commandments are there explained and speciic behavioral prescriptions given (refrain from envy, avoid sinful desires, respect the property of others, be honest, etc.).all the matters and examples I mentioned allow me to think that the behavioral prescriptions category is an important element of "religious outlook" presented in the journal of Diocese of sourozh.
Music/posturing/rhythmic movement/eating are the categories that ammerman considers to be a part of religious narrative established by religious organizations.she describes them as "human experiences that create community" (ammerman 2003, p. 217).My analysis of Cathedral Newsletter has shown, however, that the role of these categories in the constructions of religious outlook in the journals of Diocese of sourozh is very diversiied.Music plays the most prominent role within these categories.his conclusion is based on both qualitative and quantitative premises.From quantitative perspective music is, above all, mentioned on a cover page of Cathedral Newsletter where texts of troparions and kontakions -two forms of liturgical hymns -are always published (with only a few exceptions).his topic is also mentioned in reference to liturgical events Pobrane z czasopisma Mediatizations Studies http://mediatization.umcs.plData: 14/09/2023 22:34:16 U M C S or rituals, usually in the form of short notes mentioning that the hymns were sung on speciic occasions.Furthermore, music appeared as a topic in the February 2016 issue of Cathedral Newsletter, when the news report from the Christmas concert of an opera singer was published (Cathedral Newsletter 2/2016, p. 6). a concert of russian music was also mentioned on the occasion of the inaugural meeting of elizabeth romanov society (Cathedral Newsletter 4/2016, p. 21).Music seems to be a common topic in the media, however, this is rather an element of minor importance since most of the references are short and descriptive.
During the text analysis, I could not ind any meaningful references to the posturing/ rhythmic movement categories.here were, however, some references to the category labeled as "eating".To give a few examples: an article on church celebrations reports that there was a meal ater a liturgy (Cathedral Newsletter 4/2016, p. 3;8/2016, p. 4); a priest explains in a short interview the rules for fasting for pregnant women and children (Cathedral Newsletter 4/2016, p. 15); an elderly parishioner speaks in an interview about her mother being a great cook and feeding all the guests that would come to her house (Cathedral Newsletter 5/2016, p. 19).Furthermore, worth mentioning are the references to eating in respect to saints described in the journals.One of the distinctive features of a saint is that he or she shared the food with beggars or poor people (e.g.Cathedral Newsletter 8/2016, p. 13).In general, however, eating is the category of minor qualitative importance and treated rather as a side issue.
Quite the opposite is the situation of the heroes as the category of religious narrative.During the text analysis, I was able to ind a number of references concerning heroes -which are in the case of the Orthodox Church -the saints.here is a permanent column in the journal devoted to saints ("British and Irish saints").he life and work of a saint (sometimes two) is described in every issue of the journal.Heroes/ saints are mentioned regularly also in another permanent journal column -"Holy places in London", where diferent churches in the capital city are described.hese descriptions oten contain references to work of people recognized as saints.he references may vary from simple mentioning that the particular church is devoted to a saint, through the saint's life being somehow interwoven with the church, to the saint being buried there.saints appear very oten in the journal column called "Notes for the Church calendar".he articles in this column explain the reasoning behind every feast celebrated during the upcoming month.he feast or remembrance days are very oten connected with saints.For example, "he apostles Fast" celebrated at the end of june (Cathedral Newsletter 6/2016, p. 6f.); the Feast of saints Peter and Paul and "sunday of all saints of russia" (Cathedral Newsletter 7/2016, p. 6f.).It is quite obvious that saints and remembering of saints plays an important role in religious narrative of the Church.
remembering of saints is closely connected to the last category mentioned by ammerman -"sacred stories".hese stories are usually described in reference to saints and thus they are the most likely to be found in the journal columns mentioned above.).My impression is that the members of the russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland feel that they are part of a bigger entity.his surely has something to do with the religious landscapes on the Isles.russian Orthodox believers are a small minority there and, thus, they feel closely connected to their Orthodox brethren from other nations.his is deinitely part of the Orthodox outlook in the diocesan journal.
a category that also has to be mentioned in this article is "history".he reason for this is that literary every issue of Cathedral Newsletter contains much information on history of the Church in Great Britain and Ireland.here is a permanent column devoted explicitly to history: "he russian church in London", as well as two others on historical issues: "Holy places in London" and "British and Irish saints".Furthermore, there are articles referring to pilgrimages to the places of the historical importance and information on the life of saints in connection with their feast being commemorated in the upcoming months (journal column: "Notes on the Church calendar").all in all, "history" makes up the quantitative second category (ater "rituals") and, thus, plays an important role in the process of construction of the Orthodox outlook in the diocesan media.
In this regard, it is worth pointing out that there is one especially striking feature of the history presented in Cathedral Newsletter, namely the idea that Orthodoxy is the irst Christian creed in Great Britain and Ireland.his view on history reappears in diferent issues of the oicial journal of the Diocese of sourozh. he February 2016 issue of Cathedral Newsletter reads: "(…) Britain -a country where the spreading of the Gospel was begun by apostle aristobulos, one of the seventy, and where in a thousand years -before the falling away of the West in the 11 th century" (Cathedral Newsletter 2/2016, p. 9).In the same issue, st alphege is called "Orthodox archbishop of Canterbury" (died 1012) (Cathedral Newsletter 2/2016, p. 19).In the july 2016 issue, one of the articles states: "How unfortunate it is that the Orthodox Faith is oten considered to be synonymous with eastern europe.To make this mistake is to ignore the fact that the Orthodox Faith has been confessed by many outside eastern europe, from Ireland to India, from sweden to the sudan…" (Cathedral Newsletter 7/2016, p. 10).according to these and similar statements that appear occasionally in Cathedral Newsletter, Orthodox Church existed before the Great schism of 1054 and the origin of Orthodox Christianity dates back to the irst century.

Summary
In this paper, I analysed the Orthodox outlook constructed (reimagined) in the oicial journal of the Diocese of sourozh.I discussed this outlook referring to the elements of religious narrative by Nancy ammerman and supplemented these by my