Rastko Lompar has just handed in his book manuscript

Растко Ломпар, Учитељ или фарисеј: Димитирије Љотић, хришћанство и верске заједнице 1935-1945, Београд: Catena mundi, 2021. [Rastko Lompar, Teacher or Pharisee: Dimitrije Ljotić, Christianity and Religious Communities, 1935-1945, Belgrade: Catena Mundi, 2021]

The book is the result of a wide-ranging investigation into the role of Dimitrije Ljotić and his Yugoslav National Movement – ZBOR in the political life of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and German-occupied Serbia. Since Dimitrije Ljotić’s attitude to religion and religious communities has remained under-researched in both the academic and the general public, this study aims to demystify this neglected yet very important phenomenon. The first step towards better insight into this problem was the research of Ljotić’s role models, who influenced his understanding of the importance and place of religion in modern society. An analysis of Ljotić’s texts on religion has revealed that he, despite the established view, did not give precedence to Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity and advocated a doctrine known as ‘integral Christianity’. ‘Integral Christianity’ entails a syncretistic approach to Christianity, which suppresses dogmatic differences between various denominations and instead highlights their shared pan-Christian virtues while connecting Christianity with the cult of sacrifice and nationalism. The study also explains the religious dimension of Ljotić’s ideology and the ways in which religious rhetoric spilled over into the vocabulary of politics. The conclusions drawn in the first part of the book concerning ideology are put to the test in the second part, which discusses the relationship between Dimitrije Ljotić and religious communities. It analyzes Ljotić’s maneuvering between two, by that time mutually antagonistic, religious communities – the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Special attention is given to the often highlighted friendship between Ljotić and the highly influential Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović. It also describes the challenge that the beginning of the German occupation meant for Ljotić and his movement and the very different fates of the two churches while it lasted. Drawing on modern theory, the conclusion attempts to answer the question of whether the Yugoslav National Movement – ZBOR developed its own political religion and whether there are grounds to see it as a clerical-fascist movement.