IECS Report 5

Alissa Kivits wrote a report about the increase in both personal religiosity and church attendance among the third wave of Eritrean refugees who now live in the Netherlands and who belong to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Both psychological and transnational social causes for this phenomenon are explored. Religion helps young Eritreans deal with the challenging circumstances they face during their journey and after they have arrived in the Netherlands, which stimulates them to study their faith, whereas in Eritrea religion was mostly based on experience. In addition, they tend to attend church regularly, giving them access to the social network of Eritreans in the Netherlands. Furthermore, church services and the study of one’s religion contribute to the ongoing connection with the homeland and the culture one has left behind. These factors all feature in the case study that formed the starting point of this contribution.

This small qualitative case study consisting of six interviews and participant observation during church services in and around Nijmegen focusses on practices of saint veneration by recent refugees.

You can read the full report here:

And there is also a press release: www.ru.nl/publish/pages/799401/persbericht.pdf