Hidden Lives: Underground Faith in the Iron Curtain Nations
Channel: ENMU Multicultural Affairs
Date: 06/04/2021

Fr. Zugger, presents on his experience interviewing survivors of underground communities where crossing the barbed wire that stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic meant stepping into a world where faith was not only restricted, but actively repressed, and at times totally forbidden. From his interviews with survivors of underground communities and research in eastern Europe, he uncovers how and why people took risks despite constant threats regarding one’s employment, children’s futures, and the possibility of execution. Fr. Zugger looks at secret regulations that constantly interfered with organized worship, why communism sees religious belief as a danger, and how Christian views of human dignity not only impacted life there, but should do so now today. Co-sponsor with Thomas Moore Newman Center (TMNC)