Právo cirkevného azylu – otázka kontinuity a diskontinuity v neskorej antike. Stav súčasného bádania
Right of Ecclesiastical Asylum – Question of Continuity and Discontinuity in Late Antiquity. State of Contemporary Research

Summary/Abstract: The principle of asylum generally means that a refugee sojourning in a designated place of sanctuary becomes part of this space and will be safe from harm, because he could not be extradited without the knowledge or consent of representatives of the institution granting such asylum. This paper focuses on ecclesiastical asylum in late antiquity and on the current state of research. Older works present the concept of the so-called translation theory, according to which pagan temples, entitled to privileged status of sanctuary protection and sanctioned by the state, transferred those privileges to Christian churches. The Church interprets the right of asylum as ius divinum, based on the holiness of Christian temples (reverentia loci) and as deeds of mercy (misericordia), which were incorporated in the laws of church synods and councils. There is an opposing opinion, however, stating that canonic law acquired binding validity only if formally recognized and institutionalized in the laws of Roman emperors. In the first decade of the 21st century, several authors addressed the development of the right of asylum in the transitional period between the pagan and the Christian worlds, especially how and when the granting of asylum became part of the Christian tradition.

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