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Augustine, the Bishop of Carthage participated in the Donatist conflict. In this dispute he was an advocate of involvement of Roman authorities, including their military and police forces, on the Catholic side and against the Donatists. On the basis of this decision he more broadly justified his view that the state had a duty to actively promote the true faith, that is, Catholicism. He believed that bringing a man on the path of truth and thus protecting him from perdition in hell is a great good. In his opinion a man without such a support from the state could easily get lost and could not learn the truth. His view was based on two pillars. On the one hand, Augustine was convinced that the original sin destroyed the free will of a man to such extent that it was no longer capable of choosing the good, and on the other hand, he saw the law of the Empire, the Christian state, as an important path of God’s grace. Therefore, he believed that the adoption of the principle of religious freedom, that is, being neutral in religious issues by the state authorities would constitute a major betrayal of the duties of the authorities.
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The article presents the reception of the right to religious freedom in the theological and church Lutheran debate, on the example of Martin Honecker, Heinz Eduard Tödt, and Wolfgang Huber’s concept of human rights, as well as statements of the LutheranWorld Federation, Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, Evangelical Church inGermany and the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland.The examples presented show a positive reception of the right to religious freedom bythe Lutheran circles. It is interpreted firstly as an individual right, on which the rightsof religious communities are based. A significant exception is that an important field ofwork for the Evangelical organisations is also practical engagement for the right to religiousfreedom.
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Nowadays, we are witnesses to a deliberate and targeted persecution of Christians across broad areas of the world. The Middle East is no exception to this. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life informs that 70% of the world’s population now live in countries “with serious restrictions on religious freedom.” According to the OSCE some 200 million Christians (about 8.7%) of the 2.3 billion Christians in the world are today subjected to some form of hatred, violence, threat, confiscation of property, or other abuse on account of their religion (OSCE Conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 2010). In the Arabian Peninsular alone some 2.5 million Christians are oppressed, discriminated against and persecuted. And this persecution is increasing rather than decreasing. In speaking about the Middle East it is essential to closely analyse the developments that have taken place here over the past hundred years. Prior to the First World War, the proportion of Christians in the Middle East was still around 20%; today it is barely 4% — and decreasing. In fact the situation is changing at an alarming rate. According to Father Khalil, the imams play a key role in regard to the problem of the integration of Muslims in the western world, since they often “brand it as a heathen culture.” Young Muslins should in fact be able to develop into personalities and judge according to their own conscience. Islam must renew itself from within and clarify its relationship to violence. And there is likewise a need to clarify the relationship between the various Muslim groupings themselves, since all experts agree that the explosive situation in the Middle East is above all due to the conflicts within Islam (i.e. between Sunnis and Shias,etc.). And Europe too must stop being so very naive. The God of Islam is not identicalwith the Christian God.
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In Austria, there is a variety of churches and religious communities. By recognizing them, the Austrian State gives some of them a special significance. In recent years, the issue of religious freedom has gathered momentum in the aspect of individual freedom of religion as well as the corporate religious freedom, that is, the rights of religious ideological associations. The essay shows the development of the fundamental right toreligious freedom and the legal foundations thereof in Austria. It throws light on theproblem of recognition of churches and religious communities and issues of the individualand corporate freedom of religion, such as affixing crosses and religious education inpublic schools, church bell ringing and the limits of religious freedom. Special attentionis directed to issues facing Muslims, such as whether to wear headscarf or not duringclass, circumcision, mosques and the new Islam Act in Austria. Against the backdrop ofthe history and the legal provisions, brand new questions are conspicuous.
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The present study presents the theme of the beauty of conjugal love on the basis of the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis Amoris laetitia. We note that modern secularized world distorts the notion of love, leading to serious disruptions in the functioning of marriage and the family. Pope Francis strives above all to show the positive side of conjugal love. Spouses in everyday simple and ordinary gestures reveal the love that Christ loves his Church. Love is born of a look at the other person, which provokes admiration and taste in the precious value of another person. Love lets you see a loved one as a person. Joy of love renews and grows after a shared experience of suffering, effort and struggle. The common married way is to go through the various stages of the development of love that require „generous gift of self” (AL 220). Pope Francis reminds us that love needs time that the spouses must find at their disposal. Love grows in spite of limitations and imperfections through sacrificial effort and sacrifice. Young people should dare to conclude an inseparable marriage that provides protection and a tool for the development of love. Conjugal love is also characterized by feelings of pleasure and sexual passion. Pope Francis in teaching about the importance of human sexuality goes behind St. John Paul II, his predecessor. The church rejects sexual and erotic perversion but does not disregard sexuality itself nor disdains it. Marriage crisis are part of the dramatic beauty of conjugal love. The Church through priests and prepared persons can spiritually accompany the spouses in crisis so that they find and renew the original love that has brought them into a single union.
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Two traditions depicting God’s creation act described in Gen 1-2, contain also two varying pictures of the creation of woman. Whereas the priestly creation narrative underlines the equality between man and woman both created „in the image of God”, the picture of woman in Gen 2 is presented sometime as representing „male point of view”, in which woman is subdued and inferior in relation to man. However, the close reading of the Bible, such an interpretation finds scarcely any support in the biblical text. Gen 1-2 seem to explicitly indicate the key-role of the woman, „suitable help for man” in the creation narrative.
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The debates concerning the problem of termination of pregnancy are currently concentrated upon the question of its decency, namely, on its ethical aspect and on the issue of the acceptance by positive law, that is on legislative aspect. The adversaries of termination of pregnancy refer to arguments which – as it seems – should meet with universal approval and by the same token should have influence on decisions and general morality. However, it appears to be quite self-evident that these arguments are still not known enough or they are simply rejected. For the understanding of this, rather paradoxical, situation it is necessary to analyse the historical and cultural origins of abortionism which affects considerably the point of view of the proponents of termination of pregnancy and which today has massive influence on the public perception of the problem and on its oversimplified ethical assessment. Therefore, only the profound understanding of the on-going events, all the more their reasons will make it possible to take more adequate steps towards the defence of life from its beginning, which manifests itself as the fundamental requirement of the defence of a civilisation of love as opposed to the obtrusive and ostentatious culture of death.
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Pope John Paul II in the Motu Proprio Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela on 30 April 2001 promulgated the norms concerning the gravest crimes reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Such an intervention of the Church, as the Pope explained, was required by the necessity to protect the sanctity of the sacraments, especially those of the Most Holy Sacrament and Sacrifice of the Eucharist and Sacrament of Penance, as well as the need to keep the purity of morality in regard to the sixth commandment of the Decalogue. The Church, driven by pastoral concern and keeping in mind the ultimate goal of any Church law, which should be salus animarum, intervenes to prevent any violation in such serious and delicate matter as the sacraments. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued on 18 May 2001 a letter to the Ordinaries and Hierarchs of the Roman Catholic Church describing the new crimes reserved to the Congregation and the procedural norms to be followed in these cases. Nine years after the promulgation of De gravioribus delictis norms, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith modified them, integrating and updating them in order to simplify the procedures, so that they could become more effective in solving contemporary problems. The modified norms concerning the crimes reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith were presented to Pope Benedict XVI who approved of them on 21 May 2010 and ordered to promulgate them. De delictis reservatis norms of 2010 consist of two parts: the first one, Normae substantiales, from article 1 to 7, and the second one including articles 8-31. The first part describes the competence of the Congregation, the crimes belonging to the delicta reservata category, and the norms concerning the prescription of actio criminalis in case of delicta reservata. The latter part defines the procedures in case of delicta reservata for which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the Supreme Apostolic Tribunal.This article analyses only those of the crimes reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which refer to the sacraments of the Penance and the Priestly Ordinations. It should be stated that both existing and new norms concerning delicta reservata show great concern of the Church for the protection of the sacraments. On the other hand, which seems alarming, the necessity to update the norms protecting the sacraments indicates their relatively frequent violation. For instance, the introduction of an attempt to ordain a woman to the category of delicta reservata was the consequence of the need to protect the nature and significance of priestly ordinations in the times of questioning the Church’s teaching in that matter. In the context of possible violations of dignified and valid administration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, penance and priestly ordinations, the knowledge and right interpretation of the Church norms promulgated to protect these sacraments seem vital.
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In his paper, examining the problems experienced by man today, the author seeks answers to the question: what is contemporary consecrated life to look like? What challenges does it face today? What is expected from consecrated persons today, which testimony? In this regard, first, he points to the theological foundations of the religious community, emphasizing that it is a gift from God and at the same time a mystery rooted in the heart of the Holy Trinity, and then he discusses its charismatic dimension. The author thinks that fidelity to one’s consecration according to the charism is an essential element of consecrated life. Among today’s challenges, he first highlights the challenges of the evangelical counsels, and then analyses other contemporary signs of the time, which are a challenge for consecrated persons. Following these analyses, the author emphasizes that personal and community testimony of the life of consecrated persons remains the most important element of the answer to the posed question. Their lives reveal the true face of the love of God and the Church to the world, but never exhaust it. The documents of the Apostolic See place consecrated life in the center of the Church’s activity, thereby assigning it the momentous task of being a visible sign of God’s presence in the world. Those who live a consecrated life become promoters of the true development of the human person. In this sense, consecrated persons have a special share and task in sanctifying the world. They are, therefore, a radical response to the emerging signs of time in each epoch.
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The article analyses the motifs of the Virginity and the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary in Young Poland poetry. They appear in the writings of many poets, i.e. Maria Konopnicka, Leopold Staff, Jan Kasprowicz, Bronisława Ostrowska, Kazimiera Zawistowska, Józef Ruffer and others. The interest in the Motherhood of God in this period stemmed mostly from a general increase in religiousness but it also had its national and patriotic roots. The expansiveness of the motifs of Virginity and the Annunciation of St. Mary after 1900 was also connected with the 50th anniversary commemoration of the announcement of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. The changes in the world-view in the era initialized by vitalism, the fascination with spirituality, broad-sense purity, folk nature and the Franciscan philosophical trend were also significant for the poetic presentation of St. Mary.
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The problem of understanding terms has been the subject of numerous analyses and investigations, whereas understanding moral terms by children of younger school age has not been the subject of analyses or research studies. This made me undertake research on morality, understanding it and creating terms. Bearing in mind Albert Schweitzer’s formulation that all good actions are born of hope, I based the concept of experimental stage adaptations of literary texts on the comparison of intelligence and child’s personality. Studying mutual relations between intelligence and personality is still a topical issue. In my view, creating and understanding moral terms in the process of teaching, thinking and discussing them takes place mainly in Polish studies. I did not separate moral terms from thinking, the sphere of feelings and free will in this education process. Mother tongue classes, literary texts should open man to the world, pointing out unquestionable moral values, which are the basis of our existence, our human existence. The truth, good, beauty are ageless values in every sphere of humanity. Hope is hidden in cognition and understanding their contents. The truth exists for every man, only when man himself as a complex person creates the truth in acting.
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Sukcesy odniesione na polu klonowania zwierząt skłoniły naukowców do podjęcia prób klonowania człowieka. Doniesienia o wynikach przeprowadzonych eksperymentów wywołały reakcję w wielu krajach, czego wyraz znajdujemy w literaturze. We Włoszech zagadnienie klonowania człowieka spotkało się z żywą dyskusją. Opisywano i komentowano prowadzone eksperymenty. Przedstawiano zjawisko klonowania jako fakt zachodzący w świecie roślin i zwierząt oraz możliwości zastosowani go u ssaków. Wśród dyskutantów można by wyróżnić dwie grupy: pierwszą stanowią zwolennicy klonowania a drugą jej oponenci. I jedni i drudzy przedstawiają swoje argumenty. W grupie zwolenników można wyodrębnić tych, którzy nie akceptują możliwości zastosowania klonowania do celów reprodukcyjnych a jedynie dopuszczają klonowanie terapeutyczne do celów leczniczych. W dyskusji ma swój głos również Kościół katolicki, który stoi na straży ludzkiej godności.
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Discussion of the conscience clause at schools concerns the possibility to refuse the teacher’s actions incompatible with his conscience. This possibility, though questioned by many as unlawful, results from Polish legislation and international law. It is a consequence of freedom of conscience guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and a number of international and national legal acts. There are many situations in which reveals the conflict between the duty of performing a given program or command of educational authorities and their own convictions. They concern mainly the same vision of the school and its functions, school programs and the underlying concept of the human being and interpersonal relationships at the level of professional work of the teacher. In all these situations, the teacher should be a person of conscience, i.e. to follow his voice, which sometimes means opposition to the content of curricula and textbooks, orders of superiors or the prevailing customs.
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The article is a collection of clinical observations and data from the literature on positive thinking. The author, a psychoanalyst, presents numerous examples of clinical in regarding the positive and negative aspects of this phenomenon. Article prompts to reflection and is a critical recognition of ambiguous phenomenon of positive thinking. This report is a counterweight to too one-sided and therefore unreliable describe this phenomenon
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Formation of the Vilnius Cathedral Chapter was a long process since its inception in 1388 to the middle of the sixteenth century. As the capital city of the cathedral chapter of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the beginning of its existence in the system and the organization was inspired by the Cracow Cathedral Chapter. Under the papal foundation bull by pope Urban VI Pontifex Maximus to erect bishopric of Vilnius the first two of the Prelature were founded (provost and dean) and 10 canonries. All of them were endowed in 1387 by king Vladislav II Jagiello. The next four prelate names: custodian, archdeacon, scholastic and cantor, and two canonries were developed under the efforts of successive monarchs, bishops and Chapter. The structure of the Chapter was finally clarified around 1525, which since then consisted of six prelates and 12 canons. In such organizational frameworks the Vilnius corporation canons and prelates survived until the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Individual members of the Chapter had a specific range of privileges and obligations which in the case of prelates were assigned to each of the dignity of the individual. Competence of canons were evolving, depending on the current needs. In the reporting period, the corporation prelates and canons in gremio constituted under the church law a control body of the actions of diocesan bishops, which was de facto institution co-managering of the diocese.
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In the history of Catholic church the 20th century will be remembered as the age of martyrs. Many Christians bore witness of their fidelity to Christ by sacrificing their lives. In that terrifying time of test of fidelity however, there was a great number of people who did not suffered death because of their faith and yet they bore witness to Christ. Nowadays the combat against religion, faith and the Church still continues. The need to bear personal witness of fidelity to both Christ and personal vocation has been becoming much more imperious. Furthermore, testimonies that recently there are people who have proven that being faithful to Christ, even being faithful to the point of heroism, is possible are vital and needed. Kazimierz Świątek, archbishop, cardinal was one of these people. The article presents his family environment, path to priesthood and period of presbyterate.
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This article is an attempt to conceptualize social networking theology as a new perspective for the development of the theology of the mass media. The author analyzes the modern documents of the Church about the media – Messages for World Day of Social Communications of Benedict XVI's and Francis – and tries to systematize this teaching, introduces to the most important categories of analysis, research problems, methodological challenges. Also considers the new style of doing theology – theology of 2.0 and the challenge media education in the era of social networking.
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