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This study focuses on the issue of the emeritus papacy following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI from the papal office. It summarises the problems associated with the issue of papal resignation in modern times and reflects on the legal and theological-ecclesiastical dimension of the emeritus papacy. It points to the need for a clear definition of the status of the pope emeritus and analyses both the main directions of research in this area, as well as the possible dangers and complications due to the coexistence of an incumbent and a retired pope in theological and legal areas.
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One of the main sources of theological, philosophical and spiritual inspiration of Pope Francis is the thinking of the German-Italian philosopher and theologian Romano Guardini. Among other things, Pope Francis is primarily significantly influenced by Guardini‘s metaphysical and epistemological doctrine of opposites (Gegensatzlehre), which he formulated in his writing Der Gegensatz: Versuche zu einer Philosophie des Lebendig-Konkreten, in order to understand life in its concreteness. The basic idea of Guardini‘s concept is, that everything has a polar structure of opposites, which are not mutually exclusive, but complement each other. This doctrine has far-reaching consequences for ethics and social life. Guardini‘s Gegensatzlehre Pope Francis clearly projects into the four basic principles of social coexistence presented in the exhortation Evangelii gaudium and the understanding of peripheries and universal brotherhood in the encyclical Fratelli tutti. Centers of power and peripheries are social opposites, which should not be antagonistic, but focused on each other and mutually balancing social reality.
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The word Satan derives from the Hebrew verb שָׂטַן śāṭān, which means to be against, to oppose, to turn against. Therefore, Satan is God’s opponent, he is the one who opposes His will and through everything he does, he tries to make man turn against his Creator, disregarding His commands. Therefore, the Greek terms Σατάν or Σατανάς are nothing but a transliteration of the same Hebrew word having the same meaning. In Romanian, the word devil comes from the Slavonic word djavolṹ, and the word drac comes from Greek δράκων, meaning devil, adversary, accuser.
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As a teacher, Metropolitan Iustin was attentive to the students' problems, especially when the communist authorities interfered in the life and social condition of those who represented the future generations of Romanian society in general or of the Orthodox Church in particular. This referential biography highlights the certainty that Patriarch Iustin Moisescu was an ardent intellectual, totally dedicated to his didactic, pastoral and ecclesiastical administrative ideals. His intentions in this direction were formulated pragmatically, ever since his appointment to the highest seat of the higher church hierarchy: "Theological education is called to play in the life of the Church the essential role of training altar servers. Efforts are being made by teachers and church authorities so that future priests are up to the times we live in today, so that the Church can fulfill its mission, we need worthy priests. It must contribute to solving the problems that the country has and that the people are asking for.
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Since Aristotle’s time, metaphysics has been considered a science. However, the value of scientific metaphysics was doubted during the Enlightenment. In contemporary philosophy of science, metaphysics is either considered meaningless or not belonging to science. The most rigorous definition of science was presented by R. Carnap and Popper. According to R. Carnap, scientific statements must be meaningful, they must be verifiable, and scientific terms must have meanings. We will consider the requirement of meaning and significance as an important feature of a scientific theory. Popper believes that a theory is scientific if it has a certain logical structure, i. e., that if the statements of the theory are not confirmed, we should abandon the theory. Thomistic metaphysics meets both the requirements of meaning and significance. St. Thomas describes the meaning of a word in three ways. First, the meaning of a word is what the mind seeks to express in words; and for things defined, it is the definition that constitutes meaning. Second, sometimes the meaning of a word is revealed by pointing to the object. Third, the meaning of a word is described according to the word’s use in language. According to Thomas Aquinas, this third way of determining meaning is the most important in metaphysics, as many of its concepts do not have a genus, and therefore cannot be defined. The article aims to show that Thomistic metaphysics meets all the requirements of a scientific theory, as it contains a detailed theory of meaning and the criteria for truth applies to its claims.
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This article examines the theology of the Great Commandment of Love in John 13:34. It is the first article of this kind in Lithuania. In the context of current confusion in understanding of love, it is important to look back to the biblical meaning of the Great Commandment of Love. The aim of the article is to introduce the reader to the theological thought of John 13:34 by means of biblical exegesis, Church teaching and works of theologians. It is in this light that the 13th chapter of the Gospel of John is examined, in the light of which the Great Commandment of Love can be understood. It is revealed that Christ is both the giver and the implementer of the commandment, which becomes the New Law.
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Recovering addicts often face marginalisation and reintegration difficulties after completing rehabilitation programmes. This paper asks how the construction or renewal of religiosity in recovering addicts during rehabilitation can contribute to successful social engagement. Religiosity is linked to the successful adjustment of recovering addicts, but its significance changes over time in the context of the reconfiguration of social situations and the learning of new patterns of everyday life. The text is based on data from an ethnographic study carried out in 2018–2019 in a Lithuanian addiction rehabilitation institution and repeated interviews with informants conducted between 2022 and 2023, using participant observation, informal interviews, and semi-structured interviews.
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A common strategy used to study learning of moral values in late medieval aristocratic society is to approach it as a legitimation of the position in society and secular courtly fashion. However, certain facts provide us with possibilities for different looks. To our knowledge, no study to date has examined the close relationship between Polish prince Casimir (1458–1484) and his teacher Jan Długosz. This research supposes the possibility of transferring moral values through education. The analysis of historical sources leads us to conclude that the teacher could influence prince Casimir through a medieval theory of royal sanctity and God’s justice. J. Długosz created his concept of moral education, stated in “Annales seu cronicae”. His motivation was based on his Christian piety and sense of responsibility for society. He intentionally used life stories of idealized Christian rulers (mainly Jagellonians) to teach the prince about Christian values. The moral experience of his own ancestors was to prepare the prince for his responsibilities.
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Menovací dekrét spišského biskupa Jakuba z 29. novembra 1295 je svedectvom o cirkevnom živote vo farnosti Torysa, ktorej v tom čase bola súčasťou i dedina (Šarišské) Dravce. Z menovacieho dekrétu je zrejmé, že dnešná obec Šarišské Dravce bola nielen súčasťou farnosti Torysa, ale i vznikla na jej chotári. Listina sa nachádza v prepise in extenso v spišskom rotuluse a bola vydaná pri edícii spomínaného rotulusu.
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V kostole sv. Jána Krstiteľa v Trnave, konkrétne v klenbe kaplnky sv. Františka Xaverského, sa nachádza baroková freska zo 17. storočia, v ornamentálnej kartuši s námetom vychádzajúcim zo životopisu tohto svätca. Zobrazuje sv. Františka Xaverského, ktorý nesie na svojich pleciach resp. chrbte muža oblečeného v netradičnom odeve – na hlave má čelenku z červeného peria a krátku červenú rozviatu bedernú rúšku alebo sukňu.
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With several examples from important periods in Bulgarian history, we have indicated the importance of Byzantium for the formation and sustain ability of Orthodox worship in Bulgaria. The severe trials accompanying the spiritual uplift in the listed historical times and their overcoming, show state maturity and unbreakable will in search of the Absolute. In addition to successfully accepting Christianity, Bulgaria in turn spread it to other Slavic pagan nations and thus made its contribution to the development of modern European civilization.
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Synodality is a signature pastoral initiative of Pope Francis. He has been implementing it more robustly not only on the level of the Synod of Bishops but has been promoting it on all levels of the church. This article discusses the current state of the theology of synodality, including its various challenges and opportunities.
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Speech delivered at the opening of the exhibition of the 17th-century Adzhar School manuscripts and the presentation of the phototype edition of the Adzhar Four Gospels, carried out by the National Library “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”.
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The promotion of synodality is the most significant pastoral initiative of Pope Francis. It focuses renewed attention on the reception of the Second Vatican Council. This article discusses how synodality gives new life to two aspects of the council’s ecclesiological vision, namely, the church as the people of God and the theology of the local church. They played a major role early in the council’s reception but were later sidelined. Synodality now brings them back to the centerof attention.
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The three Synoptic Gospels narrate the story of Jesus’ healing of Simon’s motherin-law as part of their account of the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. The focus of this article are the christological contours of the three variants, that is, differences in their portrayal of Jesus. To highlight the uniqueness of each evangelist in regard to the christological aspect of the story, the article employs a combination of lexical analysis, synoptic comparison, and semantic approach. It seeks to identify the significance of the changes made by Matthew and Luke vis-à-vis their Marcan counterpart, and sketch the christological profile of each evangelist.
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Is human freedom only an illusion and we are determined by all kinds of facts that exclude our freedom? According to some thinkers, the results of Benjamin Libet’s experiments seem to prove this. More effectively than any arguments of science, the existence of free human actions can be questioned by philosophical theses, above all by various doctrines of determinism. In an interdisciplinary dialogue, we will try to answer some postulates of the natural and human sciences with the arguments of Thomas Aquinas, according to which human will is ordered to the general good, which is what determines it. However, every particular good is limited and not good from some point of view. That is why our choice of a specific good is not determined. Reason frees our will from the necessity of always following some individual good, and keeps it open to the complete and universal good.
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The study examines the role of religious experience and faith in human life. It draws primarily upon the thought of Romano Guardini. The aim is to find the reason why, despite the secularization efforts in recent decades, we observe a return to spirituality and to religious experience. The starting point is the human being and its constitutive openness to something transcendent, to the sacrum, which enables him to live a religious experience. Then the study pays attention to the sources, subject and object of religious experience. The last section deals with the status and importance of revelation and faith for human life.
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