Position Of Church Research Articles

«ПАСТИР ДОБРИЙ»: СУСПІЛЬНИЙ ПРОЕКТ МЕЛЕТІЯ СМОТРИЦЬКОГО

The article analyzing the treatise by Meletius Smotrytsky's «Threnos» attempts to systematize the views of the author on the role and place of the Orthodox hierarchy in the formation of Ukrainian national ideology and political tradition.The key idea of the «Threnos» is the idea that social and historical conditions of that time in Ukraine require the appearance of a constellation of prophets or shepherds who are understood by author as spiritual mentors of the people. Their task was to enlighten Ukrainian society and raise its national-religious consciousness. The author of the «Threnos» pays considerable attention to the criticism of the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church when he determines their role in society, therefore, he obviously correlates this role with the expected arrival of the named ecclesiastical and moral leaders, and this gives us reason to suppose that the church should nominate the mentioned spiritual shepherd. Orthodox Church is also versed by Smotrytsky as an authoritative social institution obliged to become the basis for the moral improvement of society and its consolidation before the realization of an external threat. Smotrytsky pays special attention to the condemnation of the actual culprits of the situation that was formed ‑ in fact, the members of the church hierarchy. He distinguishes three main levels of criticism, which are used to judge the degree of decline of the spiritual shepherd - theological, ethical and social. According to Smotrytsky, each of these levels logically follows from the previous one, creating a peculiar hierarchical sequence linking the true shepherd with God, on the one hand, and with the Ukrainian society on the other one. He sees the main cause of evil in forgetting God's covenants. Smotrytsky believes that the indifference to the testaments of God is connected with the ignorance and incompetence of the ministers of the church, devastating to the whole flock. In other words, only the enlightened mind of the shepherd can make him a real mediator of the will of God - "good shepherd". Meanwhile, the ignorance is the cause of the ethical decline of the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church, and as a result, the moral degradation of all classes of Ukrainian society. According to Smotrytsky, the key to understanding the social behavior of the «evil shepherd» is the principle of the formation of the Orthodox hierarchy, namely the practice of selling church positions, for which the applicant was not obliged to undergo a pre-examination and election procedure, which would exclude a bad candidate. The result is logical: the immorality of shepherds, standing at the basis of their social behavior, leads to the humiliation of the authority of the Orthodox hierarchy, which, in turn, stimulates the collapse of the church structure that should cement Ukrainian society. Constructing an oppositional set of properties that relate to the characteristics of a «good shepherd», Smotrytsky draws his image in terms that repeat the foregoing, but receive a qualitatively different ethical sound. If pastorship was based on the authority of ethical perfection, it would provide the opportunity to cure the social diseases that struck the church, the main of which is the sale of church positions. However, though necessary, these steps are insufficient to consolidate the entire Ukrainian society. According to Smotrytsky, as a result of the healing of the Orthodox Church, its shepherds will have the moral right to lead the entire Ukrainian «nation». Thus, the ideas of Meletius Smotrytsky became, in fact, the first fixed attempt of Ukrainian intellectuals to offer their option for the further development of Ukrainian society, designed to ensure the continuity of the process of forming a national ideology and political tradition in conditions of explicit tension in interconfessional relations. The main role in this process is given to the updated Orthodox Church and its expected «good shepherds», who are called not only to improve the Church itself but also to consolidate the Orthodox community. In spite of the expressive motives of Christian providentialism, in the future this concept has found completely secular application, contributing to the ideological justification of the actions of the Orthodox brotherhoods and the Zaporozhian Cossacks, aimed at the restoration of the Orthodox hierarchy as new political elite.

Происхождение Пятикнижия: традиция и Документальная гипотеза

В статье рассматривается проблема происхождения Пятикнижия. Согласно традиционному церковному взгляду, Пятикнижие всегда считалось произведением пророка Моисея. Однако уже в XVII веке - первой половине XVIII века появились исследователи (Бенедикт Спиноза, Ришар Симон, Жан Астрюк), утверждавшие, что весь текст Пятикнижия или отдельные его части не принадлежат пророку Моисею. Эти предположения получили дальнейшее развитие в трудах протестантских ученых Вильгельма Де Ветте, Э. Рейсса, Карла Графа, Г. Гупфельда и Ю. Велльгаузена. В результате Ю. Велльгаузен сформулировал гипотезу, согласно которой текст Пятикнижия состоит из четырех источников (документов): Ягвиста (J), Элогиста (E), Девтерономиста (D) и Жреческого Кодекса (P). Эта гипотеза получила название Документальной. Важно отметить, что самый ранний из этих источников, Ягвист, датируется Ю. Велльгаузеном IX в. до Р. Х. Таким образом, налицо очевидное противоречие между традиционным и критическим взглядами на происхождение книг Закона. Автор статьи излагает основные аргументы адептов Документальной гипотезы, отстаивающих компилятивный характер Пятикнижия, и пытается проследить отношение к ней в отечественной дореволюционной библеистике, католицизме и традиционном иудаизме. In the article the problem of Pentateuch’s origin is researched. According to the traditional Church position, the Pentateuch was always considered a work of the prophet Moses. But already in XVII century - first half of XVIII century they were scholars (Benedictus Spinoza, Richard Simon, Jean Astruc), who argued, that the entire text of Pentateuch or some of its parts do not belong to Moses. These assumptions received a development in the works of protestant scholars Wilhelm De Wette, E. Reuss, Karl Graf, G. Hupfeld and J. Wellhausen. As a result, J. Wellhausen formulated a hypothesis, that the Pentateuch’s text consists of four sources (documents) - Jahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D) and Priesterkodex (P). This hypothesiswas called the Documentary hypothesis. It is important to notice, that the earliest of these sources was dated by Wellhausen to the IX century BC. So there is an obvious contradiction between the traditional and critical views on the Torah’s origin. The A. sets forth the main arguments of the followers of the documentary hypothesis, who argue a composite character of the Pentateuch, and tries to understand the attitude towards it in pre-revolotionary Russian biblical studies, in Catholicism and traditional Judaism.

CONFESSIONAL MODERNITY: NICOLA SPEDALIERI, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,C.1775–1800

This article reconsiders the Catholic reaction to the French Revolution, focusing on Nicola Spedalieri'sOn the Rights of Man(1791) and on the debate that its publication sparked in Italy and beyond. The outbreak of the Revolution and the polarization of public opinion between the supporters of the new regime and its relentless opponents convinced Spedalieri, a well-reputed Catholic theologian, of the need to find a via media between these two extremes. Assuming the re-Christianization of the postrevolutionary world as his goal, Spedalieri argued that some aspects of revolutionary political culture were acceptable from a Catholic standpoint as long as the revolutionaries, in turn, agreed to abandon secularization and to uphold the traditional confessional organization of the state. It was not modernity itself, he claimed, that should be rejected, but secularization, for a different modernity from that conceived by the revolutionaries—a confessional modernity, combining revolutionary politics and confessional states—was possible. Far from gaining immediate acceptance, Spedalieri's ideas were harshly criticized during the 1790s and then set aside by the triumph of reactionary Catholicism during the Restoration. However, they resurfaced later in the nineteenth century and ultimately played a decisive role in the development of the church's attitudes toward modern culture, for they carved a path for Catholics to fight secularization from within and to reshape modernity accordingly.

Činnost Ruské pravoslavné církve v Abcházii a Jižní Osetii: v souladu s pozicí ruského státu nebo v rozporu s ní?

The purpose of this text is to attempt to provide a basic outline of the Russian Orthodox Church’s activities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), which is considered to be the largest autocephaly Orthodox Church in the world, is active not only in Russia but also outside Russia. This is made possible through the “several states - one patriarchate” formula adopted by the ROC for the activities of other Orthodox churches in its canonical territory. However, the activity of the Church is also visible outside the canonical space. Close cooperation between the ROC and the Russian state within Russia and the support of the ROC in its work both inside and outside the canonical territory make it possible to discuss the interconnection between the state and the Church. One of the few examples in which the positions of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian state are different are relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state towards Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The aim of this text is to compare the attitude of the Russian state and the Church to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The analysis will proceed in two ways. The first will be the relationship of Russia and ROC to Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s ecclesiastical affiliation. The other direction will be the relationship to the “statehood“ of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. This paper, which is based mainly on the analysis of primary sources (state and Church websites), is structured chronologically. The study shows that the state and Church positions are very similar and do not contradict one another.

Protection of the Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion in the Slovak Republic

The paper deals with protection of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in the Slovak Republic. It focuses to religious freedom, legal framework of StateChurch Relations, recognitions of Churches by the State, they public manifestations, status and autonomy. It elucidates constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience, thought and religion. It zooms in specific legal acts, documents, current practice, problems, challenges and possible development, and reflects the complex correlation of the issue of State-Church relations and position of Churches in the society with the need of protection of the State and society.

Christian visions of homosexuality: new debates of old churches

The article is devoted to the study of the relationship between the processes of erosion of the traditional norm vs deviation matrix in the public consciousness and changes in the position of Christian denominations and churches, new tendencies in theological research, canon law, social work, pastoral practice.
 The purpose of the work is to characterize the processes of diversification of Christian churches for their attitude towards homosexuality under the pressure of changes in the structure of social deviations and the liberalization of the Christian environment. The author defines the main types of historical stigma of homosexuality; characterizes changes in the public opinion of the population of traditionally Christian countries (based on the modern sociological studies); highlights the main innovations in the social doctrine and practice of various Christian denominations; and identifies the dominant trends in eastern and western Christianity in relation to homosexuality.
 It is substantiated that the contradiction between the official doctrine, the conservative position of the church hierarchy, on the one hand, and liberal tendencies in the public opinion of the secular community, on the other hand, are more or less common to all Christian denominations. The most difficult situation related the Roman Catholic Church, whose followers live in Western countries with a high level of tolerance for homosexuality. Under the pressure of changes in legal institutions, public morals and public opinion, the traditional Christian interpretation of homosexuality is filled with new connotations; changes were introduced in canon law, institute of spiritual education, other religious institutions; the church becomes more open to discuss problems that have long been taboo. Church policy and pastoral practice are based on the clear delineation of the concepts of "homosexuality", "acts of homosexuality", "homosexual inclinations", "homosexual intentions", "homosexual temptation", etc.
 It has been shown that despite the existing changes in rhetoric, canon law and church practice, the official position of churches is subject to constant critical attacks. Criticism refers not only to the "lack of" acts of homosexuality, the preservation of religious stigma of homosexuality as sin, the condemnation by the church of homosexual behavior, same-sex marriages and gay culture, but also the rooting of patterns of such behavior in monastic and priestly structures. An alternative to the official position of traditional Christian churches is the growing theological movement, which was called "Queer-Theology", which produces its own version of Christian anthropology.
 Processes of destroying of traditional structure of deviations in the globalized world, from one side, and processes of post-secularizing - from other, generate contradictory consequences for functioning of religious institutes; the palette of possible attitudes to homosexuality becomes complicated. Overall, the differently directed trends were done distinctly in western and east Christianity. In Catholicism, there are processes of liberalization of Christianity, the search for ways to adapt homosexuals to the religious environment, and in the problem field of Christian anthropology new theological interpretations of gender ethics are proposed. In the flow of Orthodoxy, especially of Russian, the fundamentalization and nationalization of Orthodoxy, the defense of the matrix of traditional values will preserve the religious stigma of homosexuality in the future.
 Research results can be drawn on in the courses of religious-studies and sociological disciplines; in research of the problems of social and religious deviation.
 Foreseeable assumptions about the development of the research object are finding the best ways to investigate the newest tendencies in attitude of Christian churches toward the social issues of the day; to provide comparative and cross-cultural analysis of processes of diversification of Christian environment.

The implementation of Christian family values in charismatic churches in Ukraine (on the example of the church "New Generation")

The article deals with the specifics of religion as a regulator of relations in society and family. The analysis of the actualization of Christian family values and the form of their implementation on the example of the Church "New Generation", in the conditions of the revival of religious life and the development of Ukraine as a polyconfessional state is analyzed. Shown is the change in the role of the church and the extent of the impact of Christian values on the social in the regional dimension, as well as those social problems that the church should deal with.
 It turns out that the crisis of a modern family prompts Christian denominations to react to the existing state of affairs. This forms a confessional specificity in understanding the roots and ways of solving the problems of society.
 Charismatic churches today are characterized by increasing recognition, increasing tolerance in society, deepening of institutionalizing change, and the formation of their own theology. They function in the Ukrainian society and cause more or less influence on different components of society. Charismatics do not have a single center or doctrine, so the purpose of this article is to clarify the peculiarities of actualization of Christian family values ​​and the specifics of their implementation in the theology and activities of the charismatic Church "The New Generation"). The task of the article is to determine the specifics of theological understanding, the main forms of the practical solution of the charismatic Church "New Generation" of those problems that exist in the Ukrainian society and are related to the family as a primary collective. Another task is to investigate the influence of the church's role on marriage relations and the family in the region.
 It is stated that the theological basis of the Church "The New Generation" is in the dynamics of formation, based on the general religious principles of Christianity in general and Protestantism in particular. The Christian system of values has a theistic-objectivist character for them. The Protestant principle of "Soli Deo gloria" ("only God's glory") laid the foundation for the formation of the family values of carismatic spirituality carriers.
 The charismatic church as an institution reacts to constant changes in all spheres of society's life. It becomes mobile, open to change, modernizes, and tests various forms of solving relevant social problems associated with the family.
 The charismatic church's position on marriage is serious and well-considered. In the ecclesiastical environment, a series of seminars devoted to family and marriage issues have been developed, and preventive and spiritual work is being conducted on the prevention of hasty marriages. The region's statistics indicate positive changes towards strengthening the family's institute, reducing the number of divorces, and so on. Such indicators allow us to speak about the positive influence of the activity of the charismatic Church "The New Generation" on church parishioners, on the situation in the city and the region, as the "New Generation" subsidiary churches are located throughout the region. This testifies to the effectiveness of the practical activities of the charismatic Church "New Generation" in the region and the desire to extend its experience to other regions of Ukraine.
 The results of the research can be used in religious studies courses, in particular in the teaching of disciplines related to the study of Christian and non-Christian trends, the specifics of new religious movements, as well as for state bodies, with the aim of improving the state-confessional relations and harmonizing social work with the population.

Human Rights Protection and Traditional Churches in the System of National Cooperation in Hungary

Abstract Hungary adopted its new Fundamental Law and new legislative framework on the legal status of churches, religious denominations and religious communities in 2011, as part of a number of constitutional changes leading to the dismantlement of democracy, rule of law and human rights protection. In relation to the new legislative framework of state-church relations, much assessment so far focused on how the installment of a “pluralist system of state churches” led to an institutional and partly moral establishment, jeopardizing and curtailing the religious freedom of non-established religious denominations. However, it has been less investigated how the “pluralist system of state churches” and related constitutional changes affected a number of human rights (e.g. the right to private and family life or the right to education) and the position of traditional churches, especially, in view of their autonomy. The paper intends to show that the close entanglement of the state and its traditional churches led to the deterioration of the protection of a number of human rights while it also undermined the autonomy of these churches.

ЦЕРКОВНО-ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ СИТУАЦИЯ В МОЛДАВИИ В СВЕТЕ ПОЗИЦИИ РПЦ

ЦЕРКОВНО-ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ СИТУАЦИЯ В МОЛДАВИИ В СВЕТЕ ПОЗИЦИИ РПЦ

Same-sex marriage: a defense based on foundations of natural law

Abstract Laymen in general associate natural law theories to conservative moral conceptions, like traditional marriage of a man and a woman. That makes sense when we notice Catholic Church's position about matrimony or even academic marriage conceptions as the one claimed by John Finnis. But would be possible to defend the so called “marriage equality” in natural law grounds? This paper aims to answer this question affirmatively. Departing from a critical analysis of Finnis’ natural law theory and his marriage conception, I argue that a better matrimony conception needs to be grounded on a wide vision of human sexuality, which encompasses lesbian and gay couples. Instead of procreation (which is one of the marriage points in Finnis’ conception), human experience shows that sex is not limited to breeding - it is a way people can achieve pleasure and high levels of intimacy, regardless their sexual orientation. I conclude that this way of conceptualizing human sexuality is “far more evident” than the one suggested by Finnis and is also consistent with Germain Grisez's interpretation of Aquinas’ first principle of practical reason - with which Finnis himself agrees.

Influência católica no planejamento familiar: estudo sobre parentalidade responsável

Neste artigo, aborda-se a relação entre a Igreja Católica e planejamento familiar, com o objetivo de identificar o impacto da primeira sobre o segundo. A pesquisa é descritiva e analítica, a partir de revisão bibliográfica sobre os temas relacionados com planejamento familiar e também da pesquisa de campo com a aplicação do instrumento de pesquisa Planejamento da Parentalidade no Contexto da Bioética. No total, foram avaliados 863 questionários relacionados à gravidez do primeiro filho e 614 relacionados à gravidez do último filho. Dentre os resultados da pesquisa, aponta-se que mais da metade dos entrevistados (63,4%) atribuiu nota zero ou 1 à questão apresentada: A religião influenciou na escolha do método contraceptivo?. No entanto, a percentagem dos que atribuíram nota máxima para o planejamento da gravidez do primeiro filho é de 42,3%. Conclusões: este artigo revela um saldo positivo em relação ao papel da religião na busca de uma parentalidade responsável porque identifica que a posição oficial de lideranças religiosas não esgota o rol de possibilidades de reflexão na própria religião sobre planejamento familiar. A pesquisa demostra que a posição da Igreja na escolha de métodos contraceptivos é acompanhada, também, de uma postura em prol de uma parentalidade responsável e de planejamento consensuado. A consideração final que este artigo nos permite fazer é de que a religião é um fator importante em um programa que busque promover o planejamento familiar.

Kościół katolicki wobec niepłodności

Teza. Kościół katolicki, jako instytucja żywo zaangażowana w dyskusje na tematy bioetyczne, włącza się w publiczny dyskurs dotyczący niepłodności i metod jej leczenia. Stanowisko Kościoła w tych kwestiach jest znacznie bliższe etyce chrześcijańskiej niż etyce naturalnej (tj. wiążącej się z biomedycyną).
 Omówione koncepcje. Kościół prezentuje swoje stanowisko wobec omawianej problematyki w oficjalnych dokumentach instytucji, np. w encyklikach, listach apostolskich, dokumentach Kongregacji Nauki Wiary czy Konferencji Episkopatu Polski. Odnaleźć je można również w dokumentach nieoficjalnych, jak chociażby kazaniach. Autorka przyjęła metodę omawiania nie tyle poszczególnych koncepcji, co ujęła temat problemowo, dzieląc strukturę wywodu na stanowisko Kościoła wobec metody zapłodnienia pozaustrojowego i wobec badań prenatalnych.
 Wyniki i wnioski. Podsumowując przedstawione stanowisko Kościoła katolickiego wobec problematyki in vitro i badań prenatalnych, należy skonstatować bardzo sceptyczne i krytyczne podejście do ww. kwestii. Dyskurs hierarchów Kościoła dąży do zachęcenia par niemogących posiadać potomstwa, do korzystania z innych metod radzenia sobie z niepłodnością, takich jak chociażby naprotechnologia czy adopcja dzieci. Kościół katolicki prezentuje podejście bardzo restrykcyjne i konserwatywne względem współczesnych problemów bioetycznych.
 Oryginalność/wartość poznawcza podejścia. Celem artykułu było usystematyzowanie oraz przybliżenie czytelnikowi argumentów Kościoła katolickiego w kwestii leczenia niepłodności metodą in vitro oraz badaniami prenatalnymi. Niezwykle szybki postęp technologiczny umożliwiający leczenie wielu chorób, w tym m.in. niepłodności wiąże się bowiem z etycznymi dylematami w związku z korzystaniem z procedury in vitro, zamrażania zarodków czy wykonywaniem badań prenatalnych oraz preimplantacyjnych. Artykuł ma za zadanie w syntetyczny sposób przedstawić stanowisko Kościoła katolickiego, który jest uczestnikiem publicznej debaty na tematy bioetyczne, sięgając bezpośrednio do oficjalnych dokumentów kościelnych.

Ostvarivanje i zaštita slobode veroispovesti u Bugarskoj, Rumuniji i Grčkoj

This paper analyzes legal regulation of exercising and protection of the freedom of religion in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. These three countries have been selected, because in these countries there is the dominant influence of Orthodox religion and because they are members of the European Union at the same time. In this sense, they represent countries with similar legal traditions regarding the exercising and protection of the freedom of religion, as well as, to a certain extent, the legal position of churches and religious communities. It is precisely why in this area normative solutions and case-law in these countries are presented, while certain cases related to the protection of the freedom of religion are analyzed from the perspective of practice of the European court of human rights.

ИНКУЛЬТУРАЦИЯ ХРИСТИАНСТВА В КОНТЕКСТЕ МЕЖКУЛЬТУРНОГО И МЕЖРЕЛИГИОЗНОГО ДИАЛОГА РИМСКО-КАТОЛИЧЕСКОЙ ЦЕРКВИ

In the missionary work of the Roman Catholic Church among non-Christian peoples and cultures, the Church resorts to the use of strategies for the inculturation of Christianity, based on the establishment and development of intercultural and interreligious dialogues. Based on the analysis of the official documents of the Roman Catholic Church (declaration of the Second Vatican Council, social doctrine of the Catholic Church, encyclicals and apostolic exhortations of the pontiffs), the author attempts to reveal the problems of the inculturation of Christianity rising in the context of intercultural and interreligious dialogues and making impact on the missionary work of the Catholic Church. Thanks to the reforms and subsequent decisions of the Second Vatican Council, the aspects, goals, tasks, and instructions for the dialogue of Christianity with non-Christian religions were formulated and set out. In future, the topic of intercultural and interreligious dialogues was developed and expressed in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, as well as in the encyclicals and apostolic exhortations of the Roman Catholic pontiffs. According to the Roman Catholic Church position, interreligious and intercultural dialogues are aimed at mutual enrichment of various spiritual cultures, and their development should prepare the ground for further evangelization.

Book Review: Ethics as a Work of Charity: Thomas Aquinas and Pagan Virtue

Ethics as a Work of Charity: Thomas Aquinas and Pagan Virtue. By David Decosimo. Encountering Traditions. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2014. xiii + 354 pp. $65.00 (cloth).David Decosimo pitches his book on Thomas Aquinas and pagan virtue as a text which contributes, in its broadest sense, to the task of working through the following ethical question: how should the church position itself in regard to individuals outside of it? What language-and which categories-can the church use in order to describe the acts and lives of those who do not put their faith and trust in Christ, and who do not know themselves to be animated by the grace of the Triune God? In his introduction, Decosimo describes how Christian encounters with outsiders are often characterized by problematic and underdeveloped patterns of moral judgment. Christian convictions concerning the truth of the gospel, the seriousness of human sin, and the identity of Christ as the one Redeemer would seem to generate a very specific notion of what it means to live a good life. If Christianity teaches that a new person is born at the point of baptism, there must be a real and vital difference between the acts and orientation of a Christian life, and the acts and orientation of those without the faith. Surely, then, such non-Christians are to be judged as deficient in their habits and ways, as incapable of true goodness?It is at this juncture, and with these questions in mind, that Decosimo draws on the thought of Thomas Aquinas. In his view, Aquinas fruitfully welcomes pagan or non-Christian virtue, producing a coherent picture of how it is unified in its pursuit of political and natural human goods, how it does not necessarily or intrinsically deny God as the final end of all creation, and how its practice is therefore worthy of genuine respect. And Aquinas does this, Decosimo contends, without diluting his own commitment to the gospel, and without his understanding of human goodness simply disintegrating into Pelagianism. Indeed, Aquinas's welcome of pagan virtue includes the judgment that such virtue is indeed wholly other to the infused, grace-given virtue which animates Christian lives, and is directed through charity towards beatitude.Moreover-and this is just as important-Decosimo also reads Aquinas as practicing and teaching charity to outsiders through his very act of discussing and debating the problem of pagan virtue. In Aquinas's textual dealings with his authorities, including both Augustine and Aristotle (representing tradition and pagan outsider respectively), Decosimo detects a fine capacity to treat their arguments fully and generously, even where he disagrees. …

The Catholic Church and International Law

Since the 1960s, the Catholic Church has been immensely influential in shaping international law. It provides a compelling example of how nonstate actors, relying on principled positions rather than resources, can alter the course of global policy making. The Church's authority rests on three distinct features: (a) independence from the nation-state system; (b) a centralized transnational bureaucracy; and (c) its enduring ideology. In this review, we elaborate on the Church's role in promoting peace, serving the poor, and blocking the institutionalization of access to contraception and abortion. Church ideology finds strong secular counterparts in the cases of promoting peace and support for the poor. It is on shakier ground when it ventures into gender issues, which it has done with zeal in recent years. Its primary allies on gender issues have been other religious organizations and Islamic states, reinforcing the religious rather than human rights basis for Church positions. The Church's role as the moral authority in the secular United Nations system is therefore less clear when it speaks about gender and sexuality.

The English Canon Law Relating to Suicide Victims

Society has historically viewed suicide with hostility and fear. For centuries this hostility was reflected in the English civil law, which condemned suicide as homicide, and in the Church's position towards suicide victims, which historically considered suicide to be a mortal sin. Under the current canon law, set out in Canon B 38, it is the duty of the minister to bury all parishioners, those who die in the parish, or those entered on the electoral roll of the parish according to the rites of the Church of England, except for (among others) those who ‘being of sound mind have laid violent hands upon themselves’. This canon has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as society's attitudes towards suicide have become more tolerant. As a result, General Synod recently voted that this canon should be amended. This article explores the development of the law relating to suicide victims in order to understand the Church's current position. It then considers the shortcomings of the current canon law and reviews the position adopted by the Roman Catholic and Methodist churches. Finally, it examines the proposals for changing Canon B 38.

Patronesses of the Orthodox Church from the prince's families of the Ukrainian lands of the Jagiellonian state in the 1st half of the 16th century

The article contains the evolution of the right of patronage using for example women-patronesses from princely families and using them patronage in presenting church lands and giving church positions at the first half of the 16th century at the reign of the Jagiellonian dynasty. Important position for building the image of patroness in Early Modern time was acted in interaction masculine and feminine natures, which were continued traditional community around of some important Church problems in that time. Beside this research was described whole developing of womenʼs patronage though of prism of family relatoins. That's why at women patronage the most ponderable was influence death of relatives or marriages. Also in the article was displayed the development of relationships between different kinds of patrons and described the role of women on the uses of patronage for improvement of Orthodox Church.

From liberation to salvation: Revolutionary critical pedagogy meets liberation theology

This conversation between Peter McLaren and Petar Jandrić brings about some of the most recent and deepest of McLaren’s insights into the relationship between revolutionary critical pedagogy and liberation theology, and outlines the main directions of development of McLaren’s thought during and after Pedagogy of Insurrection. In the conversation, McLaren reveals his personal and theoretical path to liberation theology. He argues for the relevance of liberation theology for contemporary social struggles, links it with social sciences, and addresses some recent critiques of Pedagogy of Insurrection. McLaren identifies the idolatry of money as the central point of convergence between liberation theology and Marxism. Developing this thought further, he asserts that Jesus was a communist. McLaren analyses the revolutionary praxis of liberation theology in Latin America, and concludes that the struggle needs to avoid violence and endure without losing tenderness. He analyzes the international politics of liberation theology and shows that liberation theology was demonized by the US administration because it works for the poor. McLaren then expands experiences from Latin America towards a global ethics of solidarity, criticizes Church positions on various matters, and insists on a critical approach to Church dogmas. He explores theoretical and practical dissonances between Marxism and Christianity, and expands them towards a more general dichotomy between the material and the spiritual. He explores the Christian eschaton – the arrival of the Kingdom of God – and links it to Marx’s prophecy of the future socialist society. Finally, he explores ecumenical opportunities of liberation theology and firmly links it with the arrival of the socialist society.

Działania podejmowane przez władze diecezjalne w związku z dekretem Rady Państwa PRL z dnia 31 grudnia 1956 r. o organizowaniu i obsadzaniu stanowisk kościelnych, na przykładzie wybranych diecezji

Rada Państwa Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej wydała dekret z dnia 9 lutego 1953 r. o obsadzaniu duchownych stanowisk kościelnych. Na mocy tego aktu prawnego władze komunistyczne w Polsce kontrolowały działalność duchownych Kościoła katolickiego, dowolnie interpretując ich zachowania i bardzo często uznając je za sprzeczne z przepisami obowiązującego prawa. Biskupi polscy podkreślali, że organy państwowe, wykonując te normy, nagminnie postępowały w sposób bezprawny. Episkopat wielokrotnie postulował wprowadzenie zmian w przepisach, aby uniemożliwić tego rodzaju bezprawne działania. W końcu 1956 r. władze państwowe podjęły rozmowy na forum Komisji Wspólnej przedstawicieli Rządu PRL i Episkopatu Polski. W konsekwencji Rada Państwa wydała dekret z dnia 31 grudnia 1956 r. o organizowaniu i obsadzaniu stanowisk kościelnych.Nowy akt prawny był mniej restrykcyjny w stosunku do duchownych, ale mimo to władze komunistyczne ciągle wykorzystywały zawarte w nim normy do instrumentalnego kontrolowania działalności księży. Przede wszystkim dotyczyło to kandydatów mających objąć stanowiska proboszczów i administratorów parafii. Wraz z wejściem w życie nowych przepisów władze państwowe nadal używały ich do bezprawnego wpływania na organizowanie i obsadzanie stanowisk kościelnych. Posługiwano się szantażem wobec Episkopatu Polski, sugerując możliwość wprowadzenia w przyszłości bardziej restrykcyjnych przepisów, w przypadkach, gdy strona kościelna nie zechce pójść na daleko idące ustępstwa w tej kwestii. W pierwszej połowie 1957 r. do Konferencji Episkopatu Polski napływały informacje z poszczególnych diecezji o niezgodnych z prawem postępowaniach organów państwowych w zakresie organizowania i obsadzania stanowisk kościelnych. Władze państwowe nagminnie posługiwały się w procedurze niesprawdzonymi, a wręcz fałszywymi informacjami, formułując zastrzeżenia w stosunku do kandydatów na proboszczów i administratorów parafii. Działalność organów państwowych skupiała się na dążeniu do uniemożliwienia mianowania na stanowiska proboszczów i administratorów parafii osób, które władze uważały za nieprzychylne ustrojowi Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej.W latach sześćdziesiątych ubiegłego wieku władze cywilne podjęły próby blokowania nominacji proboszczów i administratorów parafii poprzez sprawdzanie, czy osoby te przedkładały administracji państwowej sprawozdania z nauki religii i prowadzenia księgi inwentarzowej. Od złożonych deklaracji podporządkowania się tym wymogom zainteresowanych osób uzależniano odstąpienie od wydania zastrzeżeń przed nominacjami na stanowiska kościelne. Taki stan prawny dotyczący organizacji i obsadzania stanowisk kościelnych trwał aż do zmiany ustroju w Polsce w 1989 r., chociaż w latach siedemdziesiątych i osiemdziesiątych władze państwowe postępowały w tym względzie mniej represyjnie.