Ecclesiastical Authorities Research Articles

Transnational, National, and Ecumenical Convergences: The Baptist, Anglican, and Orthodox Reactions to the Romanian 1938 Religion Law

The Romanian Ministry of Religious Denominations passed Decision nr. 26208 in 1938, severely curtailing the activity of a number of religious associations. The most numerous of these were the Baptists. They maintained close ties with ethnic minority co-religionists within Romania and collaborated with religious organizations abroad, especially the Baptist World Alliance (bwa). The latter resulted in conflict with Romanian government and ecclesiastical authorities. The actions of the bwa in opposition to the Decision reveal the extent to which transnational organizations influenced the development of policies concerning religion during the crucial years leading into World War ii. Using previously unused archival material, the article draws out the role of domestic religious minorities in the struggle between the Church, the State, minority groups, and foreign powers and provides a fascinating convergence of national, transnational, and ecumenical attempts at changing the religious space in Europe.

Stages in Canonical Provision of the Office of Pastor under the Current Polish Synodal Legislation

According to Polish synodal legislation, similarly to the Code of Canon Law, the provision of the office of pastor consists of three stages: 1) designation of a person, 2) conferral of the title, and 3) taking possession of the office.
 In accordance with both universal and particular law, the provision may be free or dependent. The diocesan bishop confers the office freely (cc. 523–525). In the case of a dependent provision, however, another competent ecclesiastical authority nominates a candidate, and the diocesan bishop only confers the title to the office (c. 525; 682, §1).
 According to legislators of particular law, the conferral of a legal title to an office should take place by a nomination decree. The decree should meet the requirements of a singular administrative act (cc. 48–57).
 The placement in the possession of a parish by the local ordinary or his delegate and the assumption of the office by a pastor is the final stage of the provision. Under particular law, two aspects of this act are distinguished: the legal aspect (the drawing up and signing of a handover protocol by the pastor and other competent bodies), and the liturgical one (solemn entry of a new pastor into the parish church according to the ritual of a specific particular Church).
 Legislators of particular law also places the presbyter who has been promoted to the office of pastor under an obligation to make a profession of faith (c. 833, 6°) and take the oath of fidelity, according to the formulas approved by the Holy See.

Public Penance of Heretics: its Forms and Functions

The Polish version of the article was published in “Roczniki Humanistyczne,” vol. 59 (2011), issue 2.
 The article discusses the origins of public penance for heresy in the early Christian tradition as well as examining its application in the penitential practice of the medieval Church. It demonstrates how public penance for mortal sins, which took shape in Late Antiquity, was later adopted and developed within the system of Medieval Inquisition. In the medieval collections of canon law, heresy was qualified as a religious crime which required special public penance. Following the guidelines set up in the ancient Church, any heretic who declared his or her intention to renounce their wrongs was to be interrogated by a bishop, who would grant them absolution of sins and prescribed due penance. An important aspect of penance for heresy was public solemn penitence, which took place on Sundays and feast days and included a number of rituals. The penitent heretic had to appear in a special garment with his or her hair cut off and barefoot. The ritual of solemn public penitence for mortal sins was formed in Late Antiquity and as such was later incorporated into medieval pontificals.
 The rise of Medieval Inquisition, which was used as an efficient weapon against popular heresy, stimulated the development of penitential discipline for heretics. Papal Inquisitors, who came to be appointed as extraordinary judges in heresy trials since the 1230s, were particularly inventive in the way how public penance might be employed to fight heretics. Medieval registers of heresy trials, carried out by Papal Inquisitors and bishops, are still the main source of information about penalties imposed on heretics who were sentenced for their errors. The public announcement of a sentence and penalty was the final act of the inquisitorial procedure. The charter of penalties (littera penitentialis), which was first read publicly and later handed over to the penitent heretic, listed various forms of penitence which he had to fulfil. In the inquisitorial strategy of penance, which started to be used in the first half of the thirteenth century, a solemn public penitence of heretics became commonplace. The inquisitorial registers and manuals for inquisitors described in detail the ritual of public penance and its functions. The penance imposed on heretics offered them a chance to repent publicly for their public crimes and to give satisfaction to society which had been disturbed by their deeds. That is why solemn public penance usually took place in a cathedral or central market square on feast days to be attended and witnessed by the local community. Through his special appearance and penitential garment with two cross signs, the heretic was highly visible and could not be anonymous. The whole society was responsible for supervising the penance of heretics and controlling their religious and moral conduct. Any act of religious transgression or misconduct was to be reported to the ecclesiastical authorities. Of course, public penitence was aimed at teaching a lesson to all the faithful and preventing them from falling into heresy.

Γράμμα του οικουμενικού πατριάρχη Ιωακείμ Α΄ (1498, Αύγ.) για τα πατριαρχικά σταυροπήγια στη Θεσσαλία . Επίμετρο: Και πάλι για την ανασύσταση της Επισκοπής Γαρδικίου

Letter of the Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim I (1498, Aug.) Concerning The Patriarchal Stauropegia in Thessaly. (with an appendix on the Bishopric of Gardikion) In this article an unknown letter of Patriarch Joachim I, concerning the patriarchal stauropegia in Thessaly, is published and commented. The letter is addressed to the ecclesiastical authorities of the Bishopric of Stagoi and the Metropolis of Larissa.It deals with issues related to the patriarchal stauropegia of Thessaly, the payment to the Patriarchate of the so called charatzion, as well as their relations with the Metropolitan of Larissa. The afore-mentioned document is of particular importance as it identifies the time when Dionysios I was metropolitan of Larissa and mentions by name seven patriarchal stauropegia in Thessaly.

Liturgical Commemorations, Political Dissent and Religious Schism in the Russian Orthodox Church during the 1920s and 1930s

Abstract In the early Soviet period, the long Christian tradition of praying for secular and ecclesiastical rulers played an important role in Orthodox debates over legitimate authority, especially after the death of Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin, 1865–1925) in March 1925. When Metropolitan Sergii (Stragorodskii, 1867–1944), the acting leader of the patriarchal church, ordered the liturgical commemoration of the atheistic Soviet government as the secular authority and himself as the ecclesiastical authority in October 1927, he immediately provoked strong resistance from a group of hierarchs, clergy and laypersons in Leningrad. Because this opposition was expressed publicly at worship services, the Bolsheviks considered it a form of anti-Soviet agitation. For Orthodox believers, however, commemoration represented an ecclesiastical rather than a secular question. Sergii himself resisted Soviet pressure to stop commemorating his own superior, the imprisoned Metropolitan Petr (Polianskii, 1862–1937). Despite the bitter divisions among the followers of Patriarch Tikhon in the decade that followed his death, both Sergii and his opponents both prayed for Petr – a fragile thread that united the church’s contending factions.

Hacia el final de la Inquisición en España: el cierre del Tribunal de Logroño en 1820

On April 19, 1820 the Tribunal of the Inquisition of Logrono was definitively abolished, active since 1570. It happened just one month after the new proclamation of the Constitution of Cadiz, and in an environment of liberal euphoria. It was closed as a result of the decree of abolition of the Inquisition of March 9 with the realization of an inventory of causes, documents and books that lasted eight days, by the civil, judicial and ecclesiastical authorities, which were deposited in an ark of three keys. Fecha de envio / Submission date: 12/06/2019Fecha de aceptacion / Acceptance date: 15/07/2019

O poder sacralizado dos clérigos de Castela (século XIII e início do século XIV)

A partir da primeira metade do século XIII, começaram a surgir obras escritas em castelhano destinadas a regular a celebração dos sacramentos da Igreja e das funções atribuídas ao clero diocesano da Coroa de Castela. Serializando livros em verso, constituições de sínodos e outros materiais voltados à formação basilar do clero que foram elaborados entre o século XIII e o XIV, o presente estudo visa examinar a promoção do poder da consagração da Eucaristia e o papel instrutivo da celebração da missa nesse momento de revigoramento da ação pastoral dos bispos ibéricos e de ampliação dos atributos das igrejas paroquianas. Em outras palavras, o alvo deste trabalho consiste em analisar as medidas adotadas por grandes autoridades eclesiásticas para a sacralização das falas e dos gestos articulados pelos clérigos ordenados nesse período.

Vetus Ordo Missae: Italian Catholic priests facing the revival of Latin and traditional liturgy

ABSTRACT The liturgical reform promoted by the Second Vatican Council led to a renewed way of celebrating the Mass entailing new ritual features and the drastic reduction of the use of Latin in favor of vernacular languages. Liturgical changes are still in act and present several problematic aspects fueling debates among Catholics. A significant category of interlocutors in these debates is constituted by the ordinary priests, who have both to apply the directives established by the Holy See and to engage with local communities. While the positions endorsed by ecclesiastic authorities are well known, scarce attention has been devoted to the priests’ opinions and experience. This paper presents therefore the results of an ethnographic study investigating how Italian priests interpret the liturgical use of Latin in the contemporary socio-cultural context, what meanings and values they attribute to the ancient ritual, especially in comparison with the new one, and how they deal with the issue of the translation of sacred and liturgical texts.

Theology, Plain and Simple: Biblical Hermeneutics, Language Philosophy, and Trinitarianism in the Seventeenth Century

ABSTRACTThis essay demonstrates how the hermeneutic debates of the sixteenth century continued to thrive well into the seventeenth. In particular, it considers how biblical hermeneutics made their way into perfect or universal language schemes. In a number of texts (from the pamphlets of an eccentric religious radical to the measured treatises of ecclesiastical authorities), authors pushed the early reformers’ interest in plain and simple language into schemes which purported to create a direct relationship of signifier and signified. While perfect/universal language schemes have been studied extensively by historians, the degree to which these texts are situated within long-running exegetical debates of the Reformation has largely been overlooked. Moreover, such language schemes were interlinked with theology – particularly trinitarian theology, as is exemplified in the writings of John Biddle (c. 1615–62). Studying the interconnection of perfect language and trinitarian theology reveals the imbrication of semiotics, epistemology, and theology in seventeenth-century England.

Iulian Ghercă, Pr. Anton Gabor şi rolul său în înfiinţarea Institutului Presa Bună / Father Anton Gabor and his role in establishing the Good Press Institute

The development of a Catholic press in Romania was a constant wish of the Catholic Church. However, the realization of this project did not lead to unitary actions coordinated by the local, national ecclesiastical authority. It rather resulted in the personal actions of some members of the clergy who were later approved and supported by the Church. The establishment of the Presa Bună (The Good Press) Institute in Iaşi represents such a project that centered on Anton Gabor, one of the promoters of the establishment of a Catholic press in Romania. The issue of the establishment of a Catholic press in the diocese of Iasi, which covers the entire area of Moldova, was first discussed at the beginning of the 20th century (more precisely, in 1908), when priest Iosif Malinowski tried to publish a Catholic journal he intended to name “The Catholic Sheet”. In 1913 Monsignor Anton Gabor began publishing the magazine “Light of the Christian”, a pilot project and a more personal undertaking. However, he managed to maintain and develop this publication. Still, Anton Gabor (one of the most important supporters of the Catholic press in Romania) wanted more than simply editing a magazine.

The Refracted Muse: Literature and Optics in Early Modern Spain

The Refracted Muse: Literature and Optics in Early Modern Spain

Ecclesiastical Prisons and Royal Authority in the Reign of Henry VII

After his appointment as chief justice of King's Bench in 1495, John Fyneux pressured the ecclesiastical hierarchy through indictments for escapes which explored which officials had responsibility for the prisons and how they were managed, and thereby successfully asserted the royal right of oversight. By the end of Henry VII's reign his bishops, faced with ruinous fines like other lords, had largely accepted their role as gaolers under royal authority, and thus contributed to the bureaucratisation of the hierarchy which Henry VIII would exploit to such good effect.

The Morisco question: Methodology and historiography

AbstractThe first half of this essay offers an introduction to the history of the Moriscos, from their forced conversion from Islam to Christianity in the early 16th century to their expulsion from the Crowns of Castile and Aragon in the early 17th century. The Morisco period begins a decade after the fall of Nasrid Granada in 1492, which brought the centuries‐long history of al‐Andalus to a close, but which did not, however, mark the definitive end to Iberian Islam. Although some Moriscos came to embrace Christianity, a significant portion of the Morisco community found ways privately to maintain aspects of their Muslim identity even while publicly participating in the life of the Church. This was a state of affairs that aroused the interest of the Spanish Inquisition, as well as a host of other civil and ecclesiastical authorities. The second half of this essay focuses on recent scholarship that draws connections between this community of peninsular New Christians and broader debates in both the early and late modern periods about interreligious relations, religion and governance, and the mass movement of peoples across political borders.

El estatuto de limpieza de sangre y sus repercusiones en Vitoria en tiempos de Felipe II

A partir de 1572, Vitoria vivió a su manera la que en toda Castilla constituyó la etapa culminante del proceso de encastamiento social, de culto a la limpieza de sangre. Su situación geográfica y su aduana, la abrían al mundo europeo, haciéndola vulnerable a las ideas, entre ellas a las de la desafección religiosa. Las autoridades eclesiásticas y civiles se vieron involucradas al unísono en un cierto estado de prevención. La defensa del estatuto de limpieza de sangre se extendió por la ciudad, pretendiéndose como obligatorio tanto para los cargos religiosos como los municipales, coincidiendo además con un notable esfuerzo en la preparación de un clero autóctono y con una importante actividad fundacional, imbuida de un fuerte espíritu tridentino que, no obstante, dejó fuera a la Compañía de Jesús. El rechazo a los jesuitas debe entenderse en el contexto de la autarquía religiosa y el discurso del poder local entonces en desarrollo. En cierto modo, sus prédicas ponían en peligro las bases que pretendían justificar la existencia de la elite político-social en auge, que buscaba en el estatuto no sólo un aval de limpieza sino también de nobleza. Por ello, todo lo acontecido en la pequeña ciudad de Vitoria en los años finales del siglo XVI en materia religiosa no ha de medirse sólo en términos de fe sino, ante todo, en términos de poder.

A History of Anglican Exorcism: Deliverance and Demonology in Church Ritual

A History of Anglican Exorcism: Deliverance and Demonology in Church Ritual

Between Hobbes and Locke

This article presents a new understanding of how the context of Restoration debates around toleration, magisterial authority and political obligation impinged upon Locke’s mature thought. It proposes that prominent Anglican clergymen, by utilising Hobbist ideas in their arguments for religious conformity, transformed the debate around toleration. In particular, Samuel Parker’s Discourse of Ecclesiastical Politie’s potent mix of Hobbism, theological moralism and Scholastic natural law led to important nonconformists, such as Owen and Ferguson, reshaping their arguments in response. They were forced to make an argument upon first principles as to precisely why Parker’s naturalistic account of ecclesiastical authority was inadequate to justify their own particular view of religious institutions. Crucially, the specific features of Parker’s argument, led to John Humfrey, a largely overlooked figure, developing a set of ideas that preconfigured Locke’s later thought. This article then highlights Locke’s creative engagement with the ideas of his time, by charting the changes to Locke’s ecclesiology and view of natural law from 1667-1674, alongside the similar conceptual shifts made by Humfrey.

Cursing Back to Life? From Psalms to Imprecatory Prayers: An Intercultural Reading

Abstract Imprecatory prayer is becoming a common phenomenon in Ghana. This plea seeks the complete annihilation of human enemies believed to be the cause of the woes the petitioners face. However, ecclesiastic authorities and academic world find it difficult to dialogue with the practice and reject imprecatory prayers as ‘unchristian.’ Interestingly enough, the same attitude is manifested towards portions of the Bible which contain ‘imprecatory prayers’: The Psalter. As a consequence, while the Historic Mission Churches forbid imprecatory prayers, their members flock to the Charismatic and Prophetic Churches. Against this background, the article analyses Ps 58, one of the ‘imprecatory psalms’ excluded by the official prayers of Historic Mission Churches, to understand its call to action and the perlocutory effect on the reader. The article concludes that the ‘imprecatory prayers’ can be a powerful educational tool to see the world with the eyes of the victims: it offers them a model of prayer of “cursing back to life;” a painful way to reconciliation and to rediscovering justice.

Szülők jogai és kötelességei az iskolalátogatással kapcsolatban a 20. század elején

The parents’ rights and obligations can be interpreted in two approaches according to the participation of children in public education. On the one hand, it is necessary to examine, that parents have the right to choose the appropriate educational institution for their child, on the other hand they have the obligation to ensure the compulsary schooling or education for their child. In the following I show these two eras regarding the beginning of the 20th century. My research is based on the Act XXXVIII of 1868 on public education, Act XXX of 1921 on ensuring the fullfilment of the schooling obligation, and the documents of the National Archives of Hungary Baranya County Archives. The choice of school could have been influenced by several factors, such as religious affiliation, residence, financial situation. The parents’ right to choose a school was wide, so they could find the appropriate intstitutional or private school for their children. There wre problematic situations in those cases, when the parents did not want to use the existing confessional school, but the municipalty did not have the opportunity to establish public school and the parents also did not have the opportunity to educate their child at home. Formerly there were only confessional schools in Hungary, but in the middle of the 19th century it became evident that the churches can not maintain schools alone, so the role of the state is necessary. Based on the Act XXXVIII of 1868 on public education „Public education institutes can be established and maintained by confessions, associations and individuals, communities and the state.” After choosing a school parents were obligated to ensure the school attendance of their child. The Act XXXVIII of 1868 on public education declared the general obligation of education or compulsary schooling. Children had to attend in everyday elementary school for 6 years and then in repeating school for 3 more years. The broad determination of the maintainers of the school supported the idea to extend the obligation of education. This meant that there was a need for more schools, regardless of the maintainers (confession, municipalty, state, etc.) in order to ensure education for most of the children. The public and ecclesiastical authorities were obliged to take action in order to ensure compulsory schooling, and there were gradually sanctions against parents. However, it did not always go smoothly, and it was not necessarily the fault of the parents or the children, but for example epidemics, world war. There were some misunderstanding regarding the attendance on religious education.

The Reformation as a call to discussion

«Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Философия и конфликтология» — научно-теоретический рецензируемый журнал, обобщающий результаты исследований ученых всего мира в области традиционных философских дисциплин — онтологии, теории познания, логики, этики, социальной философии, эстетики, истории философии, философии культуры и философии религии, а также актуальные разработки в конфликтологии, философии политики и права.

Las fuentes judiciales para el estudio de los cabildos indianos

Within the secular organization of the city governments in Colonial Spanish America, we see that the first authorities to judge a trial varied according to the decision of the town hall. They could include the mayor, members of the Hermandad, or of the Mesta. Through an examination of documents actually produced during these court proceedings, we see how the procedures and members of local judicial councils are influenced by previous Spanish models. This paper offers definitive conclusions about these judicial structures and procedures due to the breadth of the documentation examined, which not only includes local records, but also documents produced by the interaction between the city governments and the other judicial and political institutions of the Spanish Empire, including viceroys, officials from the Council of the Indies, governors, mayors, corregidores, ecclesiastical authorities, and landed gentry. Indeed, an analysis of the interface between all levels of government is imperative for a profound understanding of the local justice system in Colonial Latin America.