Ecclesiastical Positions Research Articles

Vývoj vzťahu Andreja Cvinčeka k episkopátu vo svetle jeho politickej činnosti pred prvou svetovou vojnou, v medzivojnovom období a v rokoch 1945 – 1948

Andrej Cvinček was a politically active priest. His involvement in politics was also noticed by the episcopate, especially by his superiors, the bishops of Nitra, who were authorised to control and approve his political activity in the light of canon law and the doctrine of the Church. In the present paper we want to analyse both Cvinček’s relations with the bishops and the influence of the episcopate on his views and actions in politics. For the sake of comparison, we have chosen three periods of Cvinček’s life that had different parameters in his political and ecclesiastical position. Before 1918, Cvincek was a young enthusiast of popular politics, but also a poor chaplain interspersed among Slovak village parishes. In the interwar period he became a canon, but found himself in the minority in Slovak political Catholicism. After the Second World War, Cvinček experienced a remarkable return to politics, in which he achieved a much more important position than in previous periods, and so his political importance also increased in the eyes of Slovak bishops. The aim of this paper is thus to examine Cvinček’s political career in the light of the fact that he was a Catholic clergyman. The priestly component of Andrej Cvinček’s personality is as essential to our research as the political one. Against this background, we can also observe the development of the ideas that were promoted in the ecclesiastical milieu. Therefore, our study intends to be a contribution not only to the knowledge of Cvincek in the light of political changes, but also to place his personality in the context of ecclesiastical development.

Polonica in „Registrum Equitum Sancti Sepulchri” (1561-1848)

The Registrum Equitum Sancti Sepulchri is a valuable source for presenting the contacts of Poles with the Holy Land in the years 1561-1848. On the pages of this book, you can find information about approximately 1,590 people who took part in the fitting ceremony for knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Fifteen of them refer to the Polish Order of the Holy Sepulchre. To demonstrate their presence in the book, one should take into account the historical and geographical location of Poland at that time. Index equites can be inconsistent. Generally, information about the nominees includes: noble titles, public or ecclesiastical positions, family affiliation, origin. It happens, however, that data on knights has been reduced to a minimum. Before the liber began to be maintained, notes were made about the people knighted. It is estimated that, in the years 1348-1560, 817 knights were fitted. However, it is not known how many people more precisely enlisted under the banner of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre until 1560, because these notes were confiscated by the Turkish authorities. Although, on the basis of available sources, it is possible to reconstruct the list created during this period. Based on the registrum equitum, it is impossible to determine how many citizens of the Commonwealth received the title eques Sancti Sepulchri, because the Franciscan monks did not register every knighthood. This is evidenced by the examples contained in this article. It should be noted that the title eques hierosolymitanus was used not only by the knights of the Holy Sepulchre. This title was also claimed by other orders: the Knights of Malta, the Knights of Jerusalem from the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, or the Knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The author of the article did not make use of the entire transcription made by Father Michele Piccirillo, OFM in the book Registrum Equitum SSmi Sepulchri D.N.J.C. (1561-1848), but the photocopies of the originals included in this publication, because he noticed that the above edition does not meet editorial criteria, and contains many inaccuracies. However, the publisher should be thanked for publishing the said register together with photocopies of the manuscript.

Il caso delle prelature personali dei Genovesi nella Roma tardo-barocca

Abstract This essay publishes the preliminary findings of a study of the personal prelatures established in Rome between the seventeenth and eighteenth century by some cardinals belonging to the Genoese aristocracy. Of particular importance in this context are the Pallavicino and Spinola prelatures, respectively founded by cardinals Lazzaro Pallavicino (in 1679) and Gio. Battista Spinola ‚il giovane‘ (in 1707). These ecclesiastical positions were established by means of a bequest assigning a significant annual income (alongside the use of a prestigious residence, fully furnished and endowed with a library, in the case of the Spinola prelature) to the kinsman who in each generation showed most promise among those who had entered the clergy. Above all, Lazzaro and Gio. Battista desired the beneficiaries of the bequest to take up permanent residence at the Papal court, thereby establishing a firm connection between the family and the Curia. Personal prelatures thus appear to be a further part of the larger social, political, and cultural picture of the nationes in Rome. The Spinola prelature, in particular, responded to the more specific aim of establishing a Cardinal’s court as a site of diplomacy, with spaces suitable for socializing and political negotiation.

Islam in the defence of the Anglican Church: John Gregory (1607–1646)

Abstract This article examines the writings of John Gregory (d. 1646), who used the Qurʾān in resolving inter-denominational conflicts in the England of the 1640s. Living during the British Civil Wars, Gregory witnessed the assault on the Anglican Church by Presbyterians and Independents, on the one hand, and by Catholics, on the other. To defend the church of the via media in which he was ordained, Gregory took the unprecedented step of consulting the Qurʾān and the Arabic legacy, both Islamic and Christian, to find support for the theological and ecclesiastical positions of Anglicanism. He was an accomplished Arabist, and his unique treatment of the Qurʾān and of Islam influenced writers well into the eighteenth century, including Henry Stubbe (d. 1676) and Charles Hornby (d. 1739).

Examining support of South African Defence Force conscription by the mainstream Afrikaans sister churches (1968–1991)

From the 1950s to the 1990s, white men were conscripted to serve in the South African Defence Force (SADF). Although it varied in its application and duration, conscription was an undeniable, and often unavoidable, part of life for white South Africa. While it was not universally accepted, and certainly not universally popular, resistance was largely confined to English-speaking citizens. Objection was often seen as cowardly or treacherous. Conscription had an influence on the psyche of white South Africa and was viewed in a serious light by various religious denominations. Ecclesiastical positions varied and often changed over the course of time. In the main, Afrikaans churches were sympathetic towards conscription, while English churches were likely to oppose it. The latter position has been extensively documented, but the former remains neglected. This article analyses the role that mainstream Afrikaans sister churches played in supporting the National Party policies of conscription and ensuring their congregants’ compliance. It also presents a discussion on the relationship between those churches and the SADF, inter alia by referring to changes in conscription legislation and the reaction of the churches to those changes.

‘Modernism’ and the Ethiopian Orthodox Sunday School Movement: Indigenous Movements and their International Connections

This article traces the history of twentieth-century Ethiopian Orthodox student movements formed in response to modernity, especially the influential Maḫbärä Qəddusan, ‘Association of Saints’, established in 1991 when Ethiopia's Communist regime fell. It explores parallels in Egyptian and Indian miaphysite Churches; balances the prevailing narrative of explosive Pentecostal growth which has obscured the influence of such movements; provides insight into networks that have stimulated renewal and responses to contemporary challenges through strong engagement with traditional literary and intellectual heritage; and explores training and publications promoting contemporary reflection on this heritage, the revival of important religious practices and the targeting of influential ecclesiastical and public positions.

Reconstructing Ita at Schaffhausen

The Nellenburg family looms large in the historical memory of Schaffhausen. Count Eberhard (ca. 1015-1078/1079) and his wife Ita (d. ca. 1105) had transformed the small city with their patronage, most notably through the foundation of the monastery of Allerheiligen; their children held prominent military and ecclesiastical positions across the Lake Constance region. Together with their son Burkhard, his wife Hedwig, and a cousin known as Irmentrud, Eberhard and Ita were buried prominently in Allerheiligen; their collective funerary monument is one of the earliest and most ambitious of its type that is known from the twelfth century. The monument, however, has only survived in pieces: twentieth-century excavations uncovered two effigies for men and a small fragment of a head from a woman’s effigy, usually identified as Ita. The male figures, largely intact, have received ample scholarly attention from art historians, but the presence of women in the family grave has been overlooked thanks to the near-total loss of their monuments. A recent reconstruction sought to ameliorate this situation by adding a body to complete the fragmentary female head, using the contemporaneous Quedlinburg effigies as a model. The resulting modern monument is beautifully executed and visually gratifying, but like all facsimiles it complicates our view of the original. This article questions the relationship of the fragmentary head and its reception in relation to Ita, whose historical position has been privileged at the expense of her daughter-in-law Hedwig and cousin Irmentrud; it also highlights contextual differences that make the imperial canoness effigies of Quedlinburg a complicated model for reimagining the Schaffhausen women. The goal is not to dismiss the reconstruction but rather to probe the underlying assumptions that continue to impact how medieval bodies, and women’s bodies in particular, are projected into the modern world.

The life and work of Stefan Pankovych, the Bishop of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo

When Bishop Stefan Pankovych (1866–1874), who succeeded Vasyl Popovych (died in 1864) was inaugurated, he was almost unknown to the Rusin clergy of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo. The new bishop maintained good relations with members of the Hungarian political elite and actively supported the policy of the Hungarian government. This was manifested on several levels. He promoted to high ecclesiastical positions those who did not support Adolf Dobriansky, a Russophile considered the most significant Rusin leader. Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Rusin leaders had the opportunity to hold various offices, mainly with the trust of the Hungarian government and the Bishop of Mukachevo. In 1871, Bishop Stefan Pankovych and his followers removed Adolf Dobriansky and Ivan Rakovsky from the leadership in St. Basil the Great Society, which led to a gradual decline of the Russophile trend in the Rusin movement. The Great Russian camp supporters also confronted Stefan Pankovych because of the attempt to introduce the Gregorian calendar and the Latin alphabet in the Mukachevo Diocese. Even more moderate clergy were divided on such issues, because these concepts were important for Rusin identity. However, Stefan Pankovich’s unexpected death on August 29, 1874, temporarily froze debates in the Rusin movement.

Vox temporis vox dei: Catholic ecclesiastical art in Hungary between the two world wars examined via the Church’s provisions and press releases

Over the last decades intensified efforts have been made to research the 20 th century Central and Eastern European, in particular Hungarian sacred architecture. In this era sacred constructions appeared to be a significant identity shaping power for the churches. The interwar period can be clearly distinguished in connection with the trinity of the spread of modern architectural principles, symbolism, and the liturgical and structural issues. With a joint study of these aspects it can be clearly seen that in architecture the international expansion of Modernism, the liturgical movement and the strengthening of the community's aspirations have allowed continuous experimentation, leading to the creation of new church-building principles. This research aims to address these changes not only from the direction of architecture, but by dealing with the new churches built in the era as sources, complementing them with the architecture related parts of the papal and bishop's provisions and of synods’ decisions, as well as with the discussions taking place in the Catholic and architectural press. The paper wants to find out how the official ecclesiastical position was changing from the decisions rejecting the principles and practice of Modern architecture to making provisions that promoted Modern art. The paper examines the delicate balance-policy of the Hungarian Roman Catholic Church in the interwar period, focusing on the issues of modern versus neo-styles and the liturgical renewal.

Roman Coins, Money, and Society in Elizabethan England. Sir Thomas Smith’s ‘On the Wages of the Roman Footsoldier’

Sir Thomas Smith (1513–1577) is not a household name, but in his own time he was recognized as one of Elizabethan England’s leading intellects. After a meteoric career at Cambridge, beginning as an undergraduate and progressing as a fellow of Queens’ and would-be reformer of Greek pronunciation, he was appointed vice-chancellor of his Alma Mater in 1543. This was followed by appointments as Clerk to the Privy Council, Master of Requests, Provost of Eton College, Dean of Carlisle, and a variety of other civil and ecclesiastical positions, but it was his role as a distinguished humanist that set him apart from his colleagues. Smith’s diverse œuvre includes linguistic and political tracts, his Discourse of the Commonweal (an important treatise on economics couched as a humanist dialogue), De republica Anglorum (a widely reprinted analysis of English civil and legal institutions), a proposal to colonize the Ards in northern Ireland, and, of course, On the Wages of the Roman Footsoldier, the first major numismatic treatise to be written in England. It is this last work which forms both the text and the subject of commentary for the volume under review.

Nahashon Ngare Rukenya and the Moral Re-Armament in Kenya: The Turning Point and the Post Mau-Mau War Reconstruction (1959–1970)

Nahashon Ngare Rukenya (1930–1996) was initially a Mau-Mau leader during Kenya’s war of independence (1952–60). Mau-Mau rebels were a militant group that waged guerrilla warfare against British colonialism in Kenya; and was largely seen as anti-Christian, anti-Anglican and anti-Presbyterian. As political advisor to the Mau-Mau, especially in their military offensives, Ngare Rukenya was once waylaid by the colonial forces, captured and detained. His turning point as Mau-Mau leader came when a Christian sect called the Moral Re-Armament (MRA)—founded by an American missionary Dr Frank Buchman in 1938—visited various detention camps to deliver counselling and teaching services. In particular, the MRA taught about the equality of all humans as children of God. They preached peace and reconciliation amongst all people living in colonial Kenya, while using biblical references to support their theological and ecclesiastical positions. After listening to their argumentation—while at Athi River detention camp—Ngare Rukenya’s politics of “land and Freedom” (wiyathi na ithaka—the core theme in Mau-Mau politics), changed to peace, reconciliation and resettlement of post-war Kenya. It re-energised his lay Anglican Church leadership, a church seen as pro-colonialism; hence hated by the local populace. This article sets out to unveil the problem in reference to Ngare Rukenya: How did the MRA influence socio-political discourses and eventually play its role in post Mau-Mau war reconstruction in Kenya (1959–1970)? The article is set on the premise that without Ngare Rukenya’s contribution regarding peace, reconciliation and resettlement, Central Kenya (as epicentre of Mau-Mau rebel activities) would have experienced civil war after colonialism in 1963. Ngare Rukenya and the MRA represent a major turning point in the Kenyan ecclesiastical history. The materials in this presentation are largely gathered through oral interviews, archival researches and limited consultation of published works.

St. John Chrysostom and the Responsibility of a free Conscience

St. John Chrysostom was a free man, free from prejudices, convinced that there must be a perfect balance between word and deed, and because he was a righteous man, he had a clear conscience, in which there was no place for lies, duplicity, imposture, cowardice, or contempt. He believed that the power of personal example could change people for better or worse. That is why he asked everyone who held high positions in society and the church to behave responsibly because the evolution or involution of society largely depended on them. For these reasons, he never changed his principles of life, not even when he reached the highest ecclesiastical position in the Eastern Church, Archbishop and Patriarch of Constantinople. This is a remarkable fact, knowing that the higher the role, the greater the responsibilities and the temptation to compromise oneself.

Confessional interaction and seeking to find confessional identity in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the end of the 16th to the first part of the 17th century: accents in the Vita Josephi Velamini Rutski (1640) by Raphael Korsak

This article focuses on the biography of the metropolitan of the Ruthenian Uniats Joseph Velamin Rutski, written in Latin by his successor Raphael Korsak. This interesting biographical work remained unfinished and unpublished till 20th century. Not only detailed analysis of this work is presented in the article, the biography is also taken as the source and the basis for some broader conclusions in the field of formation of the religious identity in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, mainly in the first part of the 17th century. Such approach is allowed by several circumstances related with this work – close personal relation between the described person and the author, the similarity of their biographies. The high education and ecclesiastical position of the author allowed to make many important remarks about the described times. The accuracy representing details and attention to the life of the spirit of the described person (which were elements taken from the tradition of Jesuit biography) preserved very much authentic material from the early history of the Uniat Church and vividly reveal difficulties in the life of the citizen of GDL in the way toward Uniat Church and Eastern-Rite Catholicism as one’s own religious identity. On the basis of this work and also of some other biographical and historical writings related with Uniat Church we can distinguish some events as common sites of memory, which became significant signs for this identity (an attempt on the life of the metropolitan of uniats in Vilnius, the martyrdom of archbishop of Pollock Jozafat Kuncewicz and the conversion of Meletius Smotrycki, which took place afterwards).

Columbanus in Europe: the evidence from theEpistulae

The continental career of Columbanus has long attracted the attention of scholars because of his achievement as a writer, monastic founder and reformer, and political actor. His Epistulae are one of the most important pieces of evidence in understanding his attitudes and purposes during his twenty-year sojourn on the Continent, and they emphasize the importance of his ecclesiastical and secular relationships. However, the Epistulae have seldom been analysed independently and together, as their study has often been focused on single letters or specific aspects of the collection. This paper looks at the Epistulae in a more general way, to point out what they tell us about Columbanus's theological and ecclesiastical positions, and the connections he established on the Continent.

Das letras às virtudes: os jesuítas e a conformação do bom governo no México (séculos XVI-XVII)

Duas características, entre outras, marcaram as missões jesuíticas na Nova Espanha e, sobretudo, no México entre os séculos XVI e XVII. A primeira dizia respeito à dedicação dos inacianos às tarefas educativas na capital e, por conseguinte, a sua relação com os grupos letrados que se formaram durante o período colonial. A segunda se referia à influência e participação dos padres na formação da sociedade nos assuntos ligados ao governo do vice-reino. Para além da interpretação segundo a qual os jesuítas teriam formado a elite política “criolla”, que ocuparia os principais cargos administrativos e eclesiásticos, este artigo pretende estabelecer uma relação entre o ensino ministrado pela Companhia de Jesus no México, e notadamente as matérias constantes das “clases inferiores”, e a conformação de uma noção de “bom governo”. Para tanto, perseguimos nos documentos institucionais da Ordem e no conjunto epistolar relativo à Província Mexicana os laços que interligavam a formação literária dispensada aos jovens “mexicanos” ao cultivo das virtudes – consideradas as peças centrais do bom governo.

“We Never Could Understand Why the Black Man Did Not Come to Us”:

“We Never Could Understand Why the Black Man Did Not Come to Us”:

“We Never Could Understand Why the Black Man Did Not Come to Us”:

“We Never Could Understand Why the Black Man Did Not Come to Us”:

The Centralization Process of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. An Ecclesiastical History of Ethiopia during the 20th Century

This paper attempts to explain the policy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and its goal of achieving a centralized ecclesiastical authority during the 20th century. The joint initiatives of the political powers, both monarchical and revolutionary, and the holders of high-ranking ecclesiastical positions made possible the establishment of an ecclesiastical decision-making body, centralizing all the decision-making processes in the Ethiopian Church administration. Through the establishment of a long list of reforms enacted during the 20th century, while upsetting the old traditions of this particular Church, the Ethiopian bishopric was able to assume, step by step, an unprecedented ecclesiastical hegemony over the ecclesiastical establishment. Beyond serving the purpose of revealing previously unknown facts through the analysis of archival documents, this paper contributes to our knowledge about the recent evolution of one of the most influential institutions in Ethiopia.

Rethinking 'Religious' Cognition: The Eliadean Notion of the Sacred in the light of the Legacy of Uno Harva

The article discusses methodological similarities and differences between Uno Harva and Mircea Eliade, with the objective of reassessing the value of their comparativist programs for the study of religion in general and of 'religious' cognition in particular. The Finnish scholar Uno Holmberg-Harva (1882-1949) was a predecessor to Eliade as a scholar of Asian and European religious history. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, when the academic study of religion was still maturing in Europe, Harva expanded considerably the field of the ethnological study of religion with his religio-phenomenological monographs Der Baum des Lebens (1922), Finno-Ugric, Siberian Mythology (1927) and Die Religiösen Vorstellungen der Altaischen Völker (1938). Harva was a towering figure in Finnish scholarship. Originally a Protestant theologian and Lutheran minister, he resigned from his ecclesiastical position to become a historian of religion, field ethnographer, ethnosociologist and folklorist under the tutelage of Edward Westermarck and Kaarle Krohn. Harva's influence on the work of Eliade has been almost entirely ignorant by historiographers of Religious Studies.

Review: Machaut and Reims: Anne Walters Robertson, Guillaume de Machaut and Reims: context and meaning in his musical works

his Messe de Nostre Dame. Yet in the Prologue to his complete works, written towards the end of his career and containing a proud survey of all the genres to which he contributed, he did not mention his masterpiece even in passing. This enigma remains unsolved in Anne Waiters Robertson's challenging book, which focuses on Machaut's ecclesiastical position at Reims cathedral as a key to the interpretation of his artistic concepts. The works under discussion are mainly those based upon liturgical tenors: the motets, the David Hocket and the Mass. For all these pieces the author proposes fresh and sometimes surprising perspectives. The discussion is divided into three parts: the history of Reims and motets connected directly with the cathedral and its liturgy and ceremonies; motets on themes of courtly love; and, again linked to the history of Reims and Machaut's biography, 'Music of war, kingship and final things' (i.e. the late motets, the David Hocket and the Mass). The first part offers a wealth of documentary evidence about the city of Reims and the cathedral; the history of the building; the iconography of its sculptures and stained glass; its rituals; and, last but not least, its books. We get a clear picture of all the facets of Machaut's daily life as a canon. The discussion of the music begins with two motets that are linked to the churches where Machaut held