Life Of Church Research Articles

Metropolitan Sergius and the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate” in 1931–1935

After the end of the civil war, the Moscow Patriarchate could only publish annual calendars, which were published until 1925. This was the only and very limited opportunity for the highest church authorities to publish some of their decrees and orders. Therefore, Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod Sergius (Stragorodsky), who assumed the duties of Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens on December 14, 1925, regarded the publication of the official periodical of the Patriarchate as one of the top priorities in organizing church life. One of Metropolitan Sergei’s main achievements during this time was obtaining permission from the authorities to publish the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate”, which was published from 1931 to 1935. It was small in volume — from 8 to 14 pages including calendar materials and was published in a small edition — only three thousand copies. In reality, the journal was published once every 2–4 months. Metropolitan Sergius himself acted as the publisher. A large part of the materials published in the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate” in the 1930s are related to the activities of the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens and the Temporary Patriarchal Holy Synod under his guidance. An important place in the journal was rightfully occupied by the sermons, letters, and resolutions of Metropolitan Sergius on various issues of church life. The materials published in the journal allow us to identify and study the main directions of the activitie and mechanisms of functioning of the highest church authority in the late 1920s to the first half of the 1930s. The analysis of these materials convincingly shows that, firstly, Metropolitan Sergei, who presented important issues of church life for consideration by the Supreme Church Administration, led the work of the Temporary Patriarchal Synod. Secondly, despite all the pressures, church life continued. The Patriarchate, represented by the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius and members of the Temporary Patriarchal Holy Synod, remained the only legalized body of church administration, doing everything possible in those incredibly difficult conditions to maintain some order and discipline in the Church on canonical grounds and prevent it from falling apart.

The religious landscape amidst warfare in Ukraine: assessing the situation

The purpose of the academic paper is to provide a general description of the milestone events in the religious and church life of Ukraine in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, with an emphasis on tendencies after the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. Given that the war is ongoing, we focused on issues related to the receipt of the Tomos by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the religious component of the “Russkiy mir” policy. Sociological indicators from monitoring the religious situation in Ukraine after the full-scale invasion demonstrate the following trends: war, especially a full-scale invasion, has impacted all spheres of life but religion continues to remain a significant factor in socio-humanitarian life; religious diversity is maintained with the predominance of Orthodox communities; regional differences on the religious map of Ukraine persist; after the full-scale invasion, there has been a slight increase in the number of people identifying as religious, and the number of citizens seeking communication with clergy has increased, primarily for psycho-emotional relief and support. The importance of religion and the Church in humanitarian missions, balancing society’s spiritual condition, and helping people in need of material and other support, such as volunteer labor or a refugee shelter, is becoming increasingly clear. The war has significantly forced many believers and spiritual leaders of denominations to reconsider their attitude to the war and civic engagement in the war. These tendencies are especially noticeable in the Protestant environment. In the territories occupied by Russia, believers of different communities and denominations continue to be harassed, religious freedom is violated, and a deliberate policy of incorporating religious space into the mainstream of Russian religious and church policy within the framework of the ideology of the “Russkiy mir” and the Russian Orthodox Church is being pursued.

Contributions of the Synodal Process to the Religious Life of Adult Believers in Christian Communities

Synodality, as a determinant of the mentality and style of pastoral activity, has proven to be one of the key themes of Church life in the last few years. The synodal dimension of the Church is seen as the fundamental backbone of all the other important components of pastoral engagement. Religious life and practice of adult believers, on the other hand, remains one of the most challenging pastoral tasks. This claim is so current that concerning many church environments one can legitimately ask whether a mature and developed practice of faith exists at all. The synodal process that is ongoing in the Catholic Church, especially until the fall of 2024, helps to improve so many pastoral activities and most of them concern the practice of faith of adult believers. This paper is dedicated to the theological–pastoral study of the main components of the improvement of this practice in light of the contributions of the synodal process.

«Власть ключей» и исповедь: пастырская власть в «Шести чтениях о Таинстве Покаяния в его истории» прот. Валентина Свенцицкого

This article focuses on the concept of pastoral power as presented by Fr Valentine Sventzitsky in his text “Six Readings on the Sacrament of Penance in its History”, which is significant for contemporary Russian Orthodoxy. Opposing the practice of general confession in the 1920s, he contrasts it with private confession, basing his arguments on pre-revolutionary studies of penitential practices and priesthood. At the same time, in Sventzitsky’s text, academic theses undergo a significant transformation in connection with his historiosophic and religious-philosophical ideas. First of all, he uses in this context the theory of the gradual unfolding of the Church's self-consciousness in history and projects this theory onto the theological reflection on the development of the forms of the Sacraments. In the same vein, in relation to ecclesiastical practices, he applies the theory of the historical differentiation in the Church of good and evil. In this context we analyze Sventzitsky's ideas about the secularization of the Church, to which he contrasts the active spiritualization of all life and formulates this call in the idea of a monastery in the world. The article shows what place the priest has in the formation of the monastery in the world. Against this background, the analysis of representations of pastoral power both in the “Readings” and in other texts by Sventzitsky, and correlating them with the sources on which he relies, allows us to highlight his thesis about the transformation of this type of power in history. The author of the Readings identifies three characteristic periods in which pastoral power changed from its public dimension in the ancient Church, communal — in Byzantine monasteries and Russian parish churches, and, finally, personal-psychological — in the context of the Soviet period. These three types of pastoral power are analyzed by Sventzitsky in connection with the transformation in historical perspective of the forms of confession, the continuity of the “power of the keys” in the Church, and the actualization of obedience in church life. From this perspective, Sventzitsky offers a theological justification for the established practice of confession, which he constructs as a bricolage of Russian academic theology and philosophy.

Musical Aesthetics of Silence: Nilus of Sora in the Context of the Singing Culture of his Era

The article is devoted to the consideration of the philosophical (hesychast) heritage of Nilus of Sora in the context of the church singing culture of his time based on the material of surviving notated manuscripts of the late 15th – early 16th centuries. His essay “The Tradition and Rules of Living in the Hermitage” contains ideas of a musical and aesthetic nature, some evidence about the singing culture of that era and a value assessment of a number of phenomena of musical and church life.

The role of lay people in religious education. The competency of correlation of the religious education teacher

The quality of religious education in schools is primarily a matter of the quality of the religious education teachers. In this paper we want to explore different professional perspectives on the acquired competences of the religious education teacher and we want to focus our attention on his specific competency of correlation to linking faith and the life of pupils, Church and school, and Church and society. Therefore, we understand the religious education teacher as a “tightrope walker” who is able to maintain a balance between these different environments.

The effects of participation in Christian religious activities on the satisfaction with life of older adults: the mediating effects of depressive symptoms

ABSTRACT This study aimed to clarify the effects of Christian religious activities on depressive symptoms and life satisfaction among older adults by analysing longitudinal data. Causal relationships between the variables were assessed using autoregressive cross-lagged model analysis. First, autoregressive coefficients were examined for church participation, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction. Second, the cross-lagged coefficients revealed that participation in church activities later had a significant effect on depressive symptoms. In addition, depressive symptoms had a significant effect on life satisfaction. Depressive symptoms had a significant effect on life satisfaction. Third, the results indicated that participation in church activities during the fifth period significantly affected life satisfaction during the seventh period through depressive symptoms during the sixth period. This pathway suggests that depressive symptoms mediates the relationship between older adults’ church participation and life satisfaction longitudinally (i.e., older adults’ church participation reduces their depressive symptoms, and reduced depressive symptoms increases their life satisfaction).

THE ART OF ICON IN THE CONSTANTINIAN ERA – PATRISTIC FOUNDATION OF THE ICON

The freedom of expression of the Christian faith, acquired by the Church following the edict of Mediolanum, from the year 313, favored the flourishing of church life in all its aspects, including that of sacred art, therefore also of iconography. The one who gave the impetus to this process was, without a doubt, the Holy Emperor Constantine the Great himself. For their part, the Holy Fathers of the Church encouraged the representation in icons of the martyrdom of the holy martyrs and provided, at the same time, the arguments that contributed to the foundation of the presence and role of the icon in the life of Christians and in that of the Church. Therefore, it is not surprising that, starting from this period, a constant development of Christian sacred art followed in all the provinces of the empire, both through the multiplication of iconographic themes, inspired either by the universe of the imperial court, or by the martyrdom of the holy martyrs, or even by the tradition pagan, as well as by using increasingly elaborate techniques. The present study aims to follow the evolution of the older iconographic themes, to identify and shed light on the new iconographic themes, their sources and also their concordance with the teaching of faith synthesized and systematized by the Church during the ecumenical councils from Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), whose teaching is transmitted through these iconographic themes.

Revisiting African Spirituality: A reference to Missiological Institute consultations of 1965 and 1967

This article revisits the hope of the First and Fourth Missiological Institute (MI) consultations in 1965 and 1967 regarding the survival of African Spirituality as relevant to the daily life of South African churches. African Spirituality has played a significant role in the cultural context of Africans. In the African context, African Spirituality is intertwined with life, death, and health, which co-exist with material aspects and the economy as gracious gifts from God. The churches in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa have been challenged by the African worldview of healing and culture. Thus, Africans mostly prefer the African-centred church with more African Christianity, instead of Western Christianity. This has been a serious challenge in African church circles for centuries, even in the current 21st century. The question therefore arises whether this is a matter for the Africanisation, indigenisation, and decolonisation of the church in Africa.Contribution: The article analyses the two MI consultations and whether the church in the 21st century has Africanised and decolonised itself in service of its African members. The study is a historical approach given the history of the MI’s contribution in South Africa. The concept of African Spirituality is unpacked and contextualised within the African Independent Churches’ (AIC) Zionist type churches such as the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), the St John’s Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM), and other Ethiopian type churches such as Lutheran Bapedi Church and others in South Africa and African Traditional Religions (ATR). The article engages the importance of how African Spirituality differs from other spiritualities within the context of Christian spirituality.

The Concept of “Pseudomorphosis” in the Book by G. V. Florovsky “Ways of Russian Theology”

The concept of pseudomorphosis is used by G. V. Florovsky as such a borrowing, which is of an instrumental-technological and formal-scholastic nature and, therefore, does not meet the deep interests of the Church of Christian peoples and the creative development of theological thought. He emphasizes the positive, stimulating significance of theology in the history of Russian not only of Patristics, which is usually paid attention to, but also of Western theological thought, especially since the sixteenth century, which is often overlooked. From the point of view of G. V. Florovsky, theological pseudomorphoses are overcome on the basis of multilateral historical ties: Patristics and the ‘comprehending growth’ of theological thought, theology and church life, theology and secular philosophy, theology and culture of the people, Orthodox theology and the theological thought of other Christian confessions. According to G. V. Florovsky, the ‘Catholic’ synthesis of the Church means that universal, communal force, which manifests itself in theological thought on the historical basis. The transformation of external borrowed forms into pseudomorphoses is explained by G. V. Florovsky with specific historical reasons: the lag of Orthodox thought from Western religious and philosophical thought, the political interests of the warring countries, the separation of the clergy from the needs of laic believers, their historical experience and culture. The Russian theologian considers as pseudomorphic those theological borrowings that formally and dogmatically, and not organically and synthetically, enter the autochthonous cultural-historical context. It is here that the source of uncreative imitation and scholastic tendencies in Russian theology manifest themselves. G. V. Florovsky shows, that borrowings alien to the interests and needs of the believers turn into clericalism and political servility of Church hierarchs. This statement by G.V. Florovsky is relevant till nowadays; it is combined with another, equally relevant conclusion by him: a dialogue with Western theology has a positive, stimulating value for Russian Orthodoxy as well.

ТЕОДОР СКУМИНОВИЧ: СПРОБА РЕАБІЛІТАЦІЇ ІМЕНІ

Background. In the article it is analyzed the dedication and preface to the work of the little-known in Ukraine polemicist-theologian of the 17-th century Theodore Skumynovych "Przyczyny porzucenia Disuniey przezacnemu narodowi ruskiemu podane" (1643), which is considered a bibliographic rarity. The relevance of the research of the creative work of Theodore Skumynovych is explained by the fact that it has not been studied in detail. Methods. The research uses cultural-historical, comparative-historical, descriptive and textological methods of analysis of monuments of literature. Results. The publication provides biographical information about Theodore Skumynovych, examines the objectivity of the accusations brought against him by former co-religionists, and outlines the main ideas of his polemical work. In the dedication of the work to the bishop of Vilnius Abraham Woyna and the foreword to the reader, Theodore Skumynovych briefly spoke about the reasons for his conversion to Catholicism, shared the details of his move from Volhynia to Vilnius and the difficulties he had to face. The image of Theodore Skumynovych, which appears in the introductory part of the work, contrasts with that how he is negatively presented in the complaints made by his opponents in the judicial books, which gives reason to question the credibility of the accusations made by them. The article clarifies the constants of theological and writing thinking of Theodore Skumynovych, reveals his point of view on the reasons of the decline of Byzantium. Conclusions. According to Kasiyan Sakovych, Theodore Skumynovych belonged to the most educated theologians of Ukraine in the 17-th century. Before converting to Catholicism, he was the Father Superior of the Orthodox St. Michael Monastery in Goshcha, the rector of the local school, and also a member of the metropolitan consistory. As an Orthodox clergyman, Theodore Skumynovych sharply criticized the dogmatics of the Roman Church. However, after reading the works of Patriarch Gennadius Scholarius, in which he explained the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans with the "Great Schism", reflecting on the Creed of Athanasius the Great, studying the works of the Greek fathers of the church and observing the crisis of monastic and church life in the Kyiv's Metropolitanate, he changed his opinion about the Catholics. The books written by Theodore Skumynovych were highly rated among famous scientists of Western Europe. In particular, his works were admired by Gottfried Leibniz, Jacob Masen and Plempius Vopisk Fortunatus.

ДРАМА ПАСТЫРСКОГО СЛУЖЕНИЯ В РАННЕМ СССР: ОПЫТ МИКРОИСТОРИИ

The article, based on the “evidential paradigm” of K. Ginzburg, reconstructs the case of persecution of the Protestant pastor of proletarian origin, R.G. Raudmund, from the Leningrad region. The subject of the research is an individual case, which is considered on basis of the “traces and evidence” discovered by the author while working with the archival fund of the lawyer of German origin, M.K. Stackelberg, in OR RNL. The article deals with the court procedure stages of “the case of Pastor R.G. Raudmund”, reveals the peculiarities of his life and the main claims of the Soviet government against him. The paper focuses on the moral foundations of pastoral ministry as a phenomenon and shows the dramatic outcome of the pastoral work. This case has become recurrent in the late 20s – mid 30s of the 20th century in the conditions of the mass religious persecution in the USSR. These facts make it possible to contradict K. Ginzburg and recognize the value and potential of microhistory not only from the point of view of something “individual and unique”, but also due to much-recurring repetition, regularity and multiplicity. However, within the framework of this incident, the individual status in the general flow of religious persecution in the early USSR did exist: the one who became subjected to the repressions was the pastor of the most proletarian origin with great sympathy for the October Revolution of 1917 and the Soviet regime, but who refused to renounce his ministry, which is an important aspect of the Church life.

THE ACTIVITIES OF THE HOLY FATHERS IN ESTABLISHING THE SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS OF ORTHODOX SINGING

In the modern world, there is a problem of the young generation’s loss of spiritual landmarks, which is manifested in the dominance of pragmatism, focus on obtaining material goods, indifference to the feelings of other people, including loved ones. Education of moral qualities of an individual cannot be effective if all social institutions are not involved in it: family, school, cultural institutions, church. Nowadays, the importance of religious education is gaining a high status in the domestic society - children and teenagers get used to attending church, study in Sunday schools, where they participate in choir singing. Musical spiritual works today are not limited to church life, but are included in the repertoires of singing groups of general secondary and primary music education institutions, are offered for listening to music at school, etc. (Rostovskyi, 2003). (Rostovskyi, 2003). The urgent task of preserving the traditions of Orthodoxy in its competition with the Catholic and Uniate influences on the Ukrainian community determines the special interest of teachers and scientists in the educational possibilities of Orthodox music (Afonina, 2012).

Peran Orang Tua dalam Meningkatkan Kehidupan Menggereja OMK di Stasi Santo Blasius Kalasey Paroki Santo Fransiskus Xaverius Mokupa

The purpose of this study was to find out the role of parents in improving the life of the OMK church at St. Blasius Kalasey Station, the supporting factors and inhibiting factors for the role of parents in improving church life, as well as the efforts of parents to improve the OMK church life.
 This research uses a descriptive research technique or type with a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques used in this study are observation, interviews and documentation. The main instrument in this research is the writer himself.
 The conclusion of this study consists of three parts, namely First: parents realize the importance of the role of parents in improving church life but the role of parentsstill not implemented optimally because there are things that become obstacles, both from parents and from OMK. Second: the factors that support or hinder the role of parents, for example the time factor which can be a supporting or inhibiting factor, because the lack or sufficient time for parents and children can influence whether or not the role of parents is optimal in improving their child's church life. Third: the efforts of parents who continue to guide their children in a way that they think is effective in terms of improving church life.

The Problem of Transmitting Church Tradition in the Works by Sergey Fudel

The article is dedicated to one of the most relevant issues in religious thought—the preservation of church tradition. The interest in this issue became particularly acute for Russian religious thinkers of the 20th century, who witnessed radical changes in living conditions and collective consciousness. The article examines the interpretation of the issue in the works by Sergey Fudel (1900–1977), a church writer and carrier of pre-revolutionary Russian culture. He had communication with outstanding spiritual figures spanning the late 19th to the 20th centuries, confessors of faith, and new martyrs. The church and historical context of Fudel’s works is explored, clarifying the connection between the writer’s views on the transmission of church tradition, his own biography, the figures of his mentors, and the existence conditions for the persecuted Church, evidenced in Fudel’s writings. The article sheds light on the writer’s response to changes in the conditions of church life in the mid-20th century and the feeling of a “generation gap” that emerged in him. It reconstructs Fudel’s notion of the “monastery in the world” as an environment where church tradition is preserved. The correlation between Fudel’s concept of church tradition and his ecclesiological views is illuminated. The research findings lead to the conclusion that the phenomenon of the “hidden Church” as an alliance of “two or three” disciples of Christ was not, in Fudel’s view, a temporary solution stemming from the era of persecutions. Instead, the writer regarded such an experience as an exposition of the Church’s original teaching about itself and an enduring model of church relations. Like many others, Fudel acknowledged the providential significance of trials undergone by the Russian Church. However, he insisted that the experience of the “hidden Church” revealed the original teaching of the Church about itself, preserved throughout the ages. The article also considers the relationship between Fudel’s views and other approaches to the “generation gap” problem. Fudel’s evaluation of previous eras, marked by the “external prosperity” of Christianity, allows characterization of his attitude towards various concepts of tradition, both classical, tracing back to the times of the Byzantine Empire, and those contemporary to the writer.

Father Iosif Fudel Among Conservatives: Friendship with Lev Tikhomirov

The article examines the worldview of the priest Iosif Ivanovich Fudel (1864/1865–1918) through the prism of the Russian conservative thought at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It shows his complex and dynamic views aligned with the chronology of his life and the historical context. Outlining the circle of Father Iosif’s fellow thinkers at different times (Slavophiles, Konstantin Leontiev, Mikhail Novoselov with his Circle of Those Seeking Christian Enlightenment, etc.), the author pays special attention to Fudel’s relationship with Lev Tikhomirov, a prominent representative of conservatism, who was Fudel’s close friend for more than a quarter of a century.The friends were clearly unanimous about the need to nurture the church intelligentsia and restore the sobornost (conciliarity) of the church life, although Fudel throughout his whole life was much less concerned about the political agenda. The direction of the public thought that he represented can be defined as Neo-Slavophilism. It was characterized by switching from vast political topics to specific organization issues within the church with a common antirenovationist and anti-modernist vector. This said, the leaders of this trend advocated for the wider participation of the laity in the life of the church, for the development of fraternal life and the Slavophilelike collegiality and the convocation of the church council. Common to the Fudel’s circle were the criticism of the dominance of the bureaucracy, negative attitude towards Grigory Rasputin, support for Aleksandr Samarin and a certain opposition to the synodal administration. It was, in its own way, a conservative project of the church modernization. Belonging to the circle ideologically, Father Iosif acted not so much as a thinker, but as a doer, fulfilling the main task of his life, that of a pastor.The author emphasizes that Father Iosif’s position had always been personal, not favoring any party, and in the last decade of his life he sought to stay out of politics, cutting his public comments on issues relating to the secular politics. He accepted neither the revolution of 1905–1907, nor the uncertain position of the church in it, nor the political concessions made by the authorities. Father Iosif immersed himself completely in the parish life of Moscow.

Illegal Church Document from the Era of Persecution (1920–1930 of the 20th Century)

The research of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church of the 20th century is largely based on the study of documents of that era drawn up in the church milieu. Since all kinds of church publications were prohibited, the reproduction of documents in private — by copying or retyping — gained ground in Russia of the 1920s and 1930s. These documents played the role of the church press — they introduced the events of church life, expressed beliefs in the rightness of the author or a group of like-minded people, unmasked ideological opponents, and also served to communicate with foreign church figures. The reproduction of such documents, in case of their discovery by authorities, could endanger not only the authors thereof and the persons mentioned therein, but also ordinary copyists and put them all to punitive measures such as purge. Thanks to the ascetics who preserved them, these documents remain the most important information sources in the field of history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the era of persecution. The article lists the documents that were taken abroad — letters of Bishop Damaskin (Cedric), the collection of church documents “The Case of Metropolitan Sergius”. Moreover, it analyzes documents both originating from the clerical office of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) and generated by church figures opposed to Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens. A large number of documents was drawn up by Mikhail Novosyolov himself and the circle of his close associates. Also, the most important documents of that era are the letters of Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov) and replies of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky). The article pays special attention to the transfer abroad of the collection of church documents entitled “The Case of Metropolitan Sergius”, the role of the journalist Mikhail Brоndsted (pseudonym: Mikhail Artemyev), who left abroad in 1930, and his articles published abroad on underground literature in the Soviet Union. The problem of the authorship of anonymous sources, the authenticity of documents distributed in the church milieu is also raised here. The Joint State Political Directorate of the Soviet Union actively used church documents found during arrests to persecute believers. Fragments of these documents often became the basis for indictments, as evidence of the accused’s anti-Soviet activity. The article also mentions the role of collectors of church documents during the persecution against the Church — Archpresbyter Michael Polsky, Mikhail Gubonin, Metropolitan Manuel (Lemeshevsky).

Theological and Historical Aspects of the Epistolary Legacy of Schema-hegumen Ioann (Alekseev), St. Ioann of Valaam, the Valaam Elder

The article introduces the personality and epistolary legacy of Schema-hegumen Ioann (Alekseev), who pursued asceticism at the Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour from 1901 to 1958. After the revolution, the territory on which the monastery stood became part of independent Finland. Consequently, the Elder spent most of his life detached from his homeland. During the Winter War of 1939–1940 between the Soviet Union and Finland, the brotherhood was evacuated deep into Finland, where they founded the New Valaam Monastery. From 1945 to 1957, the monastery was under dual jurisdiction: administratively, it was under the Finnish Church Administration, while canonically, it belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate. Since 1938, Schema- hegumen Ioann had been fulfilling the duties of the spiritual father of the monastery, giving guidance to Russian-speaking pilgrims. At the New Valaam Monastery, the ascetic became widely known as an experienced spiritual mentor. His spiritual disciples included priests, laypeople, former members of the Imperial Court, representatives of the artistic community, and ordinary individuals. Many of them received spiritual guidance from him through correspondence, which was eventually published In 1956, a collection of his letters in Russian was released at New Valaam. From 1961 to 1963, the letters were published in the émigré journal L’Eternel (The Eternal) in France. In the USSR, the Elder’s letters became known in 1958 in samizdat (underground press) format, reproduced using typewriters. In 1985, a portion of the letters was presented in the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate”. The collection has been reprinted multiple times and translated into other languages. In Russia, starting from 2000, the Valaam Elder’s letters have been published almost every year, becoming a kind of “handbook for the modern Christian”. Schema-hegumen Ioann did not aim to construct a logically refined theological system; his service was focused on caring for those in spiritual need. When expounding on fundamental doctrines, he relied on the Gospel and the teaching of the Fathers of the Church. His theology was not an intellectual discipline or a theory of the world’s order but an experiential communion with God, rooted in personal transformation experience. In his letters, he sometimes touched upon the issues of the contemporary church life and politics. The article highlights and analyzes the principal theological and historical aspects of the epistolary legacy of the Valaam ascetic.

On Being a Listening Church: The U.S. Catholic Church and Black Lives Matter

The article explores the intersection of Black Lives Matter and the synodal process within the U.S. Catholic Church, focusing on the church’s stance on racism and racial justice. Drawing upon Pope Francis’ call for the church to become a listening church, I argue that the church currently lacks crucial elements of inclusivity, engagement with the lived experiences of the faithful, and a willingness to address conflict in the context of racial justice. I propose a closer examination of Black Lives Matter and the synodal process as a means for the church to adapt and become a genuinely attentive church, improving discussions on race relations in the United States.

MENELAAH PERAN PARA KATEKIS DALAM SPIRITUALITAS PEWARTAAN DI PAROKI SANTA MARIA ASSUMPTA KEUSKUPAN AGUNG KUPANG

The Catholic Church teaches that all Christian believers who have received the sacrament of baptism are called to carry out their responsibilities to be priests, prophets and kings. Lay people who are given a special task by the Church in the field of preaching the faith are called Catechists. Catechists should have a certain spirituality or enthusiasm for life to support their existence and ministry duties, especially in carrying out the five tasks of the Church. The aim of this research is to determine the role of catechists in church life, especially in the field of preaching. The method used is qualitative with a descriptive approach. The results of the research show that some catechists in the Santa Maria Assumpta Parish, Kupang Archdiocese have not taken an active part in carrying out their roles. Therefore, several activities are needed that can raise awareness within themselves so that catechists can involve themselves fully and actively in every ecclesiastical activity, especially assisting categorical groups in the Parish area in the field of preaching or catechesis.