Representatives Of Church Research Articles

Skutki akcesji Polski do Unii Europejskiej w ocenie głównych Kościołów chrześcijańskich w RP

Polish membership of the European Union became a fact in 2004. The fears and hopes of the main Christian churches in Poland as regards its consequences have already been at least partly verified. This verification has been partly positive, as the main Christian churches in Poland have obtained access to direct subsidies for arable land owners. However, there have also been disappointments, such as the disappointed hopes of the churches of minor denominations to obtain more balanced and actual equality of rights for different churches and religious denominations in Poland by virtue of Community law. Another disappointment concerned the expectation that due to their participation in integration processes Poles would abandon a certain religious and spiritual provincionalism, or their complete disregard of the opinions of representatives of churches and religious denominations in the process of the EU’s internal reforms. It can be observed that the intellectual and moral potential of such important institutions of social life as Christian churches in Poland has not been taken full advantage of in the European debate and discussion on integration. Unfortunately, it is also rather difficult to find any signs that this may happen in the future.

AIDS, Sexual Health, and the Catholic Church in 1980s Ireland: A Public Health Paradox?

Our aim was to explore the paradoxical role of the Catholic Church during the early AIDS era in establishing a policy network committed to the principles of public health, even in instances in which these principles contradicted Catholic moral teaching. This article is rooted in a study that explored the transformational effects of AIDS on Irish sexual health policy during the initial decade of the epidemic; that is, as it unfolded in Ireland between 1982 and 1992. Our source material, consisting of 20 documents that had been unexplored for more than 25 years, was obtained from the Dublin AIDS Alliance Ltd., an Irish civil society organization that supports HIV-positive people. Our archival research was supported by 18 semistructured key informant interviews with contemporaneous politicians, representatives of the Catholic Church, clinical personnel, and AIDS activists. We examined the critical role of a Catholic priest in developing a coherent national policy response that reflected the public health principles advocated by the World Health Organization at a time when the moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church had a significant influence on successive Irish governments. (Am J Public Health. 2018;108:908-913.).

Formation, Development and Current State of the Armenian Genocide Victims Remembrance Day (Part 1)

The 24th of April is not merely a Memorial Day of the Armenian Genocide victims. It is one of the most important and unique elements of the Armenian identity that unifies all Armenians through invisible links. The Memorial Day has been shaped in the course of many political twists and turns and even a century later the shades of its meaning are still discussed in wide social and professional circles. Observation of the Memorial Day, remembrance of the victims, reminiscences of the Genocide during one day’s event embodies and reflects the current state of the society, i.e. it is the summary of the reality, concepts, policy and propaganda actual at the given moment. The first forms of observation of the memory of the Genocide victims after WW1 both in the Armenian communities existing for centuries and in the newly established ones in Diaspora were the ceremonies of mourning the memory of the Genocide victims. They were organized first of all for remembering the Genocide victims in the form of mourning. However, during such ceremonies people bemoaned their dearest not in private but collectively mourned the loss of hundreds of thousands. Psychologically collective mourning ceremonies to some extent relieved the feeling of loss. Alongside, they emphasized the necessity of supporting the orphans, widows and generally those in need as a direct consequence of the Genocide by means of creative work, and not weeping. Thus, the mourning ceremony played the role of a specific factor of ethnic consolidation that demonstrated the unity of Armenians even if it was just mourning. Unity was demonstrated also through the shutdown of Armenian schools, institutions and shops on Memory Day. There were certain commonalities in the structure of the mourning ceremonies: the main actors were the clergy (service for the dead at the church, sometimes a procession to the cemetery, classic and Armenian spiritual music and chants). As a rule, the representatives of other Christian Churches were also invited thus stressing the Christian origin of the victims as one of the reasons of mass slaughter. The next part of these ceremonies consisted of reciting the works of victimized writers, speeches of the representatives of various organizations, parties or intellectuals, which inspired the audience with confidence and trust in the future of the Armenians. As a rule, all speakers would first explain why it was necessary to remember and, particularly, the necessity of collective remembrance of the victims. The audience was indoctrinated by the ideology to establish the connection between the victims and the fact of the existence of the newly established Republic of Armenia at the cost of their lives. In parallel with defaming the perpetrators of the Genocide, the strengthening of the Republic of Armenia was pointed as a revenge and the Armenian victory should manifest in its will to revive, in survival itself. The fact that Armenians were fighters was sometimes demonstrated through emphasized participation of the Armenian servicemen and heroes of self-defense in the mourning processions. As a rule, the representatives of foreign Churches, high rank foreign servicemen and members of the diplomatic missions were invited to the mourning ceremonies. It was a modest attempt to make the narrow, merely community event of the Genocide victims remembrance publicly known and make the citizens of the countries of their residence acknowledge that reality.

The wicked and the damned

Whereas representatives of the medieval church insisted that possessing spirits were demons or fallen angels, many medieval Italians attributed spirit possession to ghosts. In particular, the untimely dead who had perished through violence were thought to seize the bodies of the possessed in order to re-experience embodiment. Such beliefs had a long genealogy, predating the spread of Christianity. I argue that those elements of culture that persist unchanged over a long period of time are not retained unthinkingly, but are chosen because they serve the needs of the communities that employ them. In this case, belief in ghosts as possessors was an opportunity for several types of healing for the benefit of the victim, the ghost itself, and the whole community.

Konfesjonelle tradisjoner – problem eller mulighet?

Church Traditions – Problem or Opportunity? About the Significance of Denominational Traditions for Church Development The question I attempt to answer in this article is how church traditions can play a positive or constructive role in local church development – and when and why they cannot do so, but on the contrary, become an obstacle to developing churches in an ecclesiological holistic way. One of the main reasons why church traditions become a problem for church development today is to emphasize either the historical or the contemporary context of the church. Based on a holistic ecclesiological model, the article argues that a local church always stands in the tension between, on the one hand, the long history and tradition of the Christian Church – where “my” church tradition also is located –, and on the other hand, the Church’s presence in a given time and culture. In order to assess the constructive value of church traditions and their significance for church development, I recommend inspiration and guidance gained from thinking developed, in general, according to the concepts of detraditionalization and retraditionalization – and according to what is related to the question of a tradition’s “intention”, in particular. Here the article argues that the using and re-using potential of church traditions does not have to be not only linked to the historical dimension of the Church, but also to the socio-cultural one. Looking at the church landscape in Scandinavia today, one will find that there are representatives of local churches that relatively and unilaterally emphasize the practice of sacrament and liturgy. This is accentuated partly by those who wish to modernize meetings, music and forms of communication with the intention to adapt the church to the contemporary culture, and partly by those who try to find a balance between traditional values and contemporary ones. The United Malmö church is appointed out as an example of the latter way of thinking church development.

Participation of Contemporary Pagans in Heritage Politics of Lithuania

The paper aims at examining participation of contemporary Lithuanian Pagans (represented by Romuva in this study) in politics of heritagization. After presentation of a broader picture of the research and the revival of ethnic culture during both Soviet and post-Soviet periods, contemporary Pagan discourse and practices intended for society, as well as attempts to make influence through state institutions are analyzed. The case study shows that they interact and compete with other religious groups and inheritors of the past and can employ a range of strategies to seek power and influence in heritage politics. The post-Soviet context that accounts for some specific characteristics of contemporary Eastern European Pagans is also an important factor in heritage politics related to worldview-based competition, and in Lithuanian case, the well-known hostility of contemporary Pagans towards Christianity is accompanied by the threat that representatives of the Catholic Church feel because of the Pagans' influence in heritage politics.

, Kształtowanie się pojęcia ofiary w protestantyzmie reformowanym.

The aim of this elaboration is to present the concept of sacrifice in Reformed Protestantism. It was a result of the dispute with the Roman Catholics, did not use the definition of sacrifice regarding the Eucharist and replaced it with the term „Abendmahl” (Lord’s Supper). Renouncement of the concept as such does not mean that the content of the concept of sacrifice has been dispensed with. The doctrine of sacrifice with regard to the Eucharist was developing in the midst of the Reformation within a severe dispute in which Calvin was acting againts Luther and Zwingli. The common characteristic of both reformers and representatives of the Catholic Church was focusing on the aspect of the true presence of the glorified Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the form of sacrificial bread and wine.

Государственно-конфессиональные отношения нехалкидонитов на Ближнем Востоке: основные вызовы современности

This article discusses the main challenges of our time in the field of state-confessional relations faced nehalkidonity (representatives of the Ancient Eastern Churches) living in the Middle East. The main challenges, according to the author, are: anti-Christian activities of extremist (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), attempts gormonizatsii state-konfessiolnalnyh relations through the use denominational state structure principle (Lebanon), the pursuit of the Assyrian Church of return of the Patriarch's residence in Baghdad, as well as gaining popularity ecumenical mood in a religious environment. The work is a review and its results can be used in further research on the history of Middle East history, the history of state-confessional relations, Tservki history, history of international relations, political science, history of the Ancient Churches of the East and other humanitarian spheres.

Orthodoxy and Islam

Within the historical approach on interreligious dialogue, it should not be overlooked that the representatives of Orthodox Churches were actively involved in promoting and supporting interreligious dialogue by participating in the meetings that have focused on relations with people of other religions. In this context, the Orthodox Churches come with a whole tradition that stretches to the early centuries, the relations with Jews and Muslims being an integral part of the history of Orthodox Christianity. The Orthodox Christians, with their bi-millennium tradition, where there are different interpretations of other religions, bring to the modern world an approach that takes into account personal relationship with people of other religions. Analyzing how the representatives of the Orthodoxy and the Islam in Romania are trying to find solutions to the many problems facing the world today, we can say that lately in Romania, the interreligious, intercultural and interethnic dialogue increased both quantitatively and qualitatively. Among the followers of the two religions that live in these territories for centuries, the relations have varied over the time, reaching today to a situation in which the believers live in peace, protected by the laws of the Romanian state which guarantee the freedom of thought and religious expression. Moreover, lately it has been attempted to find solutions to the global crises which are, not infrequently, religious.

'The purest citizens' and 'IVF children'. Reproductive citizenship in contemporary Poland.

This article examines the public debate on reproductive technologies in contemporary Poland, focusing on the rhetorical strategies used by the main opponents of IVF: conservative politicians representing the leading parties in the Polish parliament and the representatives of the Catholic Church. The analysis highlights the exclusionary logic inscribed in the construction of the main categories of political subjects in this debate, revealing important limitations of reproductive citizenship in the Polish context. The study draws on a variety of texts published in print and electronic media between 2007 and 2015, including articles on infertility and reproductive technologies published in the main Polish daily and weekly print publications, online resources (web pages, forums and Facebook pages), documents issued by the representatives of the Church, politicians and experts, e.g. open letters, commentaries, information for the media and interviews.

Mona Hensman: An Indian Woman at the World Missionary Conference in Tambaram (1938)

ABSTRACT The World Missionary Conference in Tambaram 1938 is one of the most important ecumenical conferences. It was the first such meeting that took place in India (at the Madras Christian College). Representatives of the so-called younger churches made up the majority of the 471 delegates. Although a number of publications analyzed “Tambaram,” most of them did not focus on the experiences of these participants from the global South. This article will introduce Mona Hensman, one of the seventy female delegates and a member of the Indian delegation. Originally from Bengal, she was an Anglican, but her family background was transconfessional. Hensman became involved in feminist as well as in Christian organizations and brought her ideas and visions to the Tambaram conference. The concrete outcome of this meeting did not live up to her expectations, but many fundamental questions discussed there for the first time later became critically important for the ecumenical movement.

Beati pacifici: quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur»: Релігійний фактор польсько-українського примирення = Beati pacifici: quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur»: Relihiynyy faktor polʹsʹko-ukrayinsʹkoho prymyrennya

Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation was one of the most momentous events for the East Central Europe in the second half of the 20th century. Religious hierarchs of both nations contributed a lot to interethnic reconciliation. Polish-Ukrainian rapprochement was remarkable for particularly involvement of representatives of the Catholic Church into this process and keeping aloof of Orthodox clergy from normalization of Polish-Ukrainian relations. The recommendations of the Second Vatican Council, encyclicals of Saint John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II and implementation of the principle “We forgive and are asking for forgivness” created preconditions for interethnic reconciliation. Saint John XXIII in his encyclical “Pacem in terris” had criticized the idea of peacekeeping by an arms race and the balance of power doctrine – “real and lasting peace between nations must be based not on a balance of power but on mutual confidence”. Activities of Pope John Paul II gave a powerful incentive to Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation. The role of Churches as a kind of people’s diplomacy one could resort to increased when complicated interethnic problems weren’t managed to resolve at government level. The most important actions of Rome Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches in behalf of interethnic rapprochement were celebration of the 1000th Anniversary of the Christianization of Rus'-Ukraine, Eucharistic Congress in 2003, joint appeals on theoccasion of Volhynian massacre. The achievement of Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation based on universal values and Christian civilization was an evidence of new European thinking and significant factor of building of the united Europe.

Bad Apples, Bad Barrel: Exploring Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy in Australia

This paper considers constructions of institutional culture and power in the cover-up of child sexual abuse (CSA) by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church of Australia. The issue of cover-up has previously been considered in international inquiries as an institutional failing that has caused significant harm to victims of CSA by Catholic Clergy. Evidence given by select representatives of the Catholic Church in two government inquiries into institutional abuse carried out in Australia is considered here. This evidence suggests that, where cover-up has occurred, it has been reliant on the abuse of institutional power and resulted in direct emotional, psychological and spiritual harm to victims of abuse. Despite international recognition of cover-up as institutional abuse, evidence presented by Roman Catholic Representatives to the Victorian Inquiry denied there was an institutionalised cover-up. Responding to this evidence, this paper queries whether the primary foundation of cover-up conforms to the ‘bad apple theory’ in that it relates only to a few individuals, or the ‘bad barrel theory’ of institutional structure and culture.

SAKHALIN ISLAND ORTHODOX CLERGY MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES AMONG THE CONVICTS (MID XIX – EARLY XX CENTURIES)

In this article the author tries to make sense of the main aspects of Sakhalin Island Orthodox clergy service in prisons. This study covers the most difficult period in the life of the island. In the mid XIX century Sakhalin becomes the penal colony of the Russian Empire. The convicts and exiles delivery to the island was started. It was necessary to think about the expansion of the existing settlements, construction of roads, and establishment of school education. It should be mentioned that the voluntary settlements on the island territories contributed to the process of the islanders quantity increase. Peasants of Central part of the Russian Empire had an opportunity to move to the island, and at that, to achieve greater success the Government introduced incentives and encouragements. The authorities faced the tasks solving which the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church were also involved in. The author focuses on consideration of the hard labor living conditions and the moral standards of people. The hard labor living conditions hindered the service in Sakhalin prisons. The article shows how severe the life of the prisoners was; and prison administration’s indifference and cruelty had no bounds. It is worth noting some remoteness of the convicts from the religious life. They had almost no interest in this. As noted by the contemporaries, mostly free people were praying in the island churches where there was no place for the convicts. The work was additionally complicated by the fact that there were no chapels or the premises in the existing prison where the divine services could be administered.

Greeting words of M. V. Popovych, the academic and director of the Institute of Philosophy named after G.S.Skovoroda NAS of Ukraine

With great pleasure, I congratulate the participants of this international scientific conference: the Honorable Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine, Archbishop Thomas Galicton, the dear Beatitude Lubomyr of Cardinal Husar, respected representatives of all Ukrainian churches and religious organizations present in this hall, and colleagues from religious scholars who come from different regions of Ukraine, and foreign participants in this conference.

African Independent Churches in Zambia (Lusaka)

ABSTRACT The African Independent churches (AICs) in Zambia, as elsewhere in Africa, from their very beginning formed a protest movement against the cultural imperialism undertaken by the missionary representatives of the historic mission churches and also played an important role in the anti-colonial political struggles. In Zambia, the early AICs were closely related to witchcraft eradication movements such as the Mchape, or socially and politically oriented prophet-healing churches such as The Lumpa church of Alice Lenshina. Since the 1970s and in particular in the 1990s the Christianity in Zambia has been significantly marked by the proliferation of the African Independent Churches - both of Pentecostal and prophet-healing type. These churches that started mushrooming particularly in urban settings became part of the strengthening charismatic movement, particularly within Protestantism. A typical feature of AICs is focus on spiritual healing and religious syncretism - the local traditional customs and beliefs in dangerous ghosts, ancestral spirits, or witches are placed within the biblical religious framework where the Holy Spirit (Muzimu Oyela) is considered to be the only source of healing whereas other ‘inferior spirits’ are labelled as demons. The traditional methods of healing are creatively combined with Christian healing by means of prayers, spiritual blessings, laying on of hands on patients and demon exorcism - it is believed that only a body rid of bad spirits can receive the Holy Spirit, and thus be healed. The paper draws on both secondary literature concerning African Independent Churches and primary data issued from fieldwork in Lusaka (2008-2009).

The Commission on Faith and Order and the Second Vatican Council

The Commission on Faith and Order and the Second Vatican Council

UNITY OF EUROPE ACCORDING TO OSCAR MILOSZ: POLITICAL REFLECTIONS OF THE POET

The article examines the heritage of poet, mystic and diplomat Oscar Milosz (1877–1939) from the point of politically significant ideas. The aim is to grasp the understanding of the unity of Europe from the selected political articles “Deux messinismes politiques” as well as metaphysical poems “Ars Magna” and “Les Arcanes”. The premises of Milosz are situated in the intelectual context of European unity ideas of his contemporaries. The analysis shows that Milosz is critical about the situation of interwar Europe that he faces. As an alternative to this he suggests the unity in spiritual an political sense. It is argued in the paper that poet tries to capture the main questions of his epoch, although in very exclusive manner by lumping together geopolitical, mithological, messianistic arguments.In the 21st Century most of the discussions about Europe are based on the question How and not Why. Fundamental debates on the identity of Europe are left for the representatives of the Catholic Church or the scolars, while politicians occupy themselves with the bureaucratic activities in EU institutions. Oscar Milosz (1877–1939) was also involved in politics, during the interwar period he worked as a respresentative of Lithuania in France. However he was a writer and mystic as well, who left not only his works of fiction and poetry, but some political writings too. He is not well-known for Lithuanian readers, still his heritage is rather analysed in the academic literary field as well as from the philosophical point of view. However there is a question on Europe which has not been raised and answered, though Milosz had paid some attention to it in his metaphysical poems and political writings. The aim of the paper is to grasp the understanding of the unity of Europe from the selected political articles “Deux messinismes politiques” and metaphysical poems “Ars Magna” and “Les Arcanes” of Milosz and situate it in the context of the ideas of his contemporaries, in particular catholic pro-federalists and the Paneuropean movement.The analysis shows that Milosz is critical about the situation of interwar Europe which he faces. On the one hand, the countries are too interested in material goals and politics is not based on moral principles. On the other hand, poet reflects the wrong metaphysics of his time, because the people are sceptical towards the faith. Nevertheless Milosz should not be considered as a pessimist, because he proposes ideas how to save Europe. His premises on the unity of Europe can be divided in three parts: goal, manner and foundation.The first one is a goal of European unity. From the Milosz point of view, the unity is natural situation, which is going to be reached together with the moral evolution of European people. This differs from mostly pragmatic approach to this question by his contemporaries paneuropists. The second one is about a manner of the unification. Milosz criticizes attemps to unite on the basis of one exceptional country, rather he favours the collaboration of nations. It does not mean that nations are all the same – poet notes – they can prosper because of differences among them. For example ancient nations such as Lithuanians can renew other ones due to their exceptional history and spirit. On the political grounds as well as his contemporaries catholic pro-federalists he was favourable of federalism which respects the differences among nations and does not try to melt them away. In addition to this, Milosz as well as mentioned thinkers stresses the role of the Catholic Church which can create spiritual affinity among the nations of Europe. That is an answer to the third part – the foundation of European unity. It is argued that the main commonalities between catholic pro-federalists and Milosz are the antropoligical premises (person is in the centre of thinking about new political order) and an appeal to Europe’s christian heritage Despite eclectic set of his arguments, which includes some aspects of messianism and creation of his own mythology, Milosz might be attributed to this group of thinkers.

INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF OLD BELIEVERS COMUNITIES OF THE VYATKA PROVINCE AFTER THE ISSUANCE OF THE DECREE «ABOUT STRENGTHENING OF THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF TOLERATION» IN THE YEAR 1905

After the edition in 1905 of the decree «About strengthening of the first principles of toleration» Old Believers acquired the right to freely practise the religion and to officially register communities for the first time. The purpose of this article is to analyze the institutionalization process of Old Believers communities of the Vyatka province after the publication of the decrees of 1905-1906. The research is based on archival documents introduced for scientific use for the first time. The institutionalization process of Old Believers communities has never been a subject of independent research before. The article focuses on the procedure of registration, the statistics of the registered communities, and relationship with officials and representatives of Synod church at the initial stage. Analyzing the research findings, the author shows that there was no unequivocal attitude to the right of legal registration of the communities among Old Believers consents, the greatest activity at registration in the Vyatka province was shown by Old Believers of belokrinitsky hierarchy. The activity of newly established communities was limited in many respects because of imperfection of the legislative base. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-2-7

Tolerance, Anti-Judaism, and Philo-Judaism in the Pietist Periodical Bau des Reichs Gottes

����� ��� According to Pietists, Jews had “gone astray ,” but were nonetheless a good people, and more importantly, they had a key role to play in God’s universal plan. In their many publications, and in particular in the periodical Sammlung Auserlesener Materien zum Bau des Reichs Gottes (hereafter: Bau des Reichs Gottes), Pietists thus tried to rehabilitate Jews in the public’s eye. Pietism’s opponents, representatives of the orthodox Lutheran church, were just as concerned with influencing public opinion. In their own publications, especially the journal Unschuldige Nachrichten von Alten und Neuen Theologischen Sachen (hereafter: Unschuldige Nachrichten), orthodox Lutherans used negative stereotypes about Jews to condemn both Jews and Pietists as pollutants of church and society. In their respective periodicals, orthodox Lutherans and Pietist reformers carried on a public debate about the proper role of Jews in society, about which rights they should have, and about the appropriate kind and scope of contact between Christians and Jews.2