Social Doctrine Research Articles

Francis’ Papacy Analyzed from a Historical Perspective A Catholicism for the Twenty-First Century?

In this article I analyze the main innovations of Francis' papacy from the point of view of the history of contemporary Catholicism, both in the field of social doctrine and in the government of the Church. Secondly, I study his political strategies, which I define as “inverted gatopardism.” In my opinion, these strategies have helped Bergoglio control the opposition of traditionalist and conservative sectors, as well as internal tensions.

Fratelli Tutti e a defesa da vida

This article addresses Pope Francis' encyclical letter “Fratelli Tutti”, published in 2020, in light of the integral defense of life, and highlights fraternity as a counterpoint to individualism prevalent in contemporary society. Fraternity is not only understood at the level of personal relationships, but also in its political dimension and in accordance with the principle of solidarity, according to the Social Doctrine of the Church. This is the Christian perspective of defending life in all its forms, from birth to death, giving priority to the poor and excluded and combating the throwaway culture. Based on the inspiration of concrete reality, the experience of the Ka’apor indigenous people and the Word of God with the parable of the Good Samaritan, the article develops reflections on the mission of the Church and offers proposals for action within the horizon of integral ecology, with political, economic, educational and spiritual perspectives.

Carta Encíclica Fratelli Tutti e o migrante

As the title suggests, based on the Social Doctrine of the Church, and in particular the Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti (2020), this article intends to highlight Pope Francis' pastoral concern for migrants and refugees. His gestures in favor of migrants, as will be seen, “are worth an encyclical”. In view of this, the text provides a brief portrait of historical migrations, which serves as a background for understanding contemporary migrations. These current movements, although in continuity with the migrations of the 19th Century, are marked by characteristics typical of the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st Centuries. Having done this, the reflection brings into play the nodal points of Fratelli Tutti with a double objective: on one side, ensuring that this encyclical constitutes a kind of second chapter of Laudato Si’ (2015). In effect, while the latter is concerned with the care of “our common home”, that one makes an appeal so that we can all be brothers in this home that is planet Earth. On the other hand, the 2020 encyclical seeks to present in a more concrete way the socioeconomic and political-cultural challenges, as well as the socio-pastoral activities for the effectiveness of this universal fraternity. From the point of view of human mobility, it is about seeking universal and borderless citizenship.

UPBRINGING OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH ACCORDING TO STEFAN WYSZYŃSKI ON THE BASIS OF PUBLICATIONS IN “ŁAD BOŻY”

ABSTRACT: Purpose: The primary research aim of this study is to analyse nine articles published by Rev. Stefan Wyszyński in the weekly magazine “Ład Boży” (English: “God’s Order”), in the author’s series entitled “Ład w myślach” (English: “Order in thoughts”), immediately after the Second World War, between 1945 and 1946. Methods: The study used the analytical-synthetic method and the method of content analysis of press messages (quantitative system) and structural content analysis (qualitative system). Results: Wyszyński, well-prepared morally and intellectually, already at a young age had a deeply formed worldview on a widely interpreted Christian social doctrine. He perceived many dangers, involving also children and young people, especially in terms of the ideologies of the time. He was acutely concerned with shaping correct educational attitudes in the youngest generation. This is evidenced, among other things, by his numerous journalistic articles. Conclusion: On the pages of the weekly “Ład Boży”, in the author’s series “Ład w myślach”, Wyszyński published forty-six articles. Nine of them he devoted to the upbringing of children and young people. Emphasising, following the code legislator, that among the most important duties of parents is the careful upbringing of their offspring, he draw attention to the need for cooperation in the area of upbringing between the Church, family, nation, state, profession and school. Originality: To date, Wyszyński’s activity as Primate of Poland has been explored primarily academically. The source material of the pre-Primate period still has a high originality value, as it awaits a full critical study. Keywords: Stefan Wyszyński, upbringing, children, youth, Ład Boży, Ład w myślach

The Doctrinal Status of Just War in the Contemporary Teaching of the Catholic Magisterium

This article examines the doctrinal status of just war in the contemporary teaching of the Catholic magisterium. Some passages from Pope Francis’s 2020 encyclical Fratelli tutti, On Fraternity and Social Friendship appear to exclude the just war idea from the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. To gauge whether this is so, the article establishes a baseline comparison to the seminal teaching of Thomas Aquinas on peace and just war. Both St. Thomas and Pope Francis proceed from the assumption that “war” designates a sinful violation of peace. They appear to differ, however, on the question whether a positive meaning should be ascribed to the Roman term bellum justum. To understand if this divergence is purely verbal or involves a substantive disagreement, I consider why Pope Francis’s predecessors have (since the mid-twentieth century) abstained from employing the expression “just war” in their official documents. Finally, Pope Francis’s emphatic statement that St. Augustine ‘forged a concept of “just war” that we no longer uphold in our own day’ is interpreted in light of the passage from his Epistle 229 to Darius that Francis references in Fratelli tutti.

The Rise of Catholic Thought on Social Communication in the Pontificate of Paul VI

Abstract In a period of mass media emergence and renewal of Catholicism after Vatican II, the church initiated into a profound approach to its Social Doctrine on the media. With a theology of communication as a cornerstone, numerous ecclesial documents published during the Papacy of Paul VI explored the implications of the media for society and the internal life of the church. This study aims to analyse the contents on the media addressed in official documents of the Catholic Church during the Pontificate of Paul VI. The conclusions of the research show to what extent communication is a significant issue for public theology and delve into the meaning of the right to information and public opinion, the place of the media in education, the training of communicators and recipients, the importance of the media for the church, and the involvement of Catholics in the media.

Ecological Conscience and Peace in the Social Doctrine of the Church

In a time when wars emerge again with their devastating effects, both material and spiritual, there is an indispensable need to build a peace-making culture based on ecological conscience. After highlightening the transdisciplinary process of emergence and development of an ecological conscience through the prophetic insights of scientists, philosophers and theologians, the recent contributions of the Social Doctrine of the Church are summarized with their content of innovation and faith in both a peaceful human society and a sustainable planetary community. Suggestions for ecolinguistic developments and improvements in favor of ecological conscience and peace-bulding attitudes are both recognised and advanced as meaningful tools for positive “framing” in a communication society. Innovative conceptual terms, like natural capital, biosphere, noosphere, anthropocene, ecosystem services, sustainability, integral ecology, ecological spirituality and ecological conversion are recognised as typical eco-linguistic emergences arisen within a context of holistic framing of reality. They constitute the eco-linguistic cascade that has innovated the recent development of the social doctrine of the Church such as that expressed in the Encyclical Letters and in The World Days of Peace Messages for building a culture of peace based on ecological conscience. The Church’s contribution to the advancement of ecological conscience has been exemplary for providing human beings with the necessary spiritual energy to become “peace operators.”

A preliminary epistemological ″human ecology″ framework for understanding the limits of bioethics.

This article tries to set up the epistemological bases of the science of ″human ecology″. This term has started to be used as a synonymous of morality, especially in the Catholic moral social doctrine that used for the first time to justify its marriage prospectives. We look at both terms together (human plus ecology) and we propose that human ecology should be a discipline that in the first time study human behavior and population (objective) using the postulates of the science of ecology (method) and then, once a conceptual framework for social sciences disciplines such as bioethics can be settle, could be used as a way to support or not moral postulates in the name of ecology. We conclude by defining which should be the methods of knowledge acquisition, the limits and the validity of what should be considered ″Human ecology″, that is to say, the ecology of the humans.

PARA QUEM FALOU DOM HELDER CÂMARA?

In this article, our goal is to construct a mapping of Dom Helder Câmara's intellectual production between 1964 and 1970, a period marked by both the early years of his administration at the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife and the civil-military dictatorship. At this time, which preceded the creation of Liberation Theology, the religious leader in question defended development projects based on a perspective guided by the Church's social doctrine. With this approach, we will enable a discussion of his moments of greatest activity, themes, interlocutors, target audience, and the difficulties imposed on the archbishop by the Catholic Church and the government during the first years of the dictatorship in the country. For the development of this work, we analyzed the speeches presented by Dom Helder in lectures and some works published by him throughout the 1960s.

Features of the social beliefs of the Orthodox Church and Christians of the Evangelical Faith

The article examines the peculiarities of social beliefs of the Orthodox Church and Christians of the Evangelical Faith and their reflection in educational practices. It is shown that the formation of social doctrines is one of the basic tasks of modern Christianity. Social doctrine systematizes and actualizes the role and significance of social beliefs of Christianity, in their essence multi-vector, multi-dimensionality, inte-gration as the main characteristics of the spiritual sphere of the church. Social doc-trines are based on various aspects of theological and ecclesiological beliefs. They can be expressions of the theological tradition’s response to historical problems, social transformations of the digital age, in the confessional discourse, and can also reflect the modern view of a certain church on the issue of the relationship between faith and reason, science and religion, and humanitarian security. Approaches to social beliefs may differ depending on the "confessional color" of a certain religious organization and the information support of this process. According to this study, the implementation of the social doctrines of Christianity is impossible without an analysis of their beliefs aimed at solving both social issues in general and educa-tional ones. The need to develop basic strategies of spiritual education is empha-sized, outline the priorities facing education in a secularized world, but also suggest the development of sustainable concepts in the direction of highlighting the confes-sional worldview regarding the challenges of modern humanitarianism. It is proposed to consider the peculiarities of social beliefs in the system of educational processes of the Orthodox Church and the Christian Church of the Evangelical Faith. The con-clusions emphasize that the social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate presup-poses a progressive attitude to science and technological progress, encourages the church to use the resources of technological progress and informational resources for preaching. The need for the introduction of an integrated approach in spiritual education, constant informational innovations in the field of training of qualified min-isters who are able to conduct missionary preaching activities taking into account the conditions of the time for an efficient educational process and humanitarian security in the context of transformations of the digital age is being updated.

Canonical regulation of family and marriage issues in Christian denominations: Comparative analysis

The paper is focused on the issues of canonical regulation of marriage and family relations in various Christian denominations. The objective of the paper is to identify the models of normative regulation of the family and marriage in Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as the changes that have taken place in this area. Based on the analysis of normative documents (collections of canons, encyclicals and letters of the popes, doctrinal documents of Protestant denominations, social doctrines and concepts of various confessions), it is shown that in Catholicism an evolutionary mechanism is used, which is expressed in the creation of new formal canons binding on all church members. A flexible response to a change in the system of values in Protestantism is based on a revolutionary mechanism that allows for various interpretations of biblical provisions. Orthodoxy, using the ancient canons, retains the traditional mechanism of norm-creating, makes attempts to adapt them creatively to contemporary reality, and relies on the principle of economy. Guidelines in this process are new regulations adopted at the local level. Understanding the peculiarities of the ecclesiastic law regulations of marriage and family relations can contribute to the establishment of interfaith dialogue and the search for a cross consensus that contributes to the joint solution of contemporary social problems.

Русский политический Кант после либерализма: С. И. Гессен о юбилее Канта в 1924 году

Using the Kant jubilee in 1924 as a pretext, Sergey Hessen, a Russian émigré neo­Kantian, draws no direct political conclusions but sets forth a view of the great philosopher’s legacy from the position of a “legal socialist”, selecting from his heritage those parts of German socialist doctrines that to his mind experienced a departure from a recent flowering of Kantian ideas in Neo­Kantianism and the collapse of traditional liberalism in the wake of the First World War. The fact that the text was first published in the Berlin­based Russian liberal newspaper “Rul’”, gives us reason to see it not just as a formal jubilee tribute, but as an act addressed to the qualified liberal audience which witnessed thecollapse of liberalism in Russia.

МИРОВОЗЗРЕНЧЕСКИЕ ПРИОРИТЕТЫ БУДУЩЕГО ГРЕКО-КАТОЛИЧЕСКОГО МИТРОПОЛИТА АНДРЕЯ ШЕПТИЦКОГО В НАЧАЛЬНЫЙ ПЕРИОД ЕГО ОБЩЕСТВЕННОЙ АКТИВНОСТИ

The paper examines the information deposited in the sources and connected with the youth worldview of Count Roman Sheptytsky, later the Greek Catholic Metropolitan Andrey (1865–1944). An attempt has been made to analyze the data on this topic, going right back to the childhood of the future hierarch. The statements contained in the recollections of Roman’s mother, Zofia Szeptycka, are compared with the facts evidenced by the Sheptytskys’ family correspondence of the period under review. In addition to the direct statements of the young count and his mother relating to his worldview, attention is paid to the information that indirectly proves this, in particular, the data on Roman’s participation in various student associations. When describing the atmosphere of Breslau University of which Sheptytsky was a student, the topic of the nature of the “alien” structure is touched upon. In this regard, the foundations of the confrontation between the Catholics and the Socialists in the Grand Duchy of Poznań are outlined. In particular, a comparison was made between the Catholic and the Socialist doctrines of the society. The article explicates the nature of Sheptytsky’s participation in the activities of the Philaret brotherhood at Jagiellonian University. The significance of the public change in 1885 of the national self-identification of the future metropolitan is revealed. The conclusion is made about the Sheptytsky’s worldview priorities in the described period.

On the Question of the Trade Policy Imperatives of the Zemstvo Liberal Fronde of Northern Ukraine (60–80s of ХІХ cent.)

The investigation is devoted to finding out the imperatives of the trade policy of the Zemstvo Liberal Party of Northern Ukraine in the 60-80s of the 19th century. The author came to the conclusion that trade policy issues occupied not the last place in the economic program of the Zemstvo liberal movement in the north of Left Bank Ukraine in the 60-80s of the 19th century and were an organic part of the social doctrine of the specified trend in the liberation movement in the Russian Empire. At the level of city self-government, liberal citizens initiated the elimination of taxation of the trade system in order to avoid the processes of cartelization of the industry and to stimulate healthy competition between producers of products, both in terms of quality and at the level of price parameters. In order to destroy corruption and monopolies in the trade sphere, the representatives of the liberal opposition insisted on diversifying the service market, by granting the right to engage in relevant business to everyone, not only interested representatives of the region's Jewish commerce. In the field of public trade and commerce, Zemstvo progressives took a distinctly flexible economic position, trying to eliminate the ground for the emergence of any financial speculation and to maximize the portfolio of commercial offers on the market. In the context of the conservative clerical policy of the Russian autocracy, members of the opposition liberal front of the Northern Left Bank defended the right of representatives of the trade system to hold traditional fairs and bazaars on a regular basis for the purpose of neutralizing the threat of breaking economic ties between the cities and the province and avoiding the loss of the market for products which could lead to an increase in prices for socially important and sensitive groups of goods. Representatives of Zemstvo liberalism in northern Ukraine defended the idea of the need to transfer the area of trade to municipal or state ownership, which would allow, from their point of view, to control pricing procedures.

Социальное государство как универсальное средство обеспечения модернизации российской экономики

The subject of the study is public relations related to ensuring state policy in the social sphere and strengthening the foundations of the welfare state in Russia. The purpose of the work is to develop theoretical ideas about the doctrine of the welfare state and its practical implementation in the legislation of the Russian Federation. Due to the analysis of theoretical approaches to the definition of the concept of "social state" from a legal point of view, it has been established that at present there is an urgent need to clarify the substantive content of the concept of a social state. Through a comparative legal analysis of federal and regional legislation in the social sphere, the need for the adoption of a social code has been identified, which should be valid throughout the state due to the fact that a huge array of normative legal acts, legal documents related to the socio-economic sphere of life of Russian society, not only complicates the work of state bodies designed to ensure the implementation of the doctrine of social the state, but also the realization of human and civil rights and freedoms on the territory of Russia. It is concluded that the social doctrine of the Russian Federation should proceed from the spirit and letter of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the principles of social justice and social equality based on the understanding of the welfare state, assuming mutual responsibility of citizens, society and the state.

The Issue of War in the Basic Social Concepts of the Russian Orthodox Church and in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church: A Comparative Analysis

The Issue of War in the Basic Social Concepts of the Russian Orthodox Church and in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church: A Comparative Analysis

Left Behind: Catholic Social Teaching and Justice for People with Intellectual Disabilities

This paper uses themes from Catholic social teaching to challenge Church and society to prioritize a group that is left behind by social injustice: people with intellectual disabilities. It provides background information on intellectual disability, summarizes moral principles of Catholic social doctrine, describes sociological facts about how people with intellectual disabilities are left behind by social factors, and prescribes actionable solutions for treating them as equal members of society. The goal is to identify how to shape a society at all socio-ecological levels in ways that better protect the dignity, solidarity, and participation of people with intellectual disabilities. Although the analysis references the US and is limited to intellectual disabilities, its lessons apply to other countries and disabilities as well.

“Thanks to the Soviet Union”

The article focuses on the radical shift in Czechoslovak culture after World War II, characterized by an ostentatious approval of the Soviet Union, which was reflected in all areas of public life. Interesting testimony of the Sovietization of Czechoslovak culture from 1948 to 1989 is provided by architecture. Initially, it is characterized by historicism, argumentatively supported by the doctrine of socialist realism, and from the late 1950s, a moderated modern style, serving the same representative function (metro, hotels, monuments).

O CONCEITO DE SUSTENTABILIDADE NA MISSÃO DA IGREJA CATÓLICA

The search for sustainable development has always been the target of clashes in the model assumed by today's society. In this sense, it is assumed that the Catholic Church can contribute decisively to this discussion, since, as an institution with more than 2000 years of existence, it has a legacy of socio-environmental teachings that permeate its missionary action in the world. In 2015, Pope Francis strategically published, shortly before COP 21, the social Encyclical Laudato Si, on care for our common home. The document consolidates the principles of the Church's social doctrine, brings the paradigm of integral ecology and proposes the participatory methodology of Laudato Si circles, for the implementation of actions within the local sphere. In this article, the objective was to contribute to a deeper understanding of the sustainability guidelines and practices addressed in the encyclical Laudato Si and, with that, to offer five proposals for local solutions to socio-environmental issues that compromise life and ecosystems as a whole. For this, a bibliographical and exploratory research was carried out, from which it was observed convergence between the social principles consolidated in Laudato Si and sustainable practices, the central proposal of the 2030 Agenda.

The question of war in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church through the prism of the events of Russia's war against Ukraine and in the current theological reflections of ukrainian catholics

The article analyzes the provisions on war in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church through the prism of the events of Russia's war against Ukraine and in the current theological reflections of Ukrainian Catholics. The purpose of the article is to clarify the possibilities of practical application of these provisions of the Catholic social doctrine in the situation of modern war in view of the assessment of their practical implementation by representatives of the RCC and UGCC in the context of today's war chronicle. The scientific novelty of the article is due to the consideration of doctrinal instructions regarding war, taking into account their evaluations by representatives of Catholics in today's Ukraine, who ponder theoretical questions "from the middle" of the practical experience of citizens of a country, against which the enemy has unleashed a brutal war. After all, only one's own experience of living in specific situations makes it possible to fully assess the degree of adequacy of theoretical provisions - actual reality. The achievement of scientific novelty is summarized in the conclusions: the corpus of the Compendium of Social Doctrine in its modern presentation (since 2004), as well as encyclicals and other documents of the Catholic Church of the 19th and 20th centuries, written by people who are representatives of the Euro-Atlantic cultural and civilization circle . Therefore, despite the potential of universality and timelessness (at least within the framework of the Christian worldview), these instructions can be understood and accepted rather by the recipients of the same circle, and do not take into account the entire mental complex of those who are actually outside it. That is probably why, similar to the written postulates of international organizations, the avant-garde builders of which are mainly the representative states of this same circle, the instructions of the Catholic social doctrine may not fully "work" in all situations of military conflicts. In particular, as it is now obvious, Russia has learned to use in its own interests fairly and humanely written laws and guidelines, secular and ecclesiastical, and to brutally violate them, to which both in the Catholic social doctrine and in the documents of international organizations, in the end, only one answer remains - armed power.