Kult Matki Bożej Nieustającej Pomocy w koś­ciele Redemptorystów w Krakowie-Podgórzu

Author(s): Stanisław Piech / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/1999

The picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Podgórze was painted in 1903 in Rome, blessed by pope Leon XIII on 18 April and brought in the same year to Krakow by Father Bernard Łubieński, who was greatly involved in popularising the worship of Virgin Mary related to the painting. The Redemptorists linked their apostolic work with Mary Our Lady of Perpetual Help from the beginning. The painting had already been known to the inhabitants of Podgórze, since its paper copy was hung in the parish church. A turning point in the growth of the worship of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was the introduction of the service known as constant novena, which involves group prayers before her icon on the selected day of every week­ to request some special grace.

A Religious Movement on Trial: Transformative Years, Judicial Questions and the Nation of Islam

Author(s): Sultan Tepe / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is one of the most controversial political-religious groups in the United States. Some define it as an exclusionary race-based group, while others see it as a genuine empowerment movement. Although it has been viewed as an unconventional fringe group, NOI represents an important syncretic movement of its time. Its approach to Islam was marked by a range of currents from the anti-colonial interpretive framework of the Ahmadiyya to Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association forging a highly dynamic narrative to explain the racial injustices and individual and collective requirements of future emancipation. Despite its strong anti-establishment discourse, NOI operates within the parameters legal and judicial system and seeks to reach out to new groups. As NOI faces the challenge of balancing its clashing inner currents rooted in its commitments to orthodox vs. vernacularized Islam or anti-systemic vs. accommodationist policies and often stigmatized by outside observers, it constitutes one of the most promising and precarious black movement.

Ioan Bianu - corespondenta inedita cu preotul Nicolae M. Popescu

Author(s): Policarp Chițulescu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 16-17/2018

90 years after they were written, we are publishing the thoughts, needs, joys and hidden pains conveyed in the folios of nine letters (preserved in the Holy Synod Library), sent by the academician Ioan Bianu to the academician priest Nicolae M. Popescu. Six letters come from the archive of Father Nicolae M. Popescu, and the other three (nr. II, VI, VIII) were bought at an antiquity fair in 2017.Both correspondents loved books and heritage. Both protected books from scattering, offering them to the readers that were thirsting for the Word and Science.Moreover, Ioan Bianu and the priest Nicolae M. Popescu are amongst those that, enthusiastic about the Great Unification, offered Greater Romania all the talent and skills that God had bestowed upon them.

Responsabilitate și solidaritate în vremuri de pandemie

Author(s): His Beatitude Daniel Patriarch of Romania / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2021

This address was conveyed by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel for the meeting of the National Council of Romanian Orthodox Students’ Association (ASCOR),held on 3-4 April 2021, at „Patriarch Justinian” Faculty of Orthodox Theology inBucharest.„All activities we carry out demonstrate that the greatest beauty lies in the goodness of a soul loving God and fellow people, in the family in the church, in school and in the world at large. Thus, our Church encourages the young to becomethe hands of Christ’s love for the humankind, that is, to engage in spiritual and socialprojects and programmes able to meet the growing demands and needs of local communities”,stated the Patriarch of Romania addressing the members of RomanianOrthodox Students’ Association.On April 4, His Beatitude Daniel, the Patriarch of Romania, received atthe Patriarchal Residence the presidents of the branches of Romanian OrthodoxStudents’ Association (ASCOR) in the country. On this occasion, His Beatitudeawarded them the Honorary diploma with medal of year 2020 and congratulatedthem, expressing his hope that all ASCOR activities delayed by the pandemic,would be carried out this year.

Ерос е изкусен ловец или още веднъж за неписаните учения и Платоновата философска система

Author(s): Tsocho Boyadzhiev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 11/2021

The text begins with the statement that the dispute over Plato’s so-called “Unwritten doctrines” (agrapha dogmata), that ruled the minds and determined the fashion in Platonic studies during the second half of the last century, gradually lost its vehemence. The followers of H.-J. Krämer and K. Geiser on the one hand and H. Cherniss and G. Vlastos on the other seem to be satisfied with the results of the discussions and have agreed to a reasonable compromise, acceptable to both sides. The points of “reconciliation” rest on the following agreements: Plato was not only the author of the dialogues but also the tutor in the Academy. These two roles required different strategies of communication based on the advantages and disadvantages of verbal and written discourse. “Plato’s esoteric philosophy” does not mean some secret doctrine but is used in its literal meaning as inner-school teachings. The Platonic philosophy taught to selected students in the Academy was not different from the one in the dialogues but was taught differently by explicit arguments that are otherwise concealed in the written works or revealed through analogies and allegories. The propensities towards dogmatization of one or another model of the universe are neutralized by the dialogical form and by dialogicity as an existential mode of human being. Therefore, the complete interpretation of Plato's views should be based on both direct and indirect sources where the contents of the dialogues should serve as a corrective against possible over-interpretations, and the evidence about the verbal teaching ensures the completion of the great Athenian's intellectual construction. The text also has another minor goal – to respond to the systematic and prolonged attacks, especially on the Internet platforms against the “Tubingen thesis” whose advocate in Bulgaria is the author.

Sakralizacja i desakralizacja

Author(s): Hans Joas / Language(s): Polish Issue: 20/2021

Brak żałoby po śmierci żony proroka Ezechiela (Ez 24,15-27) w świetle retoryki hebrajskiej

Author(s): Jerzy Bosowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2021

The context of the research was that different commentators on the Book of Ezekiel propose different structures for the text un-der study. E.g., D.I Block in the text of Ezek 24:15-27 proposes the structure: (v. 15) - the formula of the word event; vv. 16-24 and 25-27 - the main parts; it ends with the formula of knowledge (vv. 24.27). M. Greenberg divides the text into two parts: A (vv. 15-24) with sub-parts: A1 (vv. 16-17) - God speaks to the prophet; A2 (vv. 18-24) - the prophet speaks to the people; part B (vv. 25-27) - announcing the end of the prophet’s state of non-speaking. B. Tidiman sees a parallel-concentric structure: A (v. 16a) - the announcement of the death of his wife; B (vv. 16b-17) - the prohibition of mourning given to Ezekiel; C (v. 18) - the fulfilment of the announcement of the death of his wife; D (v. 19) - the question of the ex-iles; C’ (vv. 20-21) - the fulfilment of the fate of Jerusalem; B’ (vv. 22-23) - the prohibition of mourning after the fall of Jerusalem; A’ (v. 24) - the prophet’s conduct an example for the people. Therefore, the aim of the research became the discovery of the structure that the inspired author included. The method of Hebrew rhetoric developed by Roland Meynet was applied. Score reached: A (v. 16ab - “the object of desire of your eyes”), B (v. 19b - ques-tion), C (v. 21cd - “the delight of your eyes”), B’ (v. 24Abc - answer), A’ (v. 25bc - “the de-light of their eyes”). The image of God that emerges from the examined text is the Almighty God. A God who, for the sake of a kind of pedagogy, is ready to destroy the only sanctuary dedicated to Him. He does this because of the unfaithfulness of the “house of Israel”, which practised idolatry in this temple.

The effectiveness of REBT in relieving stress and anger on mothers of children with cerebral palsy

Author(s): Ovidiu Teofil Roman / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2021

Cerebral palsy is a child specific disease having a strong stressful impact on the child and family. Rehabilitation is a difficult process, requiring numerous hospitalizations in mental healthcare clinics. Mothers of children diagnosed with cerebral palsy are exposed to prolonged distress, which is often associated with anger. This study aims to highlight how mothers of children with cerebral palsy can be treated by cognitive-behavioral psychotherapeutic means. The results indicate the effectiveness of the REBT-type intervention in ameliorating the distress and anger of mothers attending their hospitalized children with cerebral palsy.

LESTOVKA ȘI PADRUȘNIK LA STAROVERI. UTILITATE ȘI SEMNIFICAȚII

Author(s): Alexandru Chiselev / Language(s): Romanian Issue: III seria3/2021

In this article we analyzed from a structural, utilitarian, and semantic point of view lestovka (prayer rope) and podrushnik (prayer rug), two identity markers important for the Starover group, used during prayer or in the context of rites of passage. We believe that only by understanding the ontogenesis of the object we can know how the objects invested with religious and spiritual values interact with believers as well as why the artifacts are able to sustain sacredness themself. Also, from the strict materiality to the symbolic dimension, from utility to inclusion in a system of meaning (ritual objects, identity markers, marketed products), lestovka and podrushnik can decode the existential meanings of the Old Believer community, but and the relationship between tradition and innovation. On the other hand, in addition to the utilitarian and symbolic roles of these objects, they function as hierotopic objects, with the help of which sacred toposes are created and maintained.

The Production and Transmission of Islamic Knowledge in Europe: Authority, Ethics, and Methodology in the Politics of Imam Training

Author(s): Thijl Sunier / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

This article deals with the training of imams to work for Muslim communities in Europe with a migrant background. Imams are considered the prime actors in conveying Islamic knowledge and the training of these figureheads is a crucial issue with many implications. Imam training is a particular aspect of a broader multifaceted process that includes the production, transmission, reception, and interpretation of Islamic knowledge. Imam training is thus part of the much broader issue of the positioning of Islam and Muslims in Europe, particularly given European governments’ intention to take a more active role. It should be analyzed within this broader political and historical context. The “politics of imam training”, as I call the ongoing debates, negotiations, and initiatives involving the various stakeholders, entail more than just educational logistics. At heart, these are issues of authority and legitimacy and ultimately the questions of who is entitled to produce, transmit, and, of course, teach Islamic knowledge, and who is accepted by Muslim communities. This aspect has not been widely addressed by researchers.

Current challenges and societal responsibility of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Hercegovina

Author(s): Dževada Šuško / Language(s): Bosnian,English Issue: 2/2021

The Islamic Community has been the core organisation serving the needs of Muslims in and from Bosnia and Herzegovina for 140 years. It has faced diverse challenges over its history but the current are different. Challenges currently being faced by Muslims and society in Bosnia and Herzegovina (and elsewhere) include how to counter accusations of radicalization and violent extremism, how to make a meaningful contribution to peace and stability, and how to respond to the pandemic, climate change, and the migrant crisis. This paper examines the Islamic Community’s response to these issues.

Shabbir Akhtar, The Verses and the Fury Be Careful with Muhammad! Salman Rushdie and the Battle for Free Speech (2nd Edition with a New Preface)

Author(s): Mirza Sarajkić / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

Review of: Shabbir Akhtar, The Verses and the Fury Be Careful with Muhammad! Salman Rushdie and the Battle for Free Speech (2nd Edition with a New Preface). BIJAK Publishing, 2020. pp. 187. ISBN: 978-623-94742-2-5.

Omer Hasan al-Qijjam, Literarni aspekti kur’anskog teksta: analiza tefsirskih teorija

Author(s): Hasan Hasić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 2/2021

Review of: Omer Hasan al-Qijjam, Literarni aspekti kur’anskog teksta: analiza tefsirskih teorija. Prijevod s arapskog: Berin Bajrić, Sarajevo: Centar za napredne studije, 2020. Str. 200, ISBN: 978-9926-471-35-4.

Odkrywanie cielesnego Boga. Refiguracje postaci Chrystusa w literaturze współczesnej

Author(s): Adam Regiewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 12/2021

One of the important theological problems is the issue of the corporeality of Christ. Especially the issue of the risen body raises a lot of controversy. Despite the dogmatic confirmation of His tangibility, the Church has been treating the attempts to physically confirm the risen body from the very beginning with some distance, which is reminiscent of the situation of „unfaithful Thomas”. Nowadays, culture manifests this corporeality, emphasizing „the way of Tomasz” as the only way to prove His presence. The modernist modernization of Christ, immersion in ordinary life, everyday life, and finally carnality, has become a hallmark of literature. The article is a proposal to describe this situation on selected examples of the novels by J.M. Coetzee, J. Saramago, B. Hrabal and I. Karpowicz.

The Uniting Cultural Topoi In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Czeslaw Milosz’s The Issa Valley

Author(s): Esther Makwin Ephraim / Language(s): English Issue: 12/2021

This paper explores religion beliefs as the cultural topoi connecting the People of Gine in Lithuania to the People of Umuofia community in Nigerian via the books Things Fall Apart and The Issa Valley by Chinua Achebe and Czeslaw Milosz respectively. Both writers have earned global reputation in passionately disseminating their cultural values and experiences. Comparative Literature Studies have been employed as the theoretical base for identifying the points of similarities in religious beliefs and pagan practices in these cultures. They particularly discovered that among the deities that these people serve, both communities have female goddesses responsible for fertility, these are the goddess Liethua for Gine, and Ani for Umuafia, among other superstitious beliefs and accompanying practices.

Spis Lauretanischer Blumen-Garten jako svědek umělecké výzdoby pražské Lorety okolo roku 1700

Author(s): Marie Vymazalová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2022

Prague's Loreto is one of the oldest Baroque pilgrimage sites in the Czech lands. It became a distinctive spiritual centre of Baroque Prague in its heyday. Since its foundation in 1626, Loreto has been next to the Capuchin monastery in Hradčany, whose brothers it was officially entrusted in 1651. The whole complex developed until 1737, but partial works of artistic decoration were still worked on thereafter. The spiritual guide Lauretanischer Blumen-Garten was published in 1700. It was written by Loreto´s sacristian P. Josef of Bílina. The text leads the reader through the pilgrimage site and offers him several prayers to local chapels. Some of these prayers are accompanied by graphic images. The aim of this text is to prove, based on a comparison of preserved artistic decoration and print Lauretanischer Blumen-Garten, that the basic layout of Loreto was established as early as 1691. And the place is thus one of the early evidence of the development of religious reverence in the Czech lands returning to Catholicism during the 17th century, moreover with an emphasis on Franciscan spirituality. The text of some prayers was based on the fact that the reader simultaneously contemplated the altar canvas or statue (so works of art that has been preserved in Loreta to this day) to deepen its spiritual experience.

De septem gradibus amoris XIII-XIV

Author(s): Jan van Ruysbroeck / Language(s): Slovak,Latin Issue: 1/2022

It was the intimate affinity of van Ruusbroec's works with the attunement of Franciscan thought that attracted the Capuchin author of The Rule of Perfection. And that is the real reason why we have included here this aptly chosen translation of the final two chapters of De septem gradibus amoris. From the Latin translation by Vavrincus Surius of 1552, which is part of the critical edition of Jan van Ruysbroeck's collected works (De septem gradibus amoris. Opera omnia IX (ed. R. Faesen). Turnhout: Brepols, 2003. CCCM 109, pp. 204-222.) translated and with a short introduction by Ladislav Tkáčik.

Secondary Characters Coloring the Complex Cultural Atmosphere in Unorthodox

Author(s): Miquel Pujol-Tubau,Laura Santamaria Guinot / Language(s): English Issue: 55/2022

The objective of this article is to analyze how different languages in the series Unorthodox convey information on characters’ identities, and whether, at the same time, the choice of language produces different effects on the film narrative itself. Since we are dealing with audiovisual products, in any full account of the story, the image must be considered as an essential factor affecting the audiences’ interpretation of the show. The article analyzes how multilingualism is rendered in its Spanish version and shows that different translation solutions may change how each character’s identity is perceived. We found that the main four languages of the series (English, Yiddish, German, and Hebrew) are used to convey different personal and social identities to each character. Besides, linguistic choices between Yiddish and English show the evolution of the main character towards freedom. Although multilingualism is hardly present in the visual channel, cultural references conveyed through images help the viewer to follow key shifts in the story.

CONFESSING FAITH BEYOND THE COMMUNIST BARS

Author(s): Anton Savelovici / Language(s): English Issue: 15/2022

The confrontation between good and evil, in the 20th century, had frightening proportions. Through a twisted logic, ideologically and “scientifically” reasoned,there have been destroyed spiritually, morally, socially and economically the destinies of many people, ethnicities and countries. For some people the psychical and physical salvation from the terror of the materialistic-atheist utopia was assuming a spiritual life

Hrvoje RELJA: "Tomistička filozofija"

Author(s): Ivan Macut / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 4/2021

Review of: Hrvoje RELJA: "Tomistička filozofija"– Leykam international, Zagreb, 2021., 436 p. Reviewed by: Ivan Macut.