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As it is known, fasting is the total or partial abstention or restraint from food and drink for a limited time for religious-moral purposes. Physical fasting must be harmoniously combined with spiritual fasting, in the sense that abstinence from food is twinned with abstinence from sin. At the same time, constituting itself as a spiritual exercise, fasting also receives a religiousmoral character, in the sense that beyond the form of a simple diet, abstinence from food has the role of cultivating the spiritual life, by intensifying the life of prayer, as and of the other virtues specific to life in Christ through the Holy Spirit; especially: humility, repentance, meekness, justice, pure heart, peace of mind, and especially the acts of charity through which we show our love for God and for our fellow men.
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The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church approved six documents, one message and one encyclical. Before releasing the final form of these documents a long and rigorous debate was necessary within a series of Pan-Orthodox meetings. The document about “The Importance of Fasting and its Observance Today” didn’t undergo fundamental changes following the Council of Crete, although many hierarchs expected major alterations regarding this subject. However, the second one, namely “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Christian World,” suffered most of the amendments during the Synod and attracted the majority of the reactions both before and after the meeting of the Holy and Great Council.
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Cornel Givulescu is an important part of the musical pantheon of the last century. Born in Săvârşin, Arad County, he was a priest, composer, musicologist, conductor, and, in the same time, a remarkable professor. He left a deep mark on music and on one of the institutions he loved and to which he dedicated many years of his life - The National Academy of Music “Ghe orghe Dima” of Cluj Napoca, where he was a member of the department of Theory – Solfeggio, a life-long tribute paid to the continent of sounds. The present study depicts Corneliu Givulescu’s evolution and the defining moments in his life and activity, highlighting the years spent as professor to the Academy of Music. We also mention his creations, many of them inedited and original, as the oratorio “Golgota”, the harmonized Liturgies for male or mixt choir, the Eucharist prayers, the musical Creed, and numerous important texts from the New Testament musically transposed by the composer Cornel Givulescu.
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The purpose of the historical truth is to know and understand the historical context and to fructify this information for world’s development. If one were to summarise the activity and mission of Father Patriarch Justinian, the most suitable words would be those engraved on his tomb: “I fought the good fight. I kept faith unspoiled. I reached the end of my life. From now onwards, I’ll be expecting the virtue reward that Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me that day”.
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Our research is dedicated firstly to an apologetic analysis about the dialogue between “religion and science”. In this manner, we tried to underline the starting point and the background of the Russian dialectical materialism, as a short historical and conceptual presentation of the most important ideas. The second part of our research is dedicated to Saint Luke of Crimea, an emblematic orthodox hierarch who served the Russian Orthodox Church in the first part of the communist period. He was in the same time a great man of science, dedicated to the medical experience. Saint Luke is presented as an apologist of the Church because of his courageous disputes with the dialectical materialism. In his works we can find many logical answers in the dialogue between religions and science.
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Stanisław Wojeński – who was Bishop of Kamieniec in 1680–1685 – was the author of a printed account of the Polish-Turkish wars of 1684 and was one of the distinctive (albeit forgotten) figures of the Church and political life during the reign of King Jan III Sobieski. He was the son of the Rector of the Cracow Academy and received his education in Poland, Germany and Italy. Since the reign of King Jan II Kazimierz, he was active not only as a diplomat, but also as a Canon of the Cracow Cathedral and as the Archdeacon of the Collegiate Chapter in Pilica. In 1677, he was nominated Bishop of Kamieniec Podolski, which at that time was under the Turkish jurisdiction. However, it was not until three years later that his nomination received papal approval, the delay being due not only to the geopolitical situation of the Diocese of Kamieniec, which had temporarily been lost to the Turks by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but also to the fact that Wojeński had been accused – first before the Apostolic Nuncio in Warsaw and later in the Roman Curia itself – of necromancy, lack of personal piety, involvement in the anti-imperial opposition in Hungary (i.e. in today’s Slovakia, which at that time belonged to the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen) and of having falsified his own descent (which was not in fact noble) in order to qualify for a senior Church dignitary.
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In the paper, the Jesus' view on divorces is analyzed. Under the question was an “exception” which is derived usually from the clause “except it be for fornication” (Math. 19:9) and interpreted as a possibility to accept divorces. The phrase was put into Hebrew/Aramaic context of 1st century Judaism and Jewish mentality of the presumed readers of the Matthew Gospel (the phrase never occurs in any other book of the New Testament). Next, wide view of the Talmudic arguments on the divorce issue was given to understand what the Pharisees could have meant asking for “divorce causes.” The cause of fornica- tion (adultery) was analyzed separately as it was viewed by Jewish Law and rabbis, and then the Jesus' opinion was interpreted in the proper context. The conclusion is that Jesus even adding this “exception” never meant a possibility to accept a divorce under any condition.
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The new evangelization constitutes new pedagogy of the gospel truth transmission taking new methods into account, forms and means of reaching contemporary cultures and the contemporary man. Deepened reflection over the pre-evangelization and the evangelization turns out to be equally impor- tant in order to understand current efforts of the Church in handing over the Gospel. How the current analyses prove the contemporary man is longing for God's truth and love searching for the foundation for his life. He wants to build his life and the Christian identity on the one which isn't undergoing a change - Jesus Christ. From here the new evangelization would be a reply to challenges of the today which are of anthropological and social-cultural and religious-church nature.
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La Chiesa considera l'handicappato nel fisico, nella mente o con altre carenze una persona particolarmente amata da Gesu Cristo. Dopo il 1989 se ne e sviluppata una vera consapevolezza e sono stati compiuti progres- si nell'educazione speciale , il che significa che la famiglia e con le altre istituzioni educative, sotto la guida della Chiesa, pud dare alla persona la possibilita di partecipare alla vita della fede e della grazia della salvezza. At- teggiamento ambita della Chiesa verso le persone disabili viene dalla conti- nuazione della missione di Gesu, che e la pienezza della Parola di Dio rivolta all'uomo. Questa Parola e piena di amore, perche Dio ha creato l'uomo per amore e per amore resta nel dialogo e nella cooperazione. Gesu si identifica con le persone povere dando loro lo stesso valore inalienabile (Mt 25,40). La persona disabile e chiamata a portare nel corpo e nella psiche la Passio- ne di Cristo. Il Santo Padre e consapevole del valore della vita dei disabili. Esprima costantemente la sua preoccupazione per chi mostra Cristo, spe- cialmente con la sua sofferenza. Una persona disabile come membro della comunita della Chiesa e anche chiamata a ricevere le esigenze della santita di base: lo strumento essenziale educativo della chiesa e la chatechesi. Giovan- ni Paolo II sottolinea che gli uomini handicappati monitorati a causa della loro particolare situazione, nella vita richiedono cure speciali, hanno diritto allo stesso modo dei loro coetanei di conoscere i misteri della fede. La Chie- sa cattolica in Polonia ha adottato e confermato le norme generali relative all'accoglienza delle persone disabili nel mondo e nella Chiesa. Il primo principio e quello di trattare un disabile come persona con diritti inalienabi- li. Questa affermazione deriva dal fatto che un essere umano ha il proprio, unico valore della dignita e della propria autonomia dal momento del con- cepimento e in ogni fase del suo sviluppo, indipendentemente dal loro stato di benessere fisico, mentale o spirituale. Il secondo principio - strettamente legato allo primo - e che una persona piena di disabilita e un soggetto che ha tutti i diritti, e si dovrebbe quindi agevolare la partecipazione alla societa e alla Chiesa. Questo e tutto cid che deve avvenire ai livelli e nei limiti delle capacita di ogni handicappato. Il terzo principio sottolinea che il livello di fede della societa si misura sulla capacita di proteggere i disabili con stima ed amore.
More...Religijna interpretacja rzeczywistości w wypowiedziach Adolfa Hitlera oraz w listach pasterskich niemieckich biskupów katolickich podczas II wojny światowej
Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Kriegsreden Adolf Hitlers und die Hirtenworte dreier maβgeblicher Vertreter des deutschen Episkopats wahrend des Zweiten Weltkriegs jeweils unter dem Aspekt der religiosen Deutung des Krieges. Bereits in seiner friihcn Programmschrift Mein Kampf hat Hitler eine rassistisch fundierte, (pseudo-)religiose Weltanschauung entfaltet, die er sei- ner Deutung und Rechtfertigung des Krieges in seinen Kriegsreden zugrunde legte. Dabei griff er auf Vorstellungsmuster und Deutungskategorien aus der abendlandisch-christlichen Religionsgeschichte zuriick, anhand derer auch die deutschen Bischofe in ihrer pastoralen Sorge um das deutsche Volk und die deutschen Soldaten die vielfaltigen Herausforderungen des Krieges zu deuten suchten. Zwar erfolgte die religiose Deutung des Krieges durch Hitler einer- seits und die deutschen Bischofe andererseits vor einem vollig verschiedenen weltanschaulichen Hintergrund. Die Tatsache jedoch, dass sowohl Hitler als auch die deutschen Bischofe vielfach dasselbe religiose Vokabular verwendeten, machte den deutschen Katholiken eine Unterscheidung der Geister alles andere als leicht. Weil auch die Predigten des damaligen Bischofs von Breslau, Adolf Kardinal Bertram, in die Untersuchung einbezogen werden, stellt die Studie einen Beitrag zur jϋngeren Diozesangeschichte des Erzbistums Breslau dar.
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The number and quality of priestly and religious vocations is the key issue for the life of the Church. The practice of so - called first Thursdays of the month originated in the Church in 1934. It involves offering within a given day of every month of the mass and Holy Communion as well as other prayers,work, suffering and joy through the intercession of Mary, for the sanctifica- tion of priests and religious persons, and for the numerous and good vocations to the service of God. The initiator of this practice was a Salvatorian priest, Fr. Paschalis Schmid (1887-1957). The article “Pray to the Lord of the harvest”. Eighty years of celebrating the Priest's Day shows an overview of the origins and the essential elements of this pastoral initiative, highlighting its timeli- ness, which is not so much due to the respect for history, but because it touches the sensitive element of the vocation Ministry.
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From the very beginning of the Church's history the catechumenal peda- gogy played a crucial role. Its aim is to foster the development of mature Chris- tians able to show concrete signs of conversion, i.e. trust in God and love of enemies. There were times when catechumenate was abandoned but in the most important periods of Church's history it was fully bloomed. The peda- gogy of catechumenate is based on quite simple principles: the Word of God, liturgy, and community. This pedagogy leads a candidate for baptism or an already baptized person to be able to fully receive the grace of it, which is the surrender to God's love and forward it into the world where he or she lives.The pedagogy of catechumenate seems to be universal and applicable for many purposes: for religious education and formation, for reviving faith, for new evangelization and for reinforcing a believer on different stages of human development over time.
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Das Schlussdokument der 5. Generalversammlung des Episkopats von La- teinamerika und der Karibik wird als SchMssel zum Verstandnis des ganzen Pontifikats von Papst Franziskus dargestellt. Man betont, dass es die groβe An- lichkeit zwischen diesem Dokument und dem Apostolischen Schreiben Evange- lii Gaudium und den papstlichen Predigten gibt. Im Artikel wurde die Spezifik des Blicks auf die Verkiindignrig von Gottes Wort im Dokument von Aparecida beschrieben.Als Ergebnis unserer Analyse darf man zu drei wichtigen Schlussfolgerun- gen kommen. Erstens muss man klar feststellen, dass die alle Glaubigen, kraft ihrer Taufe, dazu berufen sind, Jϋnger und Missionare Jesu Christi zu sein. Als Jesus seine Jϋnger ruft, damit sie ihm folgen, gibt er ihnen den eindeuti- gen Auftrag, das Evangelium vom Reiche Gottes allen Volkern zu yerkiinden. Bischofe von Lateinamerika bemerken, dass diesem Auftrag nachzukommen, ist keine Sache der Wahl, sondern gehort wesentlich zur Identitat des Chri- sten. Zweitens soll man betonen, dass alle Glaubigen aufgerufen sind, pastoral immer neu umzukehren. Diese Behauptung zaigt deutlich, dass das Haupthin- dernis, die sich in unserer Zeit stellt, wenn wir das Evangelium vom Reiche Gottes yerkiinden mochten, nicht auβer uns, sondern in uns (in der Kirche) liegt. Letztendlich gibt Dokument von Aparecida viele Beispiele wie man heute predigen soll. Es geht hier um bildliche Sprache, die fóhrt dazu, dass der Leser oder der Zuhorer die geschilderte Probleme mit einem bestimmten Bild assozi- iert und natiirlich besser in Erinnerung behalt.
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A noticeable decrease in the participation of young people in religious practices leads to reflection on the essence of the liturgy, as well as on the role of liturgical catechesis, which is to open the catechized to the world of liturgy. A good opportunity to reflect is also the appearance of new documents programming religion teaching in Polish schools. The article examines both the Core Curriculum of the Catholic Church catechesis and the Religion Curriculum. The analysis leads to conclusions about the proper scheme of the liturgical formation of young people, as well as to the hope that the program framework will be reflected in the textbooks being created.
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The paper presents the factual situation of the scourge of separation and divorce in Croatia and, based on the interviews published in a study on these processes, deals in a special way with their impact on the spouses and especially the children from such broken marriages and families. There is also research on the transmission of the culture of separation and divorce to the next generations. Together with Amoris laetitia, the paper discusses what to do and asks the community to help this huge number of traumatized people through the processes of forgiveness and reconciliation, as well as their integration into communities and to be close to them and helpful with great solidarity. Of course, available are also the Church’s professional legal services with which an analysis should be conducted of the marital and family situations and see what the Church legislation recommends. In all these processes, which are often lengthy, they are supported by religious closeness and solidarity of the faithful.
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