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Modern man lives in a world of mass media, which is why modern communicationtechnologies have become a new challenge for the Church. Theyoften take over its function, shaping their own systems of values and equippingcustomers with a new worldview that determines what they think, whatthey do and who they are.The mass media, generating hype, cause misinformation and confusion to therecipient. Man doesn’t know what is important because all issues are presented tohim as equally important. Also, what concerns the religious dimension is representedas having a temporary meaning only. Such an environment of mass mediais not conducive to intelligent processing of the messages content.Preachers of the word of God – priest, an evangelizer, and catechist – musttake into account the impact of mass media in their proclamation and learnfrom them how to effectively reach modern man with the Gospel. Today’sproclamation of the Gospel must integrate word and image, free from the clichésin the statements on religious subjects, should use the language of imagingand rediscover the beauty of biblical symbols. Skillfully used the mediacan become an important tool of the new evangelization in the highly computerizedpost-modern society.
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After World War II, the Church both in the Diocese of Przemyśl and throughout Poland had to face with a multitude of new issues. The ecclesiastical situation on the above-mentioned area was even more difficult considering the specific character of political and social circumstances, which firstly caused dividing the diocese by a military cordon and secondly created the state of temporariness connected with the activity of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA). No one needs to be convinced that apart from population and material loss, each war wreaks great havoc in terms of morality, and restoring stabilisation in such a delicate matter entails immense effort on the part of clergy. One of the ways to engage in pastoral work in this area are missions and retreats, to which the present article is devoted. Its purpose is to depict consicely the efforts of priests who organized spiritual excerises for members of their parishes, very often in the face of material and organizational problems, and most of all the obstacles posed by the communist system. Additionally, the author focuses on the requirements for preachers made by diocesan authorities and presents a general outline of missions in 18 chosen parishes of the Diocese of Przemyśl. What is more, lots of attention is devoted to closed retreats.
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This article addresses the two fundamental dimensions of an integral formation of future permanent deacons, namely intellectual and pastoral formation. The rapid change that has come about in the conditions in which the per- manent diaconate is exercised, social and cultural changes, the development of ecclesiastical and secular sciences and the development of Christian life in the various moments of its existence all demand of the deacon a solid formation. This is an essential condition upon which the fruitfulness of the perma- nent diaconate depends. For this reason it is of great significance. The intellectual and pastoral formation of candidates for the permanent diaconate are bound tightly together and complement one another. The programmes for the formation in question are found in the national Rationes institutionis diaconorum permanentium, prepared by the Episcopal Conferences and approved by the Congregation for the Clergy. Intellectual formation must embrace all of the disciples that belong to the ecclesiastical sciences and those connected with them. Pastoral formation, on the other hand, must present the theoretical and practical aspects of the ministry of future deacons so that they can carry out their pastoral duties effectively among the People of God.
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The use of wheaten bread and wine of grape as the matter of the Eucharist is common among Christians and almost unanimously confirmed since apostolic times. Evidence about the use of other products for the celebration of the Eucharist are extremely rare and typical of minor Christian sects that did not survive the confrontation with the common practice of the Church. The purpose of this paper was to show the existence of the particular Eucharistic practices in the ancient Christianity that have not been accepted by the great tradition. In the first part of this article is discussed the problem of the products used by Jesus at the Last Supper and by the first Christian communities. The second part presents the practice of some small Christian communities to use for the Eucharist products other than those confirmed in the NT (additional cups of milk or honey, cheese, blood). At the end it appears that recourse to arguments from tradition to justify any possible changes of the matter is unfounded.
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“One of the fundamental principles of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council was the concept of participation of the faithful in the Church’s public worship. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium” expresses this in paragraph n° 14: „Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation [participatio plena, conscia et actuosa] in liturgical celebration which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy”. In light of fifty years of experience of implementation of the liturgical reforms the Church needs to deepen its own understanding of what full, con- scious and active participation in the liturgy really means for Christian communities, where still the emphasis is placed mostly on the external forms of participation.
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What is the point of performing organ music, music “without the words” in the liturgy? What is the function of instrumental music in the liturgy? What organ music can be performed in the liturgy? An attempt to answer these qu- estions is the article “Organ Music in the Liturgy”. The author takes the issue of the place of organ solo music in the liturgy. The article consists of three parts. The first part discusses the organ music in church documents issued after the Second Vatican Council. The second one gives rules (criteria) for proper (correct) selection of organ music in the liturgy. In this section, the author draws attention to the organ music performed during the administration of the sacrament of confirmation, marriage and funeral liturgy. The last part discusses the organ literature useful to perform during the liturgy. Organ literature, which can be performed during the liturgy is very extensive. In the article the author confined himself to discuss Polish organ literature that is rich and informative.Organ music is an important part of the liturgy. It also participates in the double task of music in the liturgy, which is the glory of God and the sanctification of man.
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Knowledge of the pulpit eloquence history may serve the contemporary ministry of the word. The 19th century is featured by coexistence of three overlapping homiletic trends: – of enlightenment, where the purpose of a homily was to bring up a goodman and citizen, – biblical and kerygmatic, which is characterized in a return to the Sacred Scripture and the Fathers of the Church,– neo-scholastic, dominated by catechism sermons.The preaching renovation in Germany, England, France, and Italy affectedthe pulpit eloquence and religiousness in Poland. Some refreshing currents started to come to the Polish lands thanks to the so-called “Great Emigration”. The reason for improvement of the Polish preaching was getting acquainted with works of European preachers and a richer use of the Treasury of Scripture and the Christian tradition. The fruit were homiletic handbooks, first homiletic journals, and preachers’ works.In preaching handbooks and journals there were many guidelines concerning the construction of sermons, their typology, and the ways of their delivery. The article discusses the main forms of preaching in the 19th century Poland, and they were the proper sermon, the homily, the catechism teaching, and the missionary sermon. In terms of merits, most sermons can be accused of excessive didacticism and moralizing, but they should be appreciated for interest in homily. St. Józef Sebastian Pelczar, while assessing that period, demanded from preachers an increased zeal for the cause of God, a greater dedication to the service, and diligence at work. The postulates are still valid today, when the Church calls us to the New Evangelization.
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Cosa significa credere nella Chiesa? La quale è una dimensione individua- le e comunitaria dell’atto della fede cristiana? Cosa è personalità e ragionalità della fede? Queste domende sono importante per un’uomo battezato, per un membro della Chiesa. Una dimensione personale della fede viene da una viva- ce relazione, la quale si svolge fra uomo e Dio. Così fra „Tu” e „tu” si crea un legame che si svolge come una ragionevole risposta all’iniziativa dell’amore di Dio. Così l’obbedienza della fede diventa una fiducia nell’amore a Lui che offre se stesso mediante Passione, Morte e Risurrezione di Gesù, perchè Lui è credibile nelle sue parole e azioni.Un trinitario fondamento della fede cristiana si esprime in tal modo che un’atto della fede possiede una dimensione comunitaria. È un atto individu- ale, però non isolato, espresso anche nella Chiesa. Cioè si esprime per una dichiarazione e dimostrazione: „credo” e „crediamo”. La fede tocca la vitalità e finalità della persona e possiede un carattere dinamico e eschatologico. È una relazione totale a Dio vivente, cosa significa non soltanto credere che Dio esiste, ma anche affidare a Lui per motivo delle opere realizzate in Gesù Cristo, anzì significa dare una testimonianza di carità a Dio e al prossimo nella vita degna della persona umana la quale aspetta all’eternità nell’amore fedele, fino alla fine.
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Der Theologie als Glaubenswissenschaft liegt der christlichen Glaube zu- grunde. Grundsätzlich kann der Begriff „Glaube“ Verschiedenartiges bezeichnen. Gewöhnlich werden beim Glaubensbegriff vier Bedeutungsvariationen unterschieden (Meinung, Vertrauen, Urheber einer Meinung und „Glaube“ als Inhalt einer Glaubensbeziehung). Die Unterscheidung von „Glaube“ „glauben“ als Zustimmung zu einer vorgelegten Lehre (als inhaltliches Element des Glaubens) und als von einer Person getragenes und verantwortetes Geschehen (als personale Bezug des Glaubens) führt zu einer weiteren terminologischen Differenzierung: fides qua und fides quae. Das Ziel der durchgeführten Forschungen unter den Theologiestudierenden an der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Opole (2006-2008) ist die Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist der Inhalt des Glau- bens der Theologiestudenten? Wie sieht das fides quae der Theologiestudenten aus? Wie weit sind ihnen die Glaubenswahrheiten aus dem Glaubensbekenntnis der Kirche bekannt? Die Beantwortung dieser Fragen wurde in folgenden vier Schritten angestrebt. Zuerst werden synthetisch die Begriffe „Glaube“ und „Glaubensbekenntnis der Kirche“ präsentiert (1). Dann wird die Methodologie der Untersuchungen dargestellt (2); weiter werden die Ergebnisse interpretiert (3) und Forschungspostulate formuliert (4).
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In 1985 John Paul II drew our attention to the power of revolution that was happening at the time and emphasized that ‘it is the revolution that brings the change of systems and transmission techniques but it embraces the whole world of culture, society, and the human spirituality. Consequently, it cannot apply its own internal rules but has to derive its criteria from the deepest human truth and the truth about the man created in resemblance to God.’ (John Paul II, 1985) Such statement sounds even more powerful today in the context of growing impact of media and, at the same time unproportionally quieter but growing at greater rate – the voice calling for more human societies and the defense of the most important of human values. The media constitute the power of self exciting technological development, more and more promotion campaigns, possibilities, more and more, and we more and more often do not manage to follow the novelties and so- metimes we do not even want to. The youngest are very determined to keep up with the development and for them staying in touch on Facebook is more important than real contact. And we know that real face to face contact, a real look with deep and sensitive care of a parent about a child, a counselor about their ward, a man about a man cannot be replaced with any, even the latest and the most sophisticated electronic medium. Therefore, I would like in my short speech ro invite you to taking greater care about the real interpersonal communication which is the key to all human and interpersonal processes. At the same time, I would like to emphasize the power of a live and beautiful speech which is vital in human and interpersonal communication.
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Under the provisions of the state and church documents the analysis of the conditions and ways of employment of religion teachers in the public education system was done in this article. Religion teacher can be employed by headmaster of school who has to respect the principles of the Charter of Teacher. It can be done only on the basis of a personal canonical mission received from the diocesan bishop. Religion teacher can get this canonical mission only if qualified to teach religion in the public education system defined by the agreement between state and church in 2000. Employment of a teacher is established on the basis of appointment or contract of employment. In the case of replacement of an absent teacher employment is established for a limited period. Religious education in kindergartens and schools of all types take place twice a week (with children aged 3-4 years – about 15 minutes, with children aged 5-6 years - about 30 minutes) or two hours (school units) per week.
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Missionary in its existence, the Church has a missionary mission in the world. Its unity and unicity come from the trinitarian,Christological, pneumatological, ecclesial and apostolic fundament, thusthere is no possibility for more missions different in their aim and content. The Saviour Himself was present in the urban areas (Matthew 8:5; John5:2 etc.) and in the rural areas (Luke 24: 13; Mark 14:3 etc.). After His example, the Saint Apostles took their missions to the unchristian population, Judaic or pagan, from the antique cities and the peripheralvillages. In the actual context, the Romanian urban areas and the ruralareas pass through various changes. Some regard the diminishing and the abolition of the rural space, others try to implement the principlesof postmodern urbanism in the strongly developed rural localities. In both cases, the Church, through its missionary activity inside the parish, expresses its concern about the maintenance of the Orthodox spirituality,both in the urban and rural ideas, in a form as original as possible. The village is, at least as historical example, the most palpable model of acommunity and communion life around Christ and His Church.
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The present paper forwards the interpretation from a pastoral missionary perspective of two writings in the Romanian literature, PopaTanda by Ioan Slavici and Ciorbă de bolovan by Vasile Voiculescu. Thetwo authors are rooted in Christian morality; moreover, by means of thetwo writings, each author manages to reach the profound reality of a community which can lose and regain this quality, of the communion which loses its Christological centre, but is able to rediscover it. In theend, both writings suggest that man cannot lose the seed of charisma which restores his side of being in communion, therefore able to rise again. Slavici, a classical author of the Romanian literature, builds hisnovella in a realistic key, using humour, while Voiculescu writes a story-parable;Voiculescu’s story was written in his last stage of creation,the last ten years before the arrest which was shortly followed by hisdeath. The present paper comprises a pastoral-missionary approach of characters, places, and especially events. Moreover, the interpretation relates to the needs of contemporary man, as well as to the problems that a shepherd of souls may encounter in a community.
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This paper aims to analyze the liturgical language used bythe erudite monk Mihail Moxa in his religious writings. The Romanian literature had considerably enriched in the seventeenth century because of this monk who, at the request of Bishop Theophilus, writes TheUniversal Chronicle (1620), the first writing of its kind in Romanian.Convinced that a nation can advance only through awareness of theplace they assume in history, the Bishop Theophilus of the Râmnic asked Moxa to write two religious works, translations of St. Gregory – The Signification of the Sacred Liturgy – and of St. Basil – Teachings for Priests, both kept in a manuscript that is currently at the British Library in London. In a time when the cult language was Slavonic, two papers written in Romanian were more than necessary. By translating these two works, the monk earnestly fulfilled the role of the Holy Word’s preacher.
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Christ’s sacrifice, the confessor sacrifice of martyrs and ofthe Eucharistic sacrifice are in a close interdependence. Christ is the Archmartyr par excellence because His death is a martyr’s death, the Cross is a terrible martyric ordeal. Martyrs are those who testify to thewhole world for the Church of Christ, where they remain through thesacrifice of their own lives. They are those who die for their faith and thusbecome witnesses of faith, of the power of the soul over the body and thepower of resurrection over death. Martyrs are those who have offered their lives to Christ as a well received sacrifice, showing to the world that theydid not want to save their lives or to obtain certain social or personal benefits, recognizing that the human soul is more precious than the whole world. Martyrs are a symbol for the whole Christian religion because forthem the teaching of Christ was not just a set of theoretical notions, but aliving and life-giving word. The dynamism of the Church is accomplished by the living and non sacrificed sacrifice, meaning the dead and risen Christ. Eucharist is not just a symbol of a fact that occurred sometimein history, but is it self the eschatological reality of a world that began concomitant with the Mystical Supper and continues until the end of ages. The Eucharist holds an eschatological dimension as by it man lives with and in Christ. It gives man real and personal contact with Christ, making him live yet from the earth this eschatological life.
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In this study, the author presents the main elements that characterize the missionary concept, of the great theologian and philosopher interwar Nichifor Crainic, analysing both his philosophical work, the poetic and theological, widespread both in antum or postum published volumes pages as well as pages of magazines Gândirea, Vremi,Ramuri, Transylvania etc. Unlike quasi-known missionary conceptions of Eastern theology, Crainic concept approach is distinguished both by its originality as well as through the way in which the author correlates with the patriotic Christian principles, foot printed without falling intofilets, with the Christian ideal and national feeling. Rid of the some contrasting attitudes of the controversies that have generated both actionsas well as some of his ideas, author researched opera proves equally prodigious through stretch and content, and harnessing its emphasis isvery profitable for Romanian Orthodox theology. Therefore, the present research, which proposes a new approach, comparing his opera withcritical opinions about it, is meant to be both a tribute to the great authorand a fruitful and useful research, that adheres to the theme proposed inthis year by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, having multiple practical applications.
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In this article we’ve tried to analyze the new coordinates which redefine the identity of the phenomenon of secularization. This phenomenon, we cannot say that is outdated or that it is linear, but hassuffered some “paradigm” changes. New paradigms don’t turn society“atheist” but diversify it (religiously) so much so, that traditional religions are no longer able to keep up with new religious movements. Nowadays man no longer removes religion from society but returns it, ina different form given by his own whims. Every person has the right to choose the form of religiosity that suits them. Man is not in the serviceof religion but religion in his service. Transcendent has value only if itserves the immanent world. Religion is no longer the window for thesacred, and the holy becomes merely a public commodity. The differencein relation to the classical forms of secularization is that now the sacred becomes revitalized, returned, but in more shapes.
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Governor of the National Bank of Sweden, second General Secretary of ONU, professor at the Uppsala University,Dag Hammarskjöld was a good diplomat and a good Christian too. He proposed a new way of seeing the Christian Mission and to practicethe Christian Principles and he was, for that, classified between “the contemporary mystics”. Unfortunately, in Romanian Theology, heis almost unknown. He’s most important work of theology, Markings, wasn’t until now translated in Romanian language, and he’s ideas a real most unknown in Orthodox Theology4. That is the reason for what,the author of this research, which contributed at the dissemination ofhis ideas, written this study. In its pages, is analysed the way how see our author the profile of a Christian Missionary and there are presented the main qualities of the Christian Missionary, us are they seen by the Swedish diplomat. The research is based on his works and on the articles and studies about his life and activity. The work it will be a newapproach in Romanian Literature and it we hope it will be the start of the discovering Dag Hammarskjöld in Romanian Theology.
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