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Since the end of the ninth century in many Christian countries in Europe already existed special representatives of the Holy See for the set- tlement of church-political problems, which were resolved according to the rules of canon law and international law. The purpose of these pope delegates, of different degrees of competence (depending on the time and political and social circumstances) is the regulation of relations between the Church and individual states so that the former could effectively ful- fill its mission of evangelization. Whilst the aim of Vatican diplomacy (of various degrees) is to create favorable conditions for the functioning of the local Church, insomuch in relation to the dogmatic and disciplinary issues the decisive vote belongs to the general assembly of bishops under the leadership of the Pope, so the general council. Both the one and the other form of activity is an eloquent manifestation – throughout history – of the renewal of religious and ecclesiastical life, initiated by the Holy See.
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Papal diplomacy has always concentrated on carrying out tasks focused on expanding the space for Roman Christianity. Poland, which has been in the group of Christian countries since the second half of the X century from the beginning became present in the orbit of the Holy See’s interests and had very frequent relations with it. Their point of interest lied in political issues, among which were a few centuries long Polish-Teutonic relations, Turkish threat, a calling to join the Holy League, and the Polish mediation in the aspirations towards a union between Rome and Moscow. After Reformation and crystallization of the permanent papal diplomatic service, it turned out that priorities were aspirations towards reinstating Catholicism in Poland’s neighbouring countries: Sweden, Saxony and continually current hopes for a union with Orthodox Russia. Besides these issues other important matters included internal affairs of the Church in Poland: in middle ages – nominations of bishops, keeping Poland in papal obedience; from 16th century introducing Tridentine reforms and a new vision of bishops’ service.
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Russia proved to be a difficult terrain for the Vatican diplomacy, especially since, due to the partiotions of Poland, crowds of Catholics of both the Latin and Greek rite fell under the reign of the Orthodox ruler. As it was not possible to establish in the Russian Empire regular nunciature, the Holy See, in this period of particular importance, send their ambassadors to the court of Russian tsars. In the years 1783-1804 this function was held by: Giovanni Andrea Archetti (1783-1784), Lorenzo Litta (1797-1799) and Tommaso Arezzo (1803-1804), and each of them had a specific purpose of the mission. Generally, however, it has been about the canonical regulation of the church’s administrative structure, adapted to the political borders of the Russian Empire, and to give people freedom of religious practices and opportunities for contacts with the Holy See.
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The area of the Hum land was by the end of the 12th century in the jurisdiction of the Ston Catholic bishop. Beside Latin, Slavic, being dominant in this region, was also used in liturgy. As the diocese was situated at the crossroads of the East and the West, there was a "mixture" of the Western and Eastern rites. At the end of the 12th century, when the Hum land came under the rule of Prince Miroslav Nemanjic, the bishop of Ston was exiled. With the establishment of the Serbian Orthodox Archbishopric in 1219 these areas came under the influence of the Eastern Church. Its founder Rastko (Sava) Nemanjic appointed an episcope in Ston who recognized his jurisdiction and established the Hum episcopate. On the ground, things did not change due to the closeness of languages and church rites. There were no clashes over the church rites. The Bishop of Hum in Ston and Rat, and the Benedictines of the monastery of St. Mary on Mljet coexisted in this area. Due to unstable political situation the Bishop of Hum in the mid-13th century moved the seat of the eparchy to the monastery of St. Peter in Lim. In the mid 80s the appointment of the bishops of Ston was renewed. The Catholic Church recognized the diversity of languages and rites so that Catholic bishop and eastern "Raska" monks and priests, who celebrated the service in the Slavic language and, probably, eastern rites, could coexist again. When Ston and Rat fell under the rule of Dubrovnik, a major change occurred. Dubrovnik wanted to see the residents of Ston and Rat more tied to the Republic and blocked the Ston-Korcula bishop's jurisdiction in Ston and Rat bringing the priests and friars (foreigners?) from Bosnian vicariate, who introduced "Roman" rites and Latin in liturgy. It caused a conflict between Dubrovnik and the Ston-Korcula's bishops, which was resolved by the Holy See. Dubrovnik, in order to win this dispute, took all the credit for Catholicism. They even labeled the residents of Ston and Rat as "schismatics" representing thus to the Holy See the credit of Dubrovnik in their conversion. The same was done by the Franciscans after they were deprived of their congregation in Ston and Rat. Unlike Dubrovnik and the Franciscans, the bishops of Ston and Korcula did not see them as schismatic. Believers in Ston and Rat because of the turbulent political situation and the lack of care of their shepherds were certainly religiously neglected so that such negligence could be characterized as "schismatic" and later as "heretic".
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The most important questions facing Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century were undoubtedly the relations between the Church and communist state. One of the projects of legalization of the Church in the Soviet Union was created by Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) of Nizhny Novgorod, the deputy Patriarchal locum tenens (1925-1937) subsequently Patriarchal locum tenens (1937-1943) and Patriarch of Moscow (1943–1944). His famous Declaration of Loyalty, dated 1927 July 16/29, originated in the views of patriarchal locum tenens about the role and place of the community in the public sphere. Sergius’s acquiescent or even servile attitude was still one of components of the internal organization of the community and its external relations with the authorities. The spiritual basis expressed in the document and accepted by party dissidents became an element of the internal organization of the community and its external contacts with state authorities. The Russian Church led by Metropolitan Sergius never rejected the Church party line which was already chosen in the 1920’s. This text discusses the sources of Sergius’s convictions and actions undertaken until the moment of the publication of The Declaration.
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Church of Our Lady of Candles was built in the seventeenth century. Until 1946 this temple belonged Lviv Archdiocese of the Latin rite. After independence Ukrainian state and the resumption of the structures of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine began efforts to return the church to its rightful historical owner – Lviv archdiocese. However, the city government hostile to the Catholics of Latin – because they have Polish roots – mentioned temple mischievously transferred ownership of the community of the Greek Catholic Church. From the Greek Catholic hierarchy is the good will that the church was returned to the Latin Church in Ukraine. But according to the Ukrainian legislation, the registered community of the faithful it is the decision-maker on this issue, because it is now the legal owner of the church. If could have been expect from a Greek Catholic hierarchy more decisive stance and activities and to exclude political reluctance authorities of Lviv to the Roman Catholic Church, there are possibilities for the legal (even in the absence of state reforms in the lame Ukrainian judicial system) for the triumph of justice – the recognition of property rights of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv to the Church of Our Lady of Candles in Lviv.
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The land of the former Uniate Deanery of Tyszowce was distinguished by diverse ethnic and religious characteristics. One of the striking aspects was everyday interactions and coexistence of the dwellers of this land who professed either Catholicism in the Latin rite or Eastern Christianity (Eastern Orthodox, then Greek Catholicism). The purpose of this article is to bring its readers closer to the history of one of several dozen of Uniate parishes in the Deanery of Tyszowce, i.e. local Greek Catholic community in the village of Wakijow.
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L’articolo costituisce uno studio sulla relazione di S. Teresa di Gesù con la sua opera: il Carmelo Scalzo. Alla luce della dottrina cattolica sui fondatori degli istituti religiosi si cerca una risposta alla domanda se Santa Teresa d’Ávila sia riformatrice del vecchio Ordine Carmelitano o fondatrice di una realtà nuova.
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“Miracula sanctorum Waldeberti et Eustasii” was most likely written by Adso of Montier‑en‑Der in the middle of the 10th century, in order to create and propagate the worship of St. Waldebert as the patron of the Luxeuil Abbey. The following article — on the basis of a textual analysis of “Miracula…” — aims at investigating the genesis of the worship of the relics of St. Waldebert as well as its role and significance for Luxeuil. The monastery, similarly to other abbeys in the Carolingian domain, fell into disrepair as a result of the Norman conquests and the weakening of the royal authority in the face of the rise of local nobility. Moreover, it was at that time that knighthood became recognized as an estate of the realm, while their landed estates continued to be expanded at the expense of the clergy. This, in turn, forced the monks to single‑handedly attempt to reclaim the prestige of the monastery; thus, they created the worship of St. Waldebert, the third abbot of the abbey, who lived in the 7th century. The text written by Adso was to introduce the genesis of the worship, describing his pious life and services to the abbey, as well as encourage people to undertake pilgrimages to his sanctuary. Adso, in his descriptions of the punishments that await those who would persecute the servants of St. Waldebert as well as the miraculous recoveries that await those who worship him, attempted to create a moral example for the worshippers to follow. The worship, which remained of paramount importance to the monks, was also directed at the emerging knighthood. Adso created the image of St. Waldebert as a patron of knights, emphasizing the fact that before his monastic conversion, he had represented the ideal of the Christian knight, miles Christi, and that after his death, he extended his protection to knights and listened to their prayers. Thus, St. Waldebert was to become the patron saint of knights as well as a moral example, in order to force them to accept the superiority of the clergy and treat the estates belonging to the Catholic Church with due reverence. The worship of the relics of St. Waldebert constitutes an example of the early attempts at monastic reform and improving the position and status of the clergy.
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The church in Kwiatkowice, founded by Kacper Puczek and his wife Anna of Sarnów, was built in the early 17th century. It is an example of a temple founded by members of the nobility, with the intention to became the mausoleum of the Puczek family. The church has undergone only slight alterations over the three centuries of its existence, and has a well-preserved equipment from the 17th and 18th centuries. In the church there are three altars: the main altar dedicated to St. Nicholas and two side altars devoted to the Holy Trinity (south) and the Heart of Jesus (north). The main altar was built in the 1830s, probably at the initiative of Konstancja Kossakowska. The altar dedicated to the Holy Trinity was built in the early 17th century. Two wooden polychrome statues of Madonna Immaculata and St. John of Nepomuk are from the beginning of the 17th century. The church building is testimony to the position and wealth of Kacper and Anna Puczek, who decided to build a brick temple, equipped according to trends prevailing in this area in the early 17th century.
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Po zarysowaniu wieloaspektowych zmian po II wojnie światowej (powstania nowych państw,migracji ludności, globalizacji i wpływu internetu, wielokulturowości i pluralizmu) autor artykułuprzechodzi do poszukiwania odpowiedzi na pytanie, w jaki sposób religie odpowiadają na zacho-dzące zmiany, akcentując stanowisko Kościoła Rzymskokatolickiego. W związku z tym autorprzedstawił nauczanie Soboru Watykańskiego H zawarte w dokumentach: Gaudium et spes, Lumengentium, Nostra aetate, Dignitatis humanae. Następnie omówił późniejsze wypowiedzi UrzęduNauczycielskiego Kościoła: list apostolski Evangelii nuntiandi Pawła VI czy dokument PapieskiejRady ds. Dialogu Międzyreligijnego Dialog i przepowiadanie. Opierając się na wspomnianym do-kumencie, dokonał analizy pojęcia dialogu, ukazując warunki jego prowadzenia, jak również prze-szkody, które mogą go uniemożliwić. Została też podkreślona rola i wpływ Jana Pawła II na roz-wój teologii religii oraz dialogu z religiami niechrześcijańskimi, odbywającego się podczas spo tkań w Asyżu. Temat ten został dostrzeżony w deklaracji Dominus Jesus Kongregacji Nauki Wiaryoraz w dokumencie Międzynarodowej Komisji Teologicznej Chrześcijaństwo a religie.W ostatniej części artykułu omówiono dialog, jaki po Soborze Watykańskim II prowadzi Ko-ściół Rzymskokatolicki z religiami niechrześcijańskimi, uwzględniając ich odrębność i specyfikę.
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The impact of preaching on Polish religiousness and national culture is enormous. Sermons reached all the social classes. They were listened to by the king, by scholars and by the unlearned, by burghers and by peasants, and by the rich and by beggars. For the vast majority of Poles, sermons were the only source of faith and inspiration to live the Christian life. The first preachers limited themselves in their messages to reciting and simple lecturing: the Credo, the Ten Commandments, the Pater noster and the Ave Maria. They made an invaluable mark in forming Polish religious and literary language. The quality and frequency of the sermons depended on a church’s rank (i.e., if it was a cathedral, a collegiate church, a town church, a village church, a monastic church, etc.), the distance from cities and the educational environment. Hagiography and martyrology were read. Religious songs (a significant role was given to carmen patrum –Bogurodzica) played a great role to help with the transfer of faith as they strengthened the oral catechesis and were remembered by the listeners. The Christian moral lectures concentrated on virtues to be sought and vices to be avoided; emphasis was placed on the practice of merciful work and keeping the commandments, while devotion to Christ’s humanity, His Mother and the saints was cultivated.
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According to Joseph Ratzinger the appearance of the historical-critical method simultaneously gave rise to the struggle for its scope and character. This method is an indispensable tool of exegetic craft, but it has its limitations as well. It’s shortcomings of the historical-critical method that are presented and discussed one by one in the article, and they are the following: looking only for historical meaning of the text; pointing only to one dimension (the human one) of Holy Scriptures; lack of continuity as one of principles of the method; outcomes of the research being hypothetical. At the end of the article a dangerous discord between scientific research and study of theological meaning of texts is highlighted. Benedict XVI’s appeal to reinstate theological principles mentioned in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum and to link them with scientific principles was reminded of as well.
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Dušobrižničkoj službi poučavanja, posvećivanja i upravljanja, koju u Crkvi vrše biskupi i svećenici, treba odgovarati i njihovo dolično ponašanje u svakidašnjem i običnom životu. O tome su odredbe donosili partikularni i opći crkveni sabori i vrhovni pastiri Crkve, a posebno je u tom pogledu bio značajan Tridentski sabor (1545.-1563.). U Dekretu o reformi, donesenom na 22. sjednici toga sabora, kaže se općenito: “Nema ničega što druge više i neprestano potiče na pobožnost i bogoštovlje koliko život i primjer onih koji su se posvetili božanskoj službi. Kada, naime, uzdignuti iznad svjetovnih stvari gledaju u višu sferu, drugi na njih upiru pogled kao u ogledalo i iz njih crpe primjer za nasljedovanje.
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The settlements Stalać and Grad Stalać are located in the territory of the Municipality of Ćićevac. They are separated by the river Južna Morava. They are also 2.5 km away from the place where Zapadna Morava and Južna Morava merge into the river Velika Morava. In this area are registrated a significant number of archaeological sites. In this area significant archaeological sites were registrated. The area of the present Stalać were inhabited during the period of the Bronze Age. The settlements from this period are most likely located on the site of Toplik. Archaeological research has been made on the prehistoric fortification of Gologlava. On this locality are noted existence of layers from the period of The Midlle Bronze Age (Vatin Culture Group) and the beginning of The Early Iron Age Ia. In the Grad Stalać we have remains one of the most important medieval fortification in Serbia. Fortification Stalać has dimensions of 400 x 200 metres, oriented north – south. It is consisted of a Small and Large City. Researchers have found important objects and buildings from the end of the XIVth and the begining of the XVth century. It should be noted that archaeologists had found prehistoric pottery dating from the period of The Early Iron Age. Right next to the ramparts of the Town is a church, whose oldest parts could be linked to the period of the existence of the medieval fortress. Close to the church were found two Romans pottery kilns. The site at Ukosa was inhabited during the Early Iron Age as well as in the Late Iron Age. It was also inhabited during the Roman period. It is important to note that VIth century fortified settlements have also been found at Ukosa. Additionally there have been finds from the period from the VIIIth to the Xith century. At the site of Kućište there is a necropolis.
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