Ochuzená biografie zakladatele Církve československé

Author(s): Marek Šmíd / Language(s): Czech Issue: 3/2017

Chadima, Martin. Dr. Karel Farský: I. patriarcha Církve československé (husitské). Hradec Králové: Královéhradecká diecéze Církve československé husitské, 2017, 204 pp., ISBN 978-80-906490-5-7. The reviewer’s opinion of the first biography of priest, theologian and church reformist Karel Farský (1880–1927), titled Dr. Karel Farský: The first patriarch of the Czechoslovak (Hussite) Church, is rather critical. Since the formation of Czechoslovakia, Farský joined the reformist movement within the Catholic Church and established a new Czechoslovak Church (later renamed Czechoslovak Hussite Church) in 1920. However, the reviewer believes Farský was a more complex and interesting personality than the book actually shows. The author depicts Farský’s life in its entirety, concentrating predominantly on his role in the formation and establishment of the new church, but has not paid enough attention to a number of related issues and, in addition, his biography of Farský is a hagiography rather than a critical portrait. The reviewer also notices a fairly limited list of sources and appreciable factual and text deficiencies.

Československo a Svatý stolec na složité cestě k Modu vivendi

Author(s): Pavel Helan / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2018

The article describes the relationship between the interwar Czechoslovakia and the Holy See in the light of the materials of the Congregation for extraordinary ecclesiastical affairs (Segreteria di Stato, Sezione per i Rapporti con gli Stati, Archivio Storico, Congregazione degli Affari Ecclesiastici Straordinari, fondo Rapporti-Sessioni). These materials are compared with the sources from the Czech Archives, above all from the Ministry of Foreign Affaires. They show that the diplomatic conflict that broke out in 1925 was on the brink of exploding since 1921. The Holy See perceived the legalisation of Jan Hus Day in 1925 as a key issue, whilst the Czechoslovak political leadership, especially Edvard Beneš, underestimated the situation. The Czechoslovak leadership had to find a compromise not only with Vatican diplomacy, but also with the left-leaning public opinion in Czechoslovakia. Disinformation, or shifting information was also part of the difficult negotiation on mutual compromise.

Zprávy a referáty

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English,Czech Issue: 2/2017

Zásadný posun vo výskume dejín slovenského štátu

Author(s): Michaela Lenčéšová / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2021

The reviewer sets the monograph of the Slovak historian Miloslav Szabó, entitled "Klérofašisti: Slovenskí kňazi a pokušenie radikálnej politiky" [Clerical fascists: Slovak clergy and the temptation of radical policy (1935–1945)] (Bratislava, Slovart 2019), in the context of contemporary transnational research works and debates on the relation between Catholicism and fascism in the twentieth century. The author drews inspiration from the methodological tools of research into hybrid forms of fascism and from the concept of clerical fascism, which he applied to the environment of the Slovak Christians, mainly Catholic clerics, in the late period of the First Czechoslovak Republic and during the Slovak State (1939–1945). He traces their ideological and political radicalization, describes the dynamics of the development of their opinions, placing them in the context of the changes in the ideological and political climate. Using specific examples, he also outlines a typology of a clerical fascist activist, an extremist and a martyr. The reviewer sees the first type, characterized by a more or less tactical shift towards fascism and the Ludak regime and probably predominant among the Slovak clergy, as the most productive area for research. According to the reviewer, the author takes the research on the issue further thanks to his approach and knowledge. Finally, the reviewer raises the question of the applicability of the concept of clerical-fascism to the Czech Catholic environment of the first half of the twentieth century.

Religie și migrație, religie și diaspora - noi domenii de cercetare. O prezentare istorică și tematică

Author(s): Alina Pătru / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2021

The present study defines terms such as migration and diaspora, with the necessary distinctions and explaining the semantic processes they have undergone over the final decades of the 20th century. It tackles the emergence of the areas of research religion and migration, respectively religion and diaspora, in early 21st century, and it presents the work agenda of each of these fields, as well as the type of religious and social changes each of them addresses, thus providing a theoretical framework to the various particular aspects pertaining to this thematic area. Research into migration and diaspora has gained amazing impetus over the last years: the number of publications has multiplied, while the plurality of approaches to these phenomena has also increased. Both migration and diaspora have been investigated by various sciences, from anthropology and sociology, political sciences and economy, to the studies of globalization or postcolonialism. One of the most important results of these efforts is precisely the redefining and clarification of terms such as migration and diaspora – so that they may express and render the complexity of today’s situations –, and the emergence of new areas of research, such as transnationalism. The study of the ways in which religion influences the experience of migration and life in the diaspora, and the investigation of its transformations, are not only useful in preventing the escalation of social conflicts, but also greatly relevant for all those interested in understanding the manifold manifestations of the religious phenomenon, and in the organization of religious life in a foreign environment. From a pastoral-missionary standpoint, knowing how religious attitude is shaped by the experience of migration and the diaspora, respectively how it impacts the various situations of individual life, is very important in articulating appropriate responses to particular pastoral circumstances. The contribution of the new research areas religion and migration, respectively religion and diaspora, within the broader field of religious studies, by comparing the experiences of various religious traditions worldwide, which face similar challenges under similar circumstances, is highly useful to the theologians preparing for mission and pastoral work in today’s dynamic conditions.

JUDEN UND CHRISTEN IM ANTIKEN ROM. EIN PARADIGMENWECHSEL UND SEINE WIRKUNG AUF DIE ENTWICKLUNG DER JÜDISCH-CHRISTLICHEN BEZIEHUNGEN

Author(s): Marko Jovanović / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2020

Bis ins 20. Jahrhundert wurde die jüdische materielle Kultur aus der Zeit des antiken Roms als irrelevant für die Interpretation und das Verständnis der Entstehung des Christentums betrachtet. Erst in den vergangenen Jahren kam es zu einem Paradigmenwechsel in der Wahrnehmung des komplexen Verhältnisses zwischen Juden und Christen in der Antike. Bis heute jedoch ringen Wissenschaftler um eine angemessene Terminologie, die diese sehr komplexen historischen Beziehungen angemessen beschreiben könnte.

Anselm of Canterbury and the Third Reich: Gottlieb Söhngen on Upholding the Humanum Amid the Inhumane

Author(s): Emery De Gaàl / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

Gottlieb Söhngen (1892-1971) is a figure of no small significance: he directed both Joseph Ratzinger’s (now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) dissertation and habilitation, and his writings on Anselm of Canterbury’s theological contri- butions illustrate the struggles of a then still nascent theological discipline: fundamental theology. Söhngen’s explorations occur within the context of National Socialist rule, while he teaches theology at Akademie Braunsberg in the eponymous city located in East Prussia (1937-45) during the dark years of the Third Reich. This investigation shows how very much Söhngen does justice to both Anselm’s oeuvre and the Roman Catholic statement, while nevertheless introducing pointers to pre-Christian, Germanic notions in order to flatter the Nazi rulers, but more importantly to underscore how pagan concepts ultimately indirectly prepare the ground for the implantation of the Gospel.

Ilūkstes jezuītu klosteris. Būvvēsture un arhitektūra

Author(s): Ilmārs Dirveiks / Language(s): Latvian Issue: 26/2022

Today Ilūkste resembles a rather remote town for many. It was mentioned as a small village in the mid-16th century. Gradual development began here after the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was founded. Old Believers, Lutherans and Catholics built their churches there. Support for Jesuits by the landowning Zyberg family gradually made Ilūkste one of the Duchy’s main Catholic centres. St. Ursula’s Catholic Church built in the mid-18th century was the largest Catholic Church in the Duchy; together with the college complex it equalled the Aglona religious and educational centre on the right bank of the River Daugava. The imposing church vanished from the Ilūkste landscape in the historical turmoil of the 20th century. The church was blown up during the First World War and its stone remains were fully removed as late as 1956. After the Second World War, the former monastery building increasingly faded into oblivion. Although the history of Ilūkste Jesuit college and St. Ursula’s Church has been much studied already, providing a good, professional theoretical basis, research of former monastery buildings was not carried out before autumn 2021. Thus the opportunity arose to gather valuable new information about this important object in Latvia’s cultural history. Ilūkste Jesuit monastery (college) building and the so-called “side building” are parts of the largest Jesuit residence in the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. The residence once included St. Ursula’s Church, the nearby monastery and (school?) building and to the south, several outbuildings and a garden (currently with only approximately known boundaries). In the monastery’s former inner courtyard and a precisely undefined territory there has been a cemetery since at least the 17th century. Today the Jesuit college includes two objects – the monastery building and the “side building”. The monastery building was built in two stages. The south block was built in 1747–1748, the east block – in 1753 while the interior was completely finished only in 1757. However, the monastery remains historically incomplete, as the planned west block was never built. The monastery building has fully retained its initial layout with later additions, not destructive enough to affect the original significantly. Only the structure connecting the building to the church was lost. Small changes to the volume were brought by the relatively flat roof built in 1919–1920. The monastery building has vaulting on all floors. During the First World War, about one third of all vaulting in the east block was lost and replaced with flat wooden constructions. Vaulting, diverse wall niches, large window openings, corridors and a staircase form the highly authentic 18th century Jesuit monastery interiors. The function of the basement with places for heating (?) devices and ventilation ducts in the walls has yet to be fully studied. The complex constructive solutions of the monastery building show high-level Jesuit architecture created by experienced executors. Although the Ilūkste monastery building is smaller than the neighbouring Daugavpils college, the designers’ and masons’ skills and implementation are totally comparable. The monastery building’s façades remained unplastered for a long time. Decorative plastering was likely applied to the south façade on the first-floor level as late as the 19th century. Conversely, original plastering has survived in almost all interiors. No evidence has been found yet about artistically valuable wall and ceiling décor. A simple 19th century decorative painting system was uncovered, consisting of a dark socle part and stencilling with roller brush from the first half of the 20th century. Two vaulted, mid-18th century south-block cell plafonds are among the most artistically significant finish examples rarely preserved in Latvia. The building south of the monastery initially had two storeys and a monastery-side entrance. Façades have decorative lesenes (pilaster strips) with specially elaborated, moulded bases. The spatial composition of this “side building” is unusual in Latvia’s architectural context. There were two ground-floor premises at first. The larger west room had a wooden covering, three spacious wall niches and a window in the outer wall. The south side had a narrow, long, barrel-vaulted premise with two window openings, one in the east wall, and another in the north end facing the monastery. Truly surprising is the first-floor layout with one large, barrel-vaulted room. The east and west end walls had one window each. Stairs to the attic were built on the south side in the middle of the vault. The choice of such a covering for the large premise remains unexplained but it could be related to its special function. The school and theatre building played quite an important large role for the residence. Therefore, a lasting stone house built of bricks made at the new kiln would be logical. Hypothetically, the present building beside the monastery fits this function; it proved useful in 1748 when the wooden church burned down and a temporary chapel was arranged in the “theatre house”. Visual features, even without further studies, tell every practicing building specialist that they date back at least to the 18th century. If the experienced researcher of Jesuit architecture Jerzy Paszenda had visited Ilūkste in person, the “side building” would surely have caught his attention. The “side building” was constructed as a part of the new monastery’s envisioned stone complex. The building was architecturally completed in the 18th century with relief décor on its plastered façades. Analysing its spatial structure and archival information, up to now only theoretical speculations about its function are possible. The “side building” looks more like a school than a dormitory with separate sleeping quarters for disciples. The spatial structures of the old and the new building are similar, as the old school building had ground-floor classrooms and one large room upstairs – a theatre hall. The “side building” today reveals an analogous structure. Although the similarity is just formal, the aforementioned arguments allow the hypothesis that the “side building” of Ilūkste monastery was built in 1730 as a school and possibly also a theatre. It is typologically unique in the architecture of Latvia and the oldest building in present-day Ilūkste. Even if both stone buildings of Ilūkste monastery have suffered much during wars and were rebuilt in the second half of the 20th century, their initial spatial structure and much of original substance has survived. Considering the significance of this place in Latvia’s cultural history and the unique building typology, the former Ilūkste Jesuit college ensemble is certainly an outstanding monument of architecture and history whose true values have yet to be revealed.

Arhitekta Vladimira Šervinska pareizticīgo dievnami

Author(s): Katriona Luīze Rožlapa / Language(s): Latvian Issue: 26/2022

The 1920s and 30s are known by an unprecedented construction boom of Orthodox churches in Latvia’s history of art and architecture. This phenomenon was fostered by the Synod of the Latvian Orthodox Church as well as by its chief architect Vladimir Scherwinsky and his professional output. Not all newly built Orthodox churches were related to the Synod. In most cases, these were direct commissions from Vladimir Scherwinsky. Architect Vladimir Scherwinsky came from a dynasty of architects. His father Max Scherwinsky was the Director of Riga Trade School; Riga’s 700th Jubilee Exhibition that he curated left a deep impression on Vladimir’s interest in historical architecture and its potential uses. His maternal grandfather, Otto Jakob Simonson, brought up the young Vladimir after Max’s sudden death. The Dresden-born architect Simonson who was of Jewish origin stayed in Tbilisi for the most part of his professional career, serving as the city’s chief architect, until his move to Riga because of financial strains. Already during his student years at Eižens Laube’s workshop at the Architecture Faculty of Riga Polytechnic Institute, Vladimir Scherwinsky showed a strong interest in historical styles of architecture. Historical architecture of the Russian Empire and specifics of the Northern Russian wooden architecture proved especially attractive.After completing his studies, Vladimir Scherwinsky, together with his friend and brother-in-law, engineer Mikhail Krivoshapkin, founded his architectural office at 9 Šķūņu Street. They both constructed a large number of residential buildings, apartment houses and public buildings. Having noted Vladimir Scherwinsky’s talent and working capabilities, in 1924, the Archbishop of the Latvian Orthodox Church Jānis Pommers, invited him to become the chief architect of the Synod. While in this office, Scherwinsky was responsible for the technical oversight of churches as well as research and building new churches. The Synod sent the architect on missions to visit Orthodox congregations in neighbouring countries; thus he got to know not only various ethnographic customs but also the building traditions of Orthodox churches. Scherwinsky paid particular attention to the building aspects of wooden churches, their decorative qualities, principles and materiality. He transferred part of these discoveries to the artistic and decorative forms of his own architectural creativity.Architect Vladimir Scherwinsky’s signature style emerged from influences as well as his individual and professional interests. He developed his individual style based on Historicist impulses alongside the artistic principles and materiality of Northern Russian wooden architecture. Several Northern Russian elements were taken over directly into Scherwinsky’s designs, such as walls built of horizontal logs, octagonal bell towers and decorative elements. However, regardless of specific inspirational sources, the architect diversified his forms in intricate ways, discovering his own architectural language. His designs complied with the developed building traditions of Orthodox churches. In his formal solutions, Scherwinsky modernised the aesthetics of Northern Russian wooden architecture, approximating it to the aspects of the so-called Russian Revival style. At the same time, constructive solutions were also appropriated from the Muscovite Baroque and tented churches. Scherwinsky modified the tented church model and used it in a limited manner for the nave roof construction, not copying the example directly. The architect remains ascetic in his artistic language, using only a few decorative elements in his churches. In most cases, there are filigree, sawn barge-boards and windows surrounded with artistically subdued, sculptural woodcarvings. Scherwinsky repeatedly utilised the principles of twisted columns in the entrance passage and nave. However, similarly to Northern Russia’s practice of wooden architecture, Scherwinsky’s designs too put more emphasis on architectonic structure than on decorative principles. The complexity of ideas was implemented with the help of innovative building principles. Vladimir Scherwinsky has created a new, innovative mode of stylistics and construction of Orthodox churches in Latvia’s history of architecture. He stands out in the architectural scene with immense capacity for work, designing over twenty Orthodox churches in less than twenty years, also transferring less-familiar architecture and sources of inspiration to Latvia’s architectural environment. Vladimir Scherwinsky is an extraordinary and so far underrated instance in Latvia’s art history.

NONVIOLENCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. AN ORTHODOX-HERMENEUTICAL PERSPECTIVE

Author(s): Christos Karakolis / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2021

This study discusses the problem of the incompatibility between ethnocentric tendencies within the national Orthodox churches and the New Testament teaching on nonviolence. The three main parts outline the relevant New Testament teaching (1) in the four Gospels and the book of Acts, (2) in the Pauline epistles, and (3) in John’s Revelation. The study concludes that in the New Testament texts, there is no room for the justification of violence on the part of Christ-followers against their opponents. Quite on the contrary, the New Testament views the world as having the potential to become ecclesia, and the “other” as a possible sister or brother in Christ. Unfortunately, this fundamental New Testament teaching is often forgotten in modern-day Orthodoxy, notwithstanding its claims for unbroken continuity with the apostolic tradition. As an example, the Greek-Orthodox church oftentimes emphasizes national identity and heroism over ecclesial faith and ethos. Although understandable, such ethnocentric tendencies clearly contradict the New Testament witness and should be abandoned.

Elisabeth – Anna Sidonia – Elisabeth Lukrezia von Teschen. Herzoginnen in unruhigen Zeiten

Author(s): Almut Bues / Language(s): German Issue: 1/2022

The princesses were shaped by their dynasty of origin. Their role in the court they married into could be expressed in different ways depending on the time and the political, social and religious context: they could act as an active agent of cultural influence, of changes or conflicts, they could be used as an instrument by others, such as their court of origin, or they could act as a catalyst by their presence alone. This will be illustrated by the example of the last Piasts in Cieszyn at the end of the 16th and in the first half of the 17th century.

Józefa Życińskiego zmagania z językiem o Bogu

Author(s): Michał Heller / Language(s): Polish Issue: 72/2022

In the two-volume work Theism and the Analytical Philosophy (1985; 1988a) Joseph Życiński took up the challenge of renewing Christian metaphysics so that it could appear as a full-fledged partner in the dialogue with other streams of contemporary philosophy. This renewal should use two sources: the methodological principles of analytic philosophy, especially its philosophy of language, and certain elements of Whitehead’s process philosophy. This study presents a critical reconstruction of Życiński’s arguments contained in the first two chapters of (1985), which are devoted to the problem of language. Main results of this part of Życiński’s work are negative, that is, they refute the arguments and interpretations of those analytical philosophers who show the meaninglessness of the theistic language or try to assimilate it to other standard languages, depriving it of a reference to the transcendent reality.How can a positive part of the Życiński program be developed? It seems that only by formulating specific problems in the field of philosophy of God, or even theology, and choosing the right linguistic tools to drill down on a given problem and seek its solution. This is in line with Wittgenstein’s concept of language games. Życiński tries to do this in (1988a). Życiński turned out to be a precursor of nowadays increasingly developing analytical theology.

Perceptions of Power: Purple in Archaic Greek, Ancient Mesopotamian Inscriptions, and the Hebrew Bible

Author(s): Ellena Lyell / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

Purple in the ancient world held common characteristics: symbolic of power, wealth, and beneficence. Purple was also thought to be produced and imported from the Phoenician area, situated along the Levantine coastal shore. Yet between different literature circles, the specifics of purple diverged widely. This article explores the social function of purplematerial (and its inherent purple-colour) in the Hebrew Bible in light of wider ancient Near East and eastern Mediterranean texts. As with any given cultural material, the meaning of purple is relative; it is differentially significant according to audience, context, subject matter, and the qualities of the material. By utilising a sociological and comparative approach, in the following I consider the use of purple in Homeric epic, ancient Mesopotamian inscriptions and biblical texts. I demonstrate that purple pigments and dyes, as well as the purple-colour of the object to which the pigments/dyes is applied, is a key means to communicate something culturally-specific. In so doing, this ultimately provides fresh insight into the texts and offers a glimpse into the thought processes of ancient society.

Bazylianie wśród studentów braniewskich w XVII – XVIII wieku

Author(s): Pavlo Bardovskyi / Language(s): Polish Issue: 22/2021

Braniewo was called the “Athens of the North’’, it was one of the few places in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth where students could get an excellent education. Monks of the Greek-Catholic Basilian Order began to study in Braniewo from the beginning of the 17th century. That was a part of the implementation of spreading Catholicism to the northand east. Basilians were mainly engaged in missionary and educational activities among the Ruthenians, but also among the Poles and Lithuanians. Within the students of the Papal Alumnate in Braniewo, which existed in the years 1578 – 1798, Basilians constituted a considerable amount of all students – over 10%. Apart from the fact that they were present in this educational institution, not much is known about their fate. The aim of the article is to discuss the issues of the origin and studies of Basilian students in Braniewo and examine their further fate among the Greek Catholic clergy

Wielkie formy muzyczne dedykowane św. Józefowi

Author(s): Piotr Towarek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 22/2021

The submitted article presents in outline the great musical forms dedicated to St Joseph.They developed in the Church especially in the 16th and 17th centuries with the increase ofthe cult and veneration towards the person of the Guardian of the Holy Family (1621, PopeGregory V). This applies to the proprium Missae (introits, alleluias, sequences, communions) as well as to the Baroque ordinarium Missae (Zelenka, Bassani, Zumaya) and litanies (Biber, Wagner, Biechteler, Eberlin, Lolli). The heyday of the latter is especially associated with the establishment of St Joseph as the patron saint of the Habsburg state and monarchy (1676).To the musical heritage connected with St Joseph belong also the oratorios of the Italian Baroque period (Cazzati, Colonna, Alberici, Perti, Corradini, Conte, Fischietti), especially the work of G. B. Pergolesi (La fenice sul rogo, ovvero La morte di San Giuseppe). Traces of musical references to St Joseph can also be found in the Classical (Haydn brothers, Albrechtsberger) and Romantic (Elsner, Ravanello) eras. Compositions dedicated to the Saint in the 20th and 21st centuries include masses (Peeters, Tinel, Krężołek, Kern, Korczak, Di Rocco) and oratorio works (Frisina, Golinski, Pałka, Schmid). They are important contemporary testimonies of transforming faith into culture (Pope John Paul II).

Zwyczaje związane z kalendarzowym wspomnieniem św. Sylwestra. Zarys problematyki

Author(s): Marta Kowalczyk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 22/2021

Before 1000, the New Year’s Eve parties were not popular. The first official New Year’s Eve took place in 999, yet people were afraid that the prophecy about the end of the world in 1000 would be fulfilled. In XIX century in Poland New Year’s fun and balls were rare and celebrated mostly by rich bourgeois. The very New Year’s Eve in Poland resembled a compilation of the Christmas Eve and St Andrew’s Eve party, where the priority was to learn the future which was supposed to come in the early months of the New Year.According to Polish tradition, the New Year’s day was strictly related to celebration of Christmas. This is proved by both meteorological and matrimonial prophecies, folk customs and games, as well as activities and prayers which were supposed to guarantee auspiciousness, health, good weather and harvest in the upcoming year.

"Communiones" mszalne dawniej i dziś

Author(s): Piotr Towarek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 21/2020

This article presents an outline of the history of shaping communio chants (one of the Proprium Missae chants for Communion): from Christian antiquity (Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, Apostolic Constitutions), through the Middle Ages (Ordo Romanus Primus), the post-Tridentine period (Communiones totius anni by Mikołaj Zieleński), to the reform of the Second Vatican Council, to which we owe the collection of antiphonae ad communionem (Graduale romanum, Graduale Simplex, Missale romanum, Ordo Cantus Missae) in liturgical books, and indirectly also contemporary chants and songs intended for the communionprocession.

Философия и религиозная политика в «Философской истории» Дамаския

Author(s): Eugene Afonasin / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2022

In the paper, I consider some aspects of religious politics in late antiquity on the basis of select fragments from Damascius’ “Philosophical History,” translated into Russian for the first time. I also observe that the archeological finds, often better than the biased literary evidences, show both the different strategies of interaction between the adherents of pagan cults and official Christianity in late antiquity and, more importantly, the non-linearity of the paths by which Christians advanced towards their goal, without ever reaching it. We see that the church authorities often permitted the total destruction of pagan sanctuaries, as happened in 392 with the Serapeum, by initiating the full-scale persecution of pagans and their physical elimination, as Damascus testifies in many sections of his history. On the contrary, in some cases they sought only to "neutralize" the pagan cult, depicting crosses on statues and using ancient temples as churches and, accordingly, to attract the pagan intellectual elite to their side. All in all, this material allows us to take a more comprehensive view of history, reconstructing a complex cultural context.