scholarly journals Polish Catholic Religious Culture in the Post-Tridentine Era

2021 ◽  
pp. 253-275
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Kaczor-Scheitler

This article presents Catholic religious culture in Poland in post-Tridentine era. It takes into account one of the manifestations of change taking place at the time, namely a dynamic development of male and female religious orders. The article shows the connection between the intensification of religious life and the development of ascetic and mystical theology resulting from the general renewal of Catholic theology. The influence of the Jesuits on the spirituality of female orders as well as their role in introducing the practice of methodical mental prayer is highlighted. The impact of Spanish spirituality on Polish religious life after the Council of Trent is also emphasised, with special attention drawn to Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits, Saint John of the Cross and the Discalced Carmelites, Saint Theresa of Ávila and her Discalced Carmelite nuns, Louis of Granada with the Dominicans, and Saint Peter of Alcántara, one of the founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Strict Observance. Polish Catholic religious literature of the post-Tridentine era is also reflected upon, including ascetic and mystical writings adopted from Italian and Spanish religious literature.

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gentilcore

At a time when European missionaries were active in the New World to capture the souls of the ‘heathen’ for Catholicism, their confrères were conducting missions throughout Europe itself. For more than two centuries these missions – variously known as internal, parish or popular – were a crucial aspect of religious life, with numerous religious orders and congregations seeking to weave a fabric of evangelisation and catechetical instruction in areas of Europe that were nominally Catholic but were in many ways cut off from orthodox Tridentine Catholicism. This was particularly so in isolated areas on the European periphery. Southern Italy is a case in point. The persistent absence of an efficient parish structure and the dominance of a rather worldly collegiate clergy in the Kingdom of Naples left a large gap in organised religious life in the years following the end of the Council of Trent (1563), a gap that the missions attempted to fill. The mobilisation of preachers, confessors and instructors was vast, concentrated and unceasing. Such is the significance of the missions that they have been identified as the ‘most characteristic and important’ phenomenon of Italian religious history in the seventeenth century. One way to examine their scale and impact would be to map the areas missionised by the various congregations. But this serial approach would tell us very little, other than the fact that all of the towns and villages were visited, most of them repeatedly, over the centuries. Moreover, the varying quality of the surviving records would permit only partial results.


2011 ◽  
Vol 91 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 349-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feike Dietz ◽  
Els Stronks

The existing studies into Dutch translations of German religious texts suggest that literary-religious culture in the Dutch Republic did not undergo significant transformation during the course of the seventeenth century as a result of German-Dutch exchange. There is even more reason to assume that German illustrated religious literature remained out of the focus of Dutch audiences: visual additions to religious texts, popular in German publications as a result of the Lutheran approach to word-image interaction, encountered resistance in the Dutch Republic where the development of illustrated religious literature was restricted and delayed compared to the Republic’s neighbouring countries. A closer look at two cases of German-Dutch literary exchange in the field of religious emblematics suggests that the restrictive Dutch visual practices were at times stimulated and innovated by the import of German models. The two cases discussed in this article give us reason to advance the very tentative hypothesis that the German-Dutch contact was at times critical to the growth of the use of religious imagery in Dutch religious literature. Finally, a case is made in favour of attending more to the international exchange of religious imagery in order to chart the impact of the Reformation in Northern Europe.


The history of religious life in the Catholic Church of the U.S. is filled with change: periods of growth and decline, changes of ministries, and differences in the ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds of those who joined them. Yet as the numbers of new members diminish, some say that the future of religious life is in jeopardy. What is the state of religious life in the U.S. today? Which institutes are increasing in number and which are decreasing or ceasing to exist? From what ethnic and socioeconomic populations are they drawing their members? What new religious institutes are being founded and how successful are they? What influences a young person to consider religious life today? How are religious from other countries shaping religious life as they come to the U.S. to minister? Many of these questions are addressed by data from CARA studies of religious life conducted over the last ten years. The impact of an individual’s family dynamics and educational experience before entering religious life is examined, as well as the influence of an increasing number of Catholic volunteer programs. The emergence of lay associates and the birth of new religious institutes since Vatican Council II is investigated as new ways of living religious life. The increase in the number of sisters and priests studying and ministering in the U.S. from other countries is examined for its impact on religious life. In conclusion, recommendations are made for religious institutes and vocation directors who wish to attract new members.


Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta

The chapter on Poland focuses on two questions. Why, in contrast to all other state-socialist countries, did the church’s capacity for integration actually increase rather than decrease despite persecution and discrimination during the communist period? And why has this capacity also remained more or less constant (albeit to a lesser extent) in the period since the end of communist rule? The authors have identified four key factors in the remarkable resistance of the Polish Catholic Church during the period of communist persecution: the fusion of religious and national values, the specific conflict dynamics of the church’s struggle with the state, the structural conservatism of agricultural production in Poland, and the actions of Pope John Paul II. Explanations for the surprising stability of religiosity in Poland after 1990 point to the behaviour of the Church itself, to the internal pluralization of Catholicism, and to the impact of a homogeneous religious culture.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1037
Author(s):  
Craig Resch ◽  
Mihir Parikh ◽  
J. Alejandro Austria ◽  
Spencer D. Proctor ◽  
Thomas Netticadan ◽  
...  

There is an increased interest in the gut microbiota as it relates to health and obesity. The impact of diet and sex on the gut microbiota in conjunction with obesity also demands extensive systemic investigation. Thus, the influence of sex, diet, and flaxseed supplementation on the gut microbiota was examined in the JCR:LA-cp rat model of genetic obesity. Male and female obese rats were randomized into four groups (n = 8) to receive, for 12 weeks, either (a) control diet (Con), (b) control diet supplemented with 10% ground flaxseed (CFlax), (c) a high-fat, high sucrose (HFHS) diet, or (d) HFHS supplemented with 10% ground flaxseed (HFlax). Male and female JCR:LA-cp lean rats served as genetic controls and received similar dietary interventions. Illumine MiSeq sequencing revealed a richer microbiota in rats fed control diets rather than HFHS diets. Obese female rats had lower alpha-diversity than lean female; however, both sexes of obese and lean JCR rats differed significantly in β-diversity, as their gut microbiota was composed of different abundances of bacterial types. The feeding of an HFHS diet affected the diversity by increasing the phylum Bacteroidetes and reducing bacterial species from phylum Firmicutes. Fecal short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate-producing bacterial species were correspondingly impacted by the HFHS diet. Flax supplementation improved the gut microbiota by decreasing the abundance of Blautia and Eubacterium dolichum. Collectively, our data show that an HFHS diet results in gut microbiota dysbiosis in a sex-dependent manner. Flaxseed supplementation to the diet had a significant impact on gut microbiota diversity under both flax control and HFHS dietary conditions.


Author(s):  
Reza Khazaee ◽  
Anastasiya Vinokurtseva ◽  
Lynda A. McCaig ◽  
Cory Yamashita ◽  
Daniel B. Hardy ◽  
...  

Abstract Although abundant evidence exists that adverse events during pregnancy lead to chronic conditions, there is limited information on the impact of acute insults such as sepsis. This study tested the hypothesis that impaired fetal development leads to altered organ responses to a septic insult in both male and female adult offspring. Fetal growth restricted (FGR) rats were generated using a maternal protein-restricted diet. Male and female FGR and control diet rats were housed until 150–160 d of age when they were exposed either a saline (control) or a fecal slurry intraperitoneal (Sepsis) injection. After 6 h, livers and lungs were analyzed for inflammation and, additionally, the amounts and function of pulmonary surfactant were measured. The results showed increases in the steady-state mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines in the liver in response to the septic insult in both males and females; these responses were not different between FGR and control diet groups. In the lungs, cytokines were not detectable in any of the experimental groups. A significant decrease in the relative amount of surfactant was observed in male FGR offspring, but this was not observed in control males or in female animals. Overall, it is concluded that FGR induced by maternal protein restriction does not impact liver and lung inflammatory response to sepsis in either male or female adult rats. An altered septic response in male FGR offspring with respect to surfactant may imply a contribution to lung dysfunction.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026988112199688
Author(s):  
Eduardo R Butelman ◽  
Caroline Baynard ◽  
Bryan D McElroy ◽  
Thomas E Prisinzano ◽  
Mary Jeanne Kreek

Background: Novel short-acting κ(kappa)-opioid receptor selective antagonists are translational tools to examine the impact of the κ-receptor/dynorphin system in assays related to central nervous system dysfunction (e.g., substance use disorders, anhedonia and depression). The effects of such compounds have been compared in males and females under very limited conditions. Aims: The goal of this study was to examine potential sex differences in the effects of a κ-agonist and a short-acting κ-antagonist in an ethologically relevant test of anhedonia, the “splash test” of self-grooming, and also in the forced swim test and in locomotor activity. Methods: We examined the dose-dependence of grooming deficits caused by the κ-agonist U50,488 (0.1–3.2 mg/kg intraperitoneal (i.p.)) in gonadally intact adult male and female C57BL/6J mice. We then compared the effects of the short-acting κ-antagonist LY2795050 ((3-chloro-4-(4-(((2S)-2-pyridin-3-ylpyrrolidin-1-yl)methyl) phenoxy)benzamide)); 0.032–0.1 mg/kg i.p.) in blocking grooming deficits caused by U50,488 (3.2 mg/kg). The effects of LY2795050 were also studied in the forced swim test (FST). The effects of LY2795050 in blocking the locomotor depressant effects of U50,488 (10 mg/kg) were also studied. Results: U50,488 produced dose-dependent grooming deficits in male and female mice, and LY2795050 prevented these effects. In contrast, LY2795050 decreased immobility in the FST in males at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg, but not in females, up to a dose of 0.32 mg/kg. Also, LY2795050 (0.32 mg/kg) prevented and also reversed the locomotor-depressant effects of U50,488 (10 mg/kg), in males and females. Conclusions: This study further implicates the κ-receptor system in ethologically relevant aspects of anhedonia, and confirms sexual dimorphism in some behavioral effects of novel κ-antagonists.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A11-A11
Author(s):  
Joel Raymond ◽  
Nicholas Everett ◽  
Anand Gururajan ◽  
Michael Bowen

Abstract Introduction Oxytocin is a versatile hypothalamic neuropeptide involved in diverse neurobehavioural processes. Since oxytocin can elicit anxiolytic and serenic effects, one could hypothesise that oxytocin should prime the brain for sleep and promote hypnogenesis. However, based on the social salience hypothesis—that oxytocin promotes prosocial behaviour and directs attention toward social stimuli—one could also posit that oxytocin should promote wakefulness. At present, little research has comprehensively characterised the effect of oxytocin on sleep-wake behaviour and no explanation to reconcile these two seemingly competing hypotheses has been proposed. Methods This study investigated the effects of oxytocin on sleep-wake outcomes using radiotelemetry-based polysomnography in adult male and female Wistar rats. Oxytocin was administered via the intraperitoneal (IP; 0.1, 0.3 and 1 mg/kg) and intranasal (IN; 0.06, 1, 3 mg/kg) routes. Caffeine (IP and IN; 10 mg/kg) was also administered as a wake-promoting positive control. Additionally, pre-treatment with the oxytocin receptor (OTR) antagonist L-368,899 (IP; 5 mg/kg) and vasopressin 1a receptor (V1aR) antagonist SR49059 (IP; 1 mg/kg) followed by oxytocin (IP; 1 mg/kg) was conducted to determine which receptor(s) mediated sleep-wake effects of oxytocin. Results In both male and female rats, IP oxytocin produced dose-dependent effects on sleep-wake behaviour. Specifically, oxytocin initially promoted quiescent wakefulness (a restful but conscious state) at the cost of reducing both active wakefulness and sleep. Throughout the 1.5-hour period post-administration, oxytocin delayed REM sleep onset and reduced the proportion of both NREM and REM sleep. Conversely, IN oxytocin did not significantly alter any sleep-wake parameters at any dose tested. Caffeine demonstrated wake-promoting effects under both the IP and IN routes of administration. The involvement of OTR and V1aR binding in oxytocin-induced effects on sleep-wake outcomes will be discussed. Conclusion These findings appear to reconcile the two competing hypotheses: in rats, IP oxytocin appears to promote a state of quiescent wakefulness—one of calm and rest, but also of conscious responsivity to environmental stimuli. IN oxytocin demonstrated little to no effect on sleep-wake behaviour, which is a crucial finding given the escalating use of IN oxytocin as a therapeutic for conditions with comorbid disordered sleep. Support (if any) None.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorthe Yakymenko ◽  
Christine S Benn ◽  
Cesario Martins ◽  
Birgitte R Diness ◽  
Ane B Fisker ◽  
...  

1982 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-46
Author(s):  
Deane H. Shapiro ◽  
Johanna Shapiro ◽  
Roger N. Walsh ◽  
Dan Brown

This study assessed the impact of a 3-mo. meditation retreat on 15 respondents' self-perceived masculinity and femininity. As hypothesized, male and female subjects, who on pretest perceived themselves to be more stereotypically feminine than normative samples, on posttest reported a significant shift to even greater endorsement of feminine adjectives and less endorsement of masculine adjectives.


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