scholarly journals Religious Freedom, National Identity, and the Polish Catholic Church: Converging Visions of Nation and God

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyriaki Topidi
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church

In the most common representations of the Polish people, the Catholic Church is not simply considered as a part of the Polish nation; it is the Polish nation. This is reflected in the constitutional relationship of the Church and the State, in the form of a concordat. Yet, despite a formally constitutionally warranted separation, the Church retains heavy weight in the legal and political debates to the point that currently, in a time of resurgence of populism across the globe, a number of right-wing parties adopt positions based on those of the Church, establishing a dangerous nexus between religion and nationalism. The aim of the present contribution is to map this unique process within Eastern Europe in order to show how, in the case of Poland, religious identity and the exercise of religious freedoms, despite its fragmented nature at the individual level of believers, has acquired the features of an autonomous field of intervention, with clear consequences on morality and the exercise of politics, as well as religious rights and freedoms of citizens. Using the example of religious education in public schools, the article will demonstrate the complex paths of the process of secularization in the light of the historical dynamics of state, nation, and Church in Poland. In fact, it will argue that we are gradually moving away from the triumph of secularism as a “teleological theory of religious development” but firmly entering the perilous territory of religious belief as a “traditional carrier of national identity.” Tasked with the mission by Pope John Paul II to “restore Europe for Christianity,” upon joining the EU in 2004 and based on the premise that “majorities have rights too,” this shift implies new forms of religious nationalism for Poland that significantly affect religious freedom by creating dichotomies between “Us” and “Others.” It also offers, similarly to other Eastern European countries, a nuanced interpretation of religious equality that assumes the role of law as limited to protecting religions recognized by reference to established traditions, ignoring the realities of pluralized religious markets.

To be Catholic or Not to Be: Is it Still the Question? Catholic Identity and Religious Education Today

Horizons ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Phan
Keyword(s):  
Religious Education ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Catholic Identity ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Religious Educators ◽  
Catholic Faith ◽  
History Of ◽  
Education Today ◽  
The Church

AbstractRecent social studies have show that there are, especially among young American Catholics, different conceptions of what constitutes a Catholic. Factors contributing to this new understanding of Catholic identity include religious pluralism and the divergent conceptualizations of catholicity and Catholicism in contemporary theology. As a consequence, different criteria are used to define what it means to be a Catholic. These variations pose serious challenges to religious educators whose task is to shape the religious identity of the students.The study begins with a survey of the history of the concept of catholicity as well as of the criteria for Catholic identity. In view of the variations in the understanding of catholicity, the work discerns four challenges for religious education with its task of fostering Catholic identity: how to maintain a fruitful balance between Vatican II's recognition of the ecclesial nature of non-Catholic Christian communities and its claim that the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the means of salvation; between Vatican II's call for dialogue with non-Christian religions and its insistence on the distinctiveness of Catholic beliefs and practices; between the legitimate concerns of “communal Catholics” and the necessity for all Catholics to participate fully in the Catholic symbol and ethical system; and between the spiritual and institutional, the invisible and visible elements of the church. The article concludes by suggesting an indirect method to develop and strengthen Catholic identity by means of the “deep structures” of the Catholic faith, with particular focus on Christian doctrines.

Social perception of religious freedom: Testing the impact of secularism and state-religion relations

2021 ◽  
pp. 003776862110174
Author(s):  
Olga Breskaya ◽  
Giuseppe Giordan ◽  
Siniša Zrinščak
Keyword(s):  
Social Perception ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
State Agency ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Impact

The measures and correlates of religious freedom constitute a comparatively new area of study eliciting research at the level of state agency and judicial institutions. The article adds to this the individual level of analysis by introducing a five-dimensional concept of the Social Perception of Religious Freedom (SPRF). It discusses results of its testing on a convenience sample of 1035 Italian University students. We examine the predictive power of ‘passive’ and ‘assertive’ secularism and patterns of state-religion relations vis-à-vis SPRF. While ‘passive’ secularism has a significant positive influence on four of five dimensions of religious freedom, the ‘assertive’ secularism has no effect on it. Findings suggest that the models of an endorsed Catholic Church and state control over religion have mostly negative effects on the SPRF. Moreover, individuals with stronger religious identity are more supportive of the endorsed models of state-religion relations while politically engaged respondents do not favor them.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Church–State Model for an Effective Guarantee of Religious Freedom: A Study of the Peruvian Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Laws ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Susana Mosquera
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Legal Model ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Institutional Guarantee ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Individual Dimension ◽  
The Church

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments established important restrictions on religious freedom. Due to a restrictive interpretation of the right to religious freedom, religion was placed in the category of “non-essential activity” and was, therefore, unprotected. Within this framework, this paper tries to offer a reflection on the relevance of the dual nature of religious freedom as an individual and collective right, since the current crisis has made it clear that the individual dimension of religious freedom is vulnerable when the legal model does not offer an adequate institutional guarantee to the collective dimension of religious freedom.

Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 658-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. White ◽  
Karen J. Terry
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Excessive Force ◽  
Police Organization ◽  
Sex Abuse ◽  
Police Deviance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church response to its sexual abuse crisis and how the problem should be addressed parallels the “rotten apple” assertions of police deviance. The rotten apple theory, however, does not fully explain police deviance, as there are often also structural explanations. This article employs Kappeler, Sluder, and Alpert's (1998) police deviance framework to characterize and understand the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, drawing specific comparisons to the intentional use of excessive force by police. Though the analogy has limitations, there are similarities at both the individual and organizational levels, particularly because the Church has implemented accountability mechanisms similar to the police. The article concludes with a discussion of lessons the Church can learn from the police organization as they seek to prevent, control, and effectively respond to sexual abuse of children by their clergy.

scholarly journals Um programa religioso num contexto secular os professores de Educação Moral e Religiosa Católica no concelho do Porto

2021 ◽  
pp. 97-117
Author(s):  
Tiago Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Teaching ◽  
New Challenges

This article explores the programmatic representations of Catholic Moral and Religious Education(EMRC) teachers, regarding the disciplineprogram, in public schools in the municipality of Porto (Portugal). Through a diachronic approach to the socio-religious panorama and Catholic religious teaching in Portuguese public schools, it is possible to identify, nowadays, new challenges for the Roman Catholic Church andforits school educators. The interviews carried out showed that teachers tend to consider the study planas limited, unmotivating and with excessive religious contents, so they proposed a subjectof moral and religious education not confined to the Catholic universe.

Healthy Avatars, Healthy People

2017 ◽  
pp. 247-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Triberti ◽  
Alice Chirico
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Patient Engagement ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Healthy Behaviors ◽  
Engagement Interventions ◽  
Vicarious Reinforcement ◽  
The Individual

Recent literature shows that new technologies can be used to promote patient engagement. The present contribution focuses on Virtual Worlds (VWs), namely virtual environments that multiple users can experience together thanks to the use of avatars. Indeed, VWs offer interesting opportunities for patient engagement interventions on two levels. On the individual level, customized avatars are known to have relationships with users' inner experience and Self-conception, so that they may constitute a peculiar additional tool for psychological assessment. Moreover, they are able to promote healthy behaviors thanks to a strong vicarious reinforcement (Proteus effect). On the collective level, VWs constitute an ideal platform to support the emergence of collective flow states (Networked Flow) which are related to the patients' creative activity and well-being. The present contribution deepens these phenomena, presenting VWs as an innovative and interesting tool for the patient engagement interventions of the future.

The ideational clinch of the Roman Catholic Church and the EU

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-197
Author(s):  
Petr Kratochvíl ◽  
Tomáš Doležal
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Eu

The article explores the so far largely ignored question of the political relations between the European Union and the Roman Catholic Church. It analyzes the deeper mutual ideational influences of the two entities, asking whether there has been a convergence of views about several basic political notions between the Church and the EU. The analysis centres on the Church’s approach to four fundamental notions related to the EU – (1) secularism, (2) the individual(ism), (3) free market, and (4) the state, stressing in particular the discursive strategies the Church employs to defend its own position. The conclusion focuses on the relation between the RCC’s “theopolitical” imagination and the EU’s political form and argues that the surprisingly strong support of the Church for the integration process is not only a result of the aggiornamento, but a peculiar example of the Church’s ongoing Europeanization. Methodologically, the paper builds on a discourse analysis of almost 160 documents released by the three key Church bodies which often comment on the EU: the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community, the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, and the Curia.

scholarly journals A concepção de “ensino religioso” nos discursos do papa João Paulo II

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (287) ◽  
pp. 538
Author(s):  
Mateus Geraldo Xavier
Keyword(s):  
Religious Education ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Clear Indication ◽  
Pope John Paul Ii ◽  
Holy See ◽  
John Paul Ii ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church ◽  
Catholic Bishops

Num momento em que o Ensino Religioso Brasileiro vem construindo uma epistemologia própria, vários posicionamentos têm se manifestado por parte, sobretudo, de segmentos do episcopado católico com relação à construção de sua nova identidade. Tais manifestações têm suas raízes no próprio magistério da Igreja. Por isso, julgamos relevante uma volta aos ensinamentos do papa João Paulo II, pois foi ele quem mais insistiu em que os estados assegurassem, em nome da liberdade religiosa, o ensino religioso conforme a confissão de fé dos alunos e de seus familiares. O Acordo entre Brasil e Santa Sé é um claro indício desse esforço. Portanto, este artigo tem por objetivo apresentar descritivamente a visão do ensino religioso na perspectiva do papa João Paulo II.Abstract: At a time when Brazilian Religious Education is building itself an epistemology, several positions have been expressed in particular segments of the catholic bishops regarding the construction of their new identity. These manifestations have their roots in the teachings of the church itself. On that account, we deem relevant to return to the studies of Pope John Paul II, since he was the one who took a strong stand in favor of religious education according to the faith of the students and their families, on behalf of religious freedom. The agreement between Brazil and the Holy See is a clear indication of that effort. This article aims, therefore, to present a descriptive vision of religious education in the light of Pope John Paul II.

scholarly journals Troska biskupa Czesława Domina o wiernych świeckich w świetle dekretów powizytacyjnych parafii diecezji koszalińsko-kołobrzeskiej

2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 3-26
Author(s):  
Kazimierz Dullak
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Pastoral Work ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Catholic Church

The Canon Law Code which is obliging within the Catholic Church, obliges the diocesan bishop to pay pastoral visits within his diocese (can. 396 § 1). The Vatican Council II points out that the bishops should run the particular churches entrusted to them, by counsels, encouragem ents and example, and that they should do it by the power of their authority (LG 27). During his 4-year pastoral work in the diocese of Koszalin and Kolobrzeg, bishop Czeslaw Domin visited 55 parishes. In each one of them he was concerned not only about the priests, but also lay people, and especially their spiritual lives. Bishop Domin was undertaking some actions aimed to revive charity activities within the parishes. Also, he was encouraging pastoral care for married couples and families, and tried to change things concerning religious education in public schools. He was always encouraging parishioners to be more active in different church activities.

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