scholarly journals Fortes in Fide—The Role of Faith in the Heroic Struggle against Communism

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 837
Author(s):  
Terézia Rončáková
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Resistance Movements ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
The Subject

Repression and persecution by the totalitarian communist regimes have significantly affected the fates of Christian churches and believers in the countries of the “Eastern Bloc”. Many members of the clergy and laypersons were incarcerated, tortured and persecuted, several bishops suffered exemplary punishment in the propaganda-driven show trials and a few of them were later beatified or canonized across the world (by the Catholic Church). Focusing on the literature originating in Slovakia, this meta-report aimed to summarize the key authors’ essential works and to examine the question as to whether—and to what extent—faith was a contributing factor in the collapse of the communist regime. What was the role of the churches and believers in the struggle against communism? How and to what extent believers were involved in the resistance movements and the political and economic transformation of their countries that were set in motion by the collapse of those regimes? Based on an analysis of hundreds of books and articles on the subject, essential ideas were extracted, categorized and presented. The works of the persecuted authors were the subject of a detailed qualitative content analysis. Thus, four overarching dimensions (philosophical, intimate, personal and social/political) and fourteen categories related to the experience of faith were identified.

Kościół, Cerkiew i kwestia ukraińska. Spór na forum polskiego parlamentu w 1938 r.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2(163) ◽  
pp. 131-151
Author(s):  
Mieczysław Ryba
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
West Germany ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Role ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
National Movement ◽  
The Subject

The subject of this article is the parliamentary discussion of 1938 concerning the religious dispute in the south-eastern borderlands of the Second Polish Republic. The disputes concerned, among other things, the political role of the Greek Catholic Church, which was strongly involved in the Ukrainian national movement. In 1938 a revindication action took place in the Chełm region, as a result of which the Polish authorities liquidated over one hundred Orthodox churches. These actions were the subject of a stormy debate in the Parliament between Polish and Ukrainian MPs. The arguments of the Polish side concerned, above all, the protection of the security of the Polish state threatened by intervention from both the East (USSR) and the West (Germany).

scholarly journals Mass Arrivals of Poles in the 1980s as a Symptom of Political and Economic Changes in the Eastern Bloc

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-86
Author(s):  
Joanna Sadowska
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Religious Attitudes ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Communist System ◽  
Eastern Border ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Almost All

The article concerns the subject of mass Ukrainian-Polish contacts in the last decade of the USSR. Documents produced by the Polish consular services and the political police allow for the study of Poles’ travel across the eastern border. They were visiting Ukraine e.g. as employees of cultural and commercial institutions, construction companies, participants of official delegations, students of Soviet universities, trainees, participants of trips and — the most frequent — individual tourists. The most important were informal contacts, almost all visitors tried to trade illegally. The intensification of these trips (in 1988 Ukraine was visited by 700,000 Poles), their circumstances and character were the effect of the progressive disintegration of the communist system, which had been taking place in Poland since 1980 and in Ukraine since 1985. The deepening economic crisis increased interest in the transportation of goods across the border and their illegal sale as a source of household supplies or income. Weakening state structures were unable, or unwilling, to effectively counteract this practice. The progressive liberalization of travel regulations increased the number of visitors, who were interested not only in business but also in Ukraine’s past and culture, especially in monuments of Lviv. Poles sometimes demonstrated their critical attitude to the Communist regime, manifested freedom or religious attitudes and often broke harsh Soviet rules. The militia and secret service found them to be troublesome guests. However, non-political people-to-people contacts, virtually nonexistent after WWII, were established and renewed then. These relations developed into close neighborly cooperation after the fall of the USSR.

State-run celebration of Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia (based on audiovisual sources)

2019 ◽  
pp. 251-268
Author(s):  
Timur Gimadeev
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Military

The article deals with the history of celebrating the Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia organised by the state. Various aspects of the history of the holiday have been considered with the extensive use of audiovisual documents (materials from Czechoslovak newsreels and TV archives), which allowed for a detailed analysis of the propaganda representation of the holiday. As a result, it has been possible to identify the main stages of the historical evolution of the celebrations of Liberation Day, to discover the close interdependence between these stages and the country’s political development. The establishment of the holiday itself — its concept and the military parade as the main ritual — took place in the first post-war years, simultaneously with the consolidation of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Later, until the end of the 1960s, the celebrations gradually evolved along the political regime, acquiring new ritual forms (ceremonial meetings, and “guards of memory”). In 1968, at the same time as there was an attempt to rethink the entire socialist regime and the historical experience connected with it, an attempt was made to reconstruct Liberation Day. However, political “normalisation” led to the normalisation of the celebration itself, which played an important role in legitimising the Soviet presence in the country. At this stage, the role of ceremonial meetings and “guards of memory” increased, while inventions released in time for 9 May appeared and “May TV” was specially produced. The fall of the Communist regime in 1989 led to the fall of the concept of Liberation Day on 9 May, resulting in changes of the title, date and paradigm of the holiday, which became Victory Day and has been since celebrated on 8 May.

scholarly journals Role of Statues in the Artistic Commemoration of African Political Leaders: Analysis of 20 Selected National Statues in African Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-77
Author(s):  
Kamau Wango
Keyword(s):  
Public Art ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Visual Impact ◽  
Insight Into

Artistic commemoration of leaders and other iconic personalities has been in existence for centuries. Statues in particular have been used as a fitting avenue for the commemoration of political leaders and other luminaries in many fields. The premise upon which statues are made is that the subjects featured initiated and attained, in their lifetimes, concrete achievements that significantly impacted upon the lives of their fellow human beings. Other criteria for commemoration include proven integrity, dedication and selflessness in the service of the country and citizens. Statues as an integral part of public art have often generated substantial controversy on various fronts in many countries. Some of these gravitate around issues such as disputed likeness, queries about the fundamental achievements cited of the subject, at times open protests on the actions, character and integrity of the subject as well as the location of the statues. Other areas of contention include the implication of the presence of statues upon the political psyche of the country and their long-time impact on history, the youth and posterity. This paper examines the extent to which African countries have embraced this mode of artistic rendition to commemorate African political leaders in a way that is commensurate to their achievements. It is outside the scope of this paper to delve into the intricate web of back-and-forth arguments about the ‘concreteness’ of the legacies of the featured leaders who are mainly founding political figures of the respective countries. The paper, however, analyses the artistic essence of the selected statues in terms of their visual impact and whether they are indeed useful in articulating the legacies of the subjects and further, whether they ultimately bear ‘enduring visual value’ that spurs conversation and insight into these legacies. Statues must, at the very least, spur debate and conversation into the legacy of the featured subject. It becomes a form of constant interrogation as history itself takes its course; controversy is not necessarily a negative occurrence since it forms part of this discourse. The concept of immortalization, which is what initiators of statues often hope for is much harder to achieve and difficult to define. The paper examines 20 statues of African political leaders in different African Countries.

The Aerarium and its Officials Under the Empire

1964 ◽  
Vol 54 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 33-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fergus Millar
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Funds ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Political Interpretation ◽  
Financial Administration ◽  
Political Character ◽  
Public Revenues

No analysis of the political character of the Empire can avoid the question of finance. The various sources of revenue of the Emperor and the res publica, the role of the private wealth of the Emperor, the nature of his control over public funds, the question of how and when various public revenues were taken by him—a satisfactory political interpretation of the early Empire must take account of all these.This article attempts merely to take a second preliminary step towards such an interpretation. Its aim is to set out as clearly as possible the evidence as to the nature of the Aerarium and the functions of its officials, and, above all, to avoid the anachronistic approach which our language itself so readily invites. Not all anachronistic views of the subject have had the beautiful obviousness of Ramsay's contribution: even to speak of the ‘world-wide financial administration’ of the Aerarium will prove to be misleading.

“A Trespass against the Whole Species”: Universal Crime and Sovereign Founding in John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 560-585
Author(s):  
Sinja Graf
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Normative Theory ◽  
The State ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Of Nature ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Creation

This essay theorizes how the enforcement of universal norms contributes to the solidification of sovereign rule. It does so by analyzing John Locke’s argument for the founding of the commonwealth as it emerges from his notion of universal crime in the Second Treatise of Government. Previous studies of punishment in the state of nature have not accounted for Locke’s notion of universal crime which pivots on the role of mankind as the subject of natural law. I argue that the dilemmas specific to enforcing the natural law against “trespasses against the whole species” drive the founding of sovereign government. Reconstructing Locke’s argument on private property in light of universal criminality, the essay shows how the introduction of money in the state of nature destabilizes the normative relationship between the self and humanity. Accordingly, the failures of enforcing the natural law require the partitioning of mankind into separate peoples under distinct sovereign governments. This analysis theorizes the creation of sovereign rule as part of the political productivity of Locke’s notion of universal crime and reflects on an explicitly political, rather than normative, theory of “humanity.”

The political role of Christian churches

2020 ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Gregory Deacon
Keyword(s):  
Public Services ◽  
Central Place ◽  
The Political ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Political Realm

Christianity has been intimately involved with power in Kenya since the country’s birth even though much has changed with regards to what Christianity is and what it does. Today, as during the colonial and early post-colonial periods, the political role of Christian churches includes the activities of individual clergy and organized churches, both of which make periodic public statements, provide public services, and support local and national governance. However, increasingly important is the central place of neo-Pentecostal ideas, concepts, and imagery in Kenyan society, which pervade the political realm. This chapter outlines the role of Christian churches as organizations. It also analyzes the growth and spread of Christianity as a religion and as a discursive institution as well as associated understandings and practices. Together, this analysis contributes to an understanding of contemporary politics in Kenya, including the place of neo-Pentecostalized Christianity in the 2013 and 2017 elections and Jubilee regime.

Religious Liberty in Argentina During the First Perón Regime, 1943-1955

1977 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 490-503
Author(s):  
David F. D'Amico
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Protestant Christianity ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Ebb And Flow

This article describes and interprets the ebb and flow of religious liberty in Argentina from 1943 to 1955, concentrating on the restriction of Protestant liberties. Most authors have not included the situation of Protestants in their discussions of the first Perón regime, but since new source material on the subject has become available, it may be treated somewhat objectively. The following essay will evaluate the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the intricate developments which led to the coercion of Protestants and will examine the role played by General Perón during the last year of his first regime as it affected Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity.

The Role of the Paraguayan Catholic Church in the Downfall of the Stroessner Regime

1990 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 67-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Carter
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Political Prisoners ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
New Era ◽  
National Debate ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Catholic Church

The Coup d'Etat that overthrew General Alfredo Stroessner on the second night of February 1989 signaled the beginning of a new era for Paraguayan politics and the close of another chapter of Latin American caudillismo. He was replaced by General Andrés Rodríguez, Paraguay's second most powerful figure, in what was, in effect, a “palace coup.” General Rodríguez startled the nation by issuing a proclamation that called for (a) democratization of Paraguay, (b) full respect for human rights, and (c) restoration of the badly damaged relations with the Catholic Church. The proclamation ushered in a series of events which amazed the populace even more: opposition leaders — once banned and exiled by the Stroessner regime — were embraced and greeted by longtime adversaries; dozens of prominent exiled figures returned to find an enthusiastic atmosphere; political prisoners were freed; while corruption and torture became the subject of national debate as people sought both to uncover, and to bury, the legacy of the Stroessner years.

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