Ministers of Life: A Call to Mission for Healthcare Workers

In its new charter, the Vatican calls on healthcare workers to be ministers of life. This is a challenging task and a most noble mission. The mission field itself is the vast, complex and mysterious field of suffering (Pope John Paul II). For Catholic healthcare professionals, it is not so much to have a mission, but to be a mission on this earth, as Pope Francis often reminds us. The daily mission needs to be nourished by a commensurate spirituality. Each deed can be offered to the Lord as part of our response. Healthcare professionals may feel called to specific mission fields too, such as working to reduce the culture of gun violence or to promote the culture of life. The ongoing formation of conscience is a vital prerequisite, so we can continually respond to the novel ethical challenges that progress in technology and medicine inevitably bring. May we each respond enthusiastically to the call to mission: “Here I am Lord, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

For the Renowal Theology of Sacramnetal Priesthood

The sacrament of priesthood within the whole space of the development of the Church and its presence in civilisation is one of the key issues. It proves its meaning as well as the necessity of undertaking an ongoing reflection in the context of challenges resulting from the civilisation development. Theology of priesthood is also an essential aspect that has a multi-dimension character and, as such, is a subject of various fields of theology as well as non-theological ones. A reflection upon its relation to a common priesthood of all the faithful, resulting from the sacrament of Baptism, comes into special importance nowadays. Present-day challenges resulting from the development of culture post-modernity require a clear and precise drawing of the essence of sacramental priesthood. The Sacrament of Orders which defines the character and charisma of the called one brings the inseparable sacramental bond with the Christ the Highest and the Only Patriarch. We can find a proper charismatic identity of priesthood in this relation. The other dimension of this charisma is the mission, in which a priest acts in persona Christi. The dual charismatic dimension makes a proper way of making out and understanding the identity of a priest. It means that a priest cannot be substituted in his vocation and the authority which he receives in The Sacrament of Holy Orders and the unity with his bishop. Properly understood and made out identity needs the competent preparation and formation of the candidates to the priesthood, those who have already received Orders and those who are responsible for it alike. All dimensions of formation must be properly integrated. The essential integrating element in the process of ongoing formation is specific priestly spirituality. It means that the fact who a priest is, and then what his mission is, results from the unity of a priest with Christ. The already mentioned civilisation challenges require permanent studies of the ways and methods of the formation. This way the process of formation defends itself from naturalistic or spiritualistic one-sidedness, which a present Pope Francis reminded of, when he said about two “subtle enemies of sanctity”, which are “a present-day Gnosticism” and “a present-day Pelagianism".

Logophoric strategy in San-Maka

The article deals with strategies of coding the participants of communication in reporting dicours in San-Maka (Eastern Mande < Mande < Niger-Congo). San-Maka demonstrates an interesting case wherein 3rd person Sg and Pl pronouns, combined with an emphatic marker sɛ́, are used in a logophoric function. However, this construction is not fully grammaticalized. The combination of the pronouns with the emphatic marker acts in a logophoric function in specific reported speech contexts in the presence of the quotative particle mà ~ mə̀ ~ m’ which occupies the leftmost position of the clause. Different possible interpretations of this strategy are shown, followed by a conclusion about the ongoing formation of the logophoric strategy in San-Maka and the grammaticalization of pronouns with the marker sɛ́ into a specialized logophoric pronoun series.

Kolegialitas: Suatu Bentuk Formasi Berkelanjutan Imam

Ongoing formation is a subject which is very actual at this present time in relation with priesthood which has been pointed out by the Second Vatican Council. The church has promulgated various documents to this urgent need. One aspect of the ongoing formation is priesthood collegiality to Jesus Christ as high priest, to church where is incardinated, to hierarchy as his institution, to the other priests as his colleagues and to lay people who is also his peer of pastoral service. The intention this writing is to revive priest that the effectiveness and efficacy of pastoral service is collegiality.

The Call for Critical Multiculturalism

This review looks at the current literature within Indigenous and newcomer relationships under the contemporary Canadian multicultural framework. The ever-increasing prevalence of Indigenous social movements and instances of cross-continental migration position the topic at the forefront of social policy since the inception of multiculturalism as a governmental policy in the 1970s. Traditional multiculturalism positions newcomer populations in support of the ongoing formation of the Canadian settler state due to factors of misinformation and hierarchized measures of a newcomer group’s ability to successfully integrate. Considerable efforts are required to diminish the discursive gap between the historically oppressed social groups. The literature posits structural change within the theory of critical multiculturalism to support nuanced binationalism and increased instances of social interaction. These efforts are required to facilitate a potentially transformative relationship between each group in relation to the greater multicultural project.

The Holy Spirit and the Ongoing Formation of Presbyters

The Holy Spirit plays a significant role in the process of the ongoing formation of priests. His activity can be perceived in three aspects. (1) He strengthens the charism given during the ordination to the priesthood in such a way that the presbyter is in constant connection with the Father and with the Son. (2) The Third Person of the Holy Trinity raises anew the pastoral love which is necessary for fulfilling the mission of priesthood and which leads to (3) the deepening of the bond between the priest and God. This enhances the priest's pursuit of his own holiness. The priest should actively respond to the Holy Spirit, Who initiates the contact by his engagement, and he should cooperate with Him for the sake of the salvation of the faithful, in order to build God's Kingdom on earth.

PTSD symptoms in religious leaders: Prevalence, stressors, and associations with narcissism

Religious leaders face numerous mental health challenges, and prior research suggests that some experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to work-related experiences. This study employed a diverse sample of 274 religious leaders to (a) qualitatively describe the types of work-related experiences they identify as particularly stressful or overwhelming, (b) assess the prevalence of PTSD symptoms associated with these experiences, and (c) test hypothesized associations between PTSD symptoms and narcissism. The study found that the stressful experiences reported typically involved relational conflict, having limited resources, or caring for people suffering. Over half of the sample endorsed symptoms that were above the cutoff for a clinical concern for PTSD, and PTSD symptoms were significantly associated with symptoms of both vulnerable narcissism and grandiose narcissism. Practical implications for the ongoing formation and support of religious leaders are discussed.

Rethinking resistance through and as affect

This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork with No TAV activists in Valsusa, in Alpine Italy, protesting against the planned construction of a new high-speed railway. Focusing on activists’ experiences of vulnerability and police violence, the article contributes to the recent ‘subjective turn’ in the anthropology of resistance and contentious social movements, and responds to calls to ‘de-pathologize’ and ‘de-exoticize’ resistance. It explores ways to reconceptualize the subjective experience of resistance through a focus on affect, vulnerability and becoming. Combining neo-Spinozist theory of affects with Judith Butler’s feminist perspective on agency and subjectivity, the article seeks to point a way beyond the limitations of established approaches informed by the work of Michel Foucault. Further, the article also shows how affects experienced during direct action are embedded in activists’ longer biographical narratives and gradually structured, through remembering and narrativization, to provide ground for a coherent subjective sense of agency. Third, the article highlights the difference a focus on affect makes compared to the more conventional sociological focus on emotion. The notion of affect helps us to move beyond a rationalist and instrumentalist approach to emotion in social movements. The article stresses the heuristic potential of a focus on affect, but also considers methodological challenges posed by such a perspective. It suggests that the methodological toolkit available to the ethnographers of contentious politics can be enhanced by drawing on the affective capacities of researchers’ own bodies in order to register the visceral intensities vital to the experience of resistance and the ongoing formation of insubordinate subjects.

Genetic structure analysis of leaf rust resistant triticale accessions from the VIR collection using gliadin patterns

The gliadin banding patterns of important accessions from the collection of the N. I. Vavilov All‑Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) registered in the form of “protein formulas” provide reliable information for the preparation of a “protein passport” for each accession and is convenient for storage and computer processing. It helps to control originality and integrity of accessions during regeneration and their use in breeding. The study involved 17 triticale accessions resistant to leaf rust. The analysis was carried out on single grains of the original accession (a sample of 13–26 kernels) according to the standard protocol adopted by VIR and approved by the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). The gliadin electrophoretic banding patterns of triticale accessions were registered in the form of “protein formulas”; polymorphism of each accession and genetic diversity within the collection were estimated, and genetic structure of accessions was identified based on the marker protein components. A large variety of the revealed genotypes opens a possibility to identify accessions that combine resistance with other useful traits. Stable and polymorphic accessions including from 2 to 7 biotypes were found. The discovery of interbiotype hybrids and recombinant genotypes in the composition of some polymorphic accessions indicates the instability of their genetic structure and the ongoing formation process. This is due to the heterogeneity of the original parental forms, the tendency to cross‑pollination and insufficiently thorough selection. The data on the triticale genotypic structure can be used in introgressive breeding to control the transfer of rye genetic material to wheat varieties in order to increase their immunity and resistance to adverse factors.