Academic literature on the topic 'Contributions in relations with eastern churches'

AbstractThis article surveys the diasporic life and legacy of the Ethiopian ecclesiastic Täsfa Ṣeyon. After examining his origins in the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia and the circumstances of his arrival in mid-sixteenth-century Rome, the article outlines his contributions to the evolving Latin Catholic understanding of Ethiopia. Täsfa Ṣeyon was a librarian, copyist, teacher, translator, author, and community leader, as well as a prominent adviser to European humanist scholars and Church authorities concerned with orientalist philologia sacra as it pertained to Ethiopian Orthodox (täwaḥedo) Christianity. As such, he was a key extra-European agent in the Tridentine project of Ethiopianist and Eastern Christian knowledge production. The article also surveys the complex modern legacy of Täsfa Ṣeyon's career, documenting his posthumous influence in the fields of Ethiopianist Semitic studies and Ethiopian vernacular historiography.

In 1863, the geologist Adolf Schmidl published a thick book on the Bihar/Bihor Mountains, a highland region on the border between the Hungarian Kingdom and Transylvania. Calling the Bihar/Bihor Mountains one of the “least known regions in the Austrian Monarchy,” Schmidl offered his work as small contribution to Vaterlandskunde and one, he hoped, that would inspire others to follow him into the region. The book provided a detailed analysis of the mountains' hydrography, topography, flora, and fauna. The biological diversity of the region especially excited Schmidl, and his discoveries included four new species of plants and a new species of animal (a leech found only in thermal waters). Schmidl was no less impressed by the ethnographic diversity of this region. Although Romanians belonging to the Greek Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches comprised the vast majority of the population, Schmidl counted six ethnic groups and as many religions in the mountains. According to Schmidl, “national agitation” was “entirely foreign” to the region, whose inhabitants enjoyed peaceful and fraternal relations with one another. The Romanians, he underlined, “are among the most loyal in the Austrian monarchy and their devotion to the dynasty is unfeigned and unshakeable.”

The common and the distinctive features in the interaction between religion and politics in Western and Eastern Europe are discussed in the paper. At the beginning, the relative, flowing character of the concepts used is outlined, and the difficulties are indicated in making generalizations, since Europe sees great diversity regarding the involvement of religions in politics. The author also outlines the causes for greater interest of religious groups in politics – a large number of religious practitioners refuse to acquiesce with the place allocated for religion in the private space, where it was positioned by the Enlightenment. In the civil society, which strives to facilitate the participation of various society strata in the political process, the new tendency should not be perceived negatively. Full-value existence of democracy is inconceivable without the principles of solidarity and justice and public awareness of them, however, these are ethical categories. Increase of intolerance in many places of Europe makes one reflect upon the fact that the agreement of the public majority about the minimum common values is quite indispensable. However, in a secular state, religious groups cannot claim privileges and situation control. This is impossible also due to the fact that collisions of ideas are taking place also in religions and their movements themselves, and therefore, a discussion about the content and quality of politics is not to be perceived in a simplified way as a dialogue between the secular part of the society and the religious practitioners, but at the same time it is a conversation (often stressful) within the religious groups. The common features of the process of interaction between the Eastern and Western Europe: (1) increase of the role of religion in public space characteristic of post-secular society; (2) religion is a social phenomenon, therefore, unavoidably, the opinions and activities of its practitioners affect politics; (3) secularization, although on a different degree, affect all Member States of the European Union; (4) all the more actively, religious minorities announce themselves in public space. The different features: (1) in Eastern Europe, a larger number of people trust in churches than in Western Europe, which increases their role also among a large part of population who use to be secularly oriented on the daily routine; (2) the religious organizations in Eastern, more than in Western Europe, conceive spirituality as primarily directed towards maintaining definite ethical standards; (3) in Eastern Europe many religious organizations still are forming relations with the state and the public majority according to the principle of medieval Christendom, which provided special privileges for the church; (4) in Eastern, more than in Western Europe, the religious organizations are more sympathizing to the rightist forces. The religious groups, alongside with other non-governmental organizations, can provide an essential contribution in the discussions about the Western democratic models in the future, but they must be able to “translate” their ideas into rational arguments understandable to the secular society, avoiding theological naivety, which sees sacred texts as a monolith system of values to be transferred directly to the contemporary society.

AbstractThe dramatic changes in the political, economic, cultural and religious panorama in Eastern Europe between 1989 and 1991 demanded new responses from both churches and ecumenical bodies. Also in Estonia the churches were suddenly faced with changes in legislation on religious denominations and church-state relations were entailed to provide for the restitution of church property. Other questions at stake were: how do churches understand themselves in the new circumstances? How are their relations to one another? And what is their role in the new society? In addition the churches in Estonia also had to struggle with the answers in a profound secular context. As a country in the former communist Eastern Europe Estonia tells its own newsworthy story. This article highlights the ecumenical relations and developments since 1991 in Estonia.