Academic literature on the topic 'Spiritual life – Catholic Church'

THE ROLE of the laity in the Church is a topic of great interest today. Since the second Vatican Council the part which the people could, and should, play in the Church has been discussed at length, and the shortage of priests has led to demands for the laity to become more actively involved in spiritual affairs. Some, however, still maintain that spiritual tasks must be left to the ordained, but would like to see the laity take a much more active role, as Catholics, in the secular sphere, representing and defending Catholic values in public life. In the light of the current debate, it is interesting to look at the role of the laity in the Catholic Church in Yorkshire during the last century. At that time, too, there was a shortage of priests, while the role of Catholics in public life did not always fulfil the desires of Church leaders.

The subject of my paper lies in a field of studies seldom pursued in Church historiography. Catholic historians in Poland are concerned principally with the study of the Church itself: its spiritual life, organization, political role, and contribution to national life. Much less attention is given to adversaries of the Church; so that, generally speaking, the study of non-Catholic (and non-Christian) trends or sectors in society is currently left to Marxist or liberal scholars. This is a pity.

One of the basic categories used to describe the nature of the Church is communion with its spiritual, structural, and legal dimensions. On the basis of their aptism, all the faithful should undertake common responsibility and real care for the life and particular areas of the Church. This also includes discernment within the Church. Synods and synodality are a special case which expresses the communal character of the Church. However, synodality and communal discernment cannot be understood similarl to a parliament where the majority decides. It is about recognising contemporary needs and searching for the place of the Church in the world while preserving the Revelation. In recognising the ways for the Church, her movements are important as they form Catholics who increasingly identify with the mission of the baptised. Deepening their meaning and determining the degree of their influence on discernment in the Church, both universal and local, remains a challenge.

The Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky was the head of the Greek Catholic Church in Eastern Małopolska in 1901-1946. When he assumed the duties of a bishop, he realised that work with the intelligentsia would be more difficult than with other people. However, he still wished to be their spiritual leader in their Christian life. He never wanted to set the clergy against the intelligentsia; he did not believe they were in opposite camps. He summoned those who declared they affiliation with the Greek Catholic Church to manifest it in their everyday living. Moreover, he opposed those who demanded that the Greek Catholics join the Orthodox Church for the sake of national unity of the Ukrainians.Many people representing the world of culture and science considered him as the most important defender of the Ukrainian nation’s rights.

History shows that there were divisions within the Church. After the Second Vatican Council the Catholic Church began to be more open in contributing efforts for the restoration of Christian unity. One of the results is the publication of Unitatis Redintegratio. In this document Art. 5, it is emphasised that ecumenism is the responsibility of all members of the Church, including the laity. Hence the participation of the laity is important in the process of restoring unity among Christians. The apparently low participation of Catholic laity in ecumenism might have been due to the risk of blurring their identity as Catholics. Based on this issue, this article offers models of participation for Catholic laity in ecumenism. Models are offered for the reason that they are flexible, can be interpreted according to the contextual challenges, and contain patterns of relationship that can help Catholic laity take initiatives in promoting dialogue. Five models offered in this article are model of faith conversation, model of friendship, model of sharing of spiritual wealth, model of dialogue of life, and model of familial visits. These five models can encourage close interpersonal relationships and are inclusive in their characteristics, so that the laity can use them spontaneously and independently in establishing relationships. Through these models, Catholics are motivated to contribute to the Church’s efforts towards unity and to participate more actively in the ecumenical dialogue and cooperation.

The missionary role of the church, inherited from Jesus Christ, touches every aspect of human life. The mission is not just a matter of spiritual growth, but also deals with all social development. Therefore, the Catholic church in Indonesia considers education as a missionary priority. There are many good Catholic schools around the country that earn good reputation. However, the crisis of identity seems to emerge inside these many institutions. The authors raise the question, whether currently the church is really doing the missionary job, i.e. proclaiming the Good News, through these schools, or simply running schools with Catholic label. A case studi at SMAK Dempo, Malang, is presented as an ilustration of this concern. The goal is to remind the church about the basic idea of running schools as a tool of missionary ministry.

Abstrak Pengenalan akan Allah Bapa dan Putera-Nya melalui Roh Kudus dipahami dalam teologi Katolik sebagai hidup mistik. Kehidupan mistik dalam scope ajaran Gereja Katolik itu nyata dalam kesucian hidup para kudus. Salah satunya ialah Santa Teresa dari Avila. Pengalaman hidup Sta. Teresa dari Avila telah banyak memberi sumbangan berarti bagi perkembangan hidup spiritual banyak orang terlebih bagi seorang imam Kristus. Seorang imam sebagai promotor kehidupan spiritual sejatinya berkaca dari pengalaman Sta. Teresa dari Avila ini. Secara eksplisit gambaran tentang hidup saleh, suci dan yang berkenan kepada Allah seperti yang Sta. Teresa dari Avila hidupi itu ditunjukkan dalam berbagai ajaran Gereja. Telaah tentang Teologi Mistik dari sudut pandang Gereja Katolik dalam artikel ini didasarkan pada pengalaman pribadi orang kudus Gereja, Santa Teresa dari Avila bersama dengan Allah dalam hidup doa. Semakin Ia mengenal-Nya dalam kehidupan doa yang mendalam, semakin ia mengalami persatuan cinta mesra dengan Allah. Hidup dan Karyanya menjadi acuan hidup bagi imam di zaman sekarang dalam hidup spiritual dan usaha membangung keakraban yang mesra dengan Allah. Hidup doa dan relasi dengan Allah akan membawa pada keakraban dengan sesama sebagai wujud kesatuan tubuh mistik Kristus. AbstractThe knowledge of God the Father and His Son through the Holy Spirit is understood in Catholic theology as mystical life. The mystical life within the scope of the teachings of the Catholic Church is embodied in the sanctity of the life of the saints. One of them is Saint Teresa of Avila. The life experience of S. Teresa of Avila has made many important contributions to the spiritual development of many people, especially for a priest of Christ. The pastor as a mover of spiritual life actually reflects the experience of S. Teresa from Avila. A clear description of a pious, holy and pleasant life as stated by S. Teresa Avila's life is featured in various Church teachings. The study of mystical theology from the point of view of the Catholic Church in this article is based on the personal experience of the saint of the Church, S. Teresa of Avila with God in the life of prayer. The more she knows Him in a life of deep prayer, the more she experiences a passionate union of love with God. His life and work become a reference for priest this era in their spiritual life and efforts to build intimacy with God. A life of prayer and relationship with God will lead to intimacy with others as a manifestation of the unity of the mystical body of Christ.

It seems to everyone, to individuals and groups alike, that a just profitable activity is something normal. Humans are not only spiritual, but also bodily beings. Profitable activities are necessary for their bodily life and covering of material needs. The same goes for larger communities and institutions. The Catholic Church is a visible and at the same time spiritual institution, a hierarchically organized society as well as »Christʼs mystical body«. It is one, but composed of two fundamental elements, human and Divine. As far as profitable activities of the Church are concerned, all this and many other things are mutually intertwined. Catholic Church – like any other individual and institution – can be a propriety owner and engage in profitable activities by all just means of the natural and positive law. In addition to the aforementioned external normative (legal) aspects, the Church doctrine in general and its social teaching in particular clearly defines that the Church can own and administrate material goods, but at the same time necessarily respecting the criteria of Evangelical poverty. All this should be governed by prudence, wisdom and transparency.

The aim of the study is to present the formation of altar boys in the post-conciliar pedagogical teaching of priest Franciszek Blachnicki, an outstanding mystagogue of the Second Vatican Council, in the context of Christian education. The post-conciliar documents changed the severity of the Church, pompous and inaccessible to laymen. Concern for the community of the faithful became the dominant idea of the Second Vatican Council. In connection with the changes taking place in the Church and the needs of Catholics in the Polish People’s Republic, Franciszek Blachnicki made an attempt to lay the foundations for pastoral theology. It included the metho-dological assumptions underlying Catholic communities, placed by the priest in the philosophy of the Christocentric tradition, and based on a dialogue derived from “a philosophical meeting”, mutual service and the value of spiritual experience. The work of Franciszek Blachnicki, which remains valid, has made its way to the history of the Polish Catholic Church. While the priest is widely recognized as the founder of the Light – Life movement, he built the foundations for the concept of work for “communion” when altar service was the only communion approved by the Polish Church authorities.

Abstract The Vatican-China agreement has brought all the Chinese bishops into communion with the pope, but the Chinese church remains substantially divided. To overcome the present antagonism, I propose that the Chinese church explore more closely, through the resources of communion ecclesiology, the spiritual dimension of catholicity which privileges the life of the local church rooted in the trinitarian communion of God. In particular, Dumitru Stăniloae’s theology of ‘sobornicity’ as a spiritual unity in communion can help the Chinese church overcome its present political difficulties by clarifying the foundation and source of Christian communion, by accentuating the special role of the Holy Spirit in the unity of the church, and by encouraging a cosmic and eschatological openness in the church’s attitude to the world.