Search Results (140)

With good reason, Vatican II encourages the Eastern ecclesial realities to preserve and, if necessary, to rediscover their own traditions (also, even if not only, for ecumenical reasons). There are, however, certain aspects of the heritage of the Eastern Churches that require urgent revision in a spirit of consistency with the teachings of the Council. This is undoubtedly the case with regard to the anti-Jewish elements so specific to the entire Christian tradition (more or less generalised insults and judgments; substitutionary and appropriative perspectives; a purely instrumental use of the Jewish scriptures) and, in the absence of full reception of the Council, still reflected in the public prayers of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, to the detriment of that spirit of respect, fraternity, and dialogue theoretically embraced throughout the Catholic world today. In the light of Nostra aetate §4 and the subsequent developments that flowed from it, I shall try in this contribution to outline some possible criteria for reforming the offices of Holy Week, aiming to show that—at least in this particular case—it is not enough merely to refer to the OE, let alone to use it to justify a comfortable tendency towards inertia. Apart from the fact that it is this very Decree that speaks of a possible and necessary organic progress, we cannot ignore the more general spirit of renewal of the Council and its other documents (the NA, the SC, the DV, the GS). The challenge would be to engender a creative fidelity, which—while preserving the best of tradition—surpasses certain of its contingent elements. Full article

Devout laywomen across different regions of early modern Europe developed their own distinctive lifestyles, nomenclature and communities. The history of bizzoche and tertiaries in early modern Malta is still largely unexplored. Through archival material, this paper provides an initial overview of the women who opted for a semi-religious lifestyle in Malta in the period up to c.1700, examining their modes of living and status within society. It also examines their position within the structures of the Church in Malta, shaped by both societal and ecclesiastical norms and the female Christian experience, within the context of the Catholic Reformation. Full article

This article examines the theological trajectories of Watchman Nee (1903–1972) and Witness Lee (1905–1997) on sanctification, union with Christ, and deification, situating their contributions within recent reappraisals of the doctrine of theosis in the academy. Though deification was universally affirmed by the early church and retained in various forms in medieval and early Protestant theology, post-Reformation Western Christianity marginalized this theme in favor of juridical and forensic soteriological categories. Against this backdrop, Nee and Lee offer a theologically rich, biblically grounded, and experientially oriented articulation of deification that warrants greater scholarly attention. Drawing from the Keswick Holiness tradition, patristic sources, and Christian mysticism, Nee developed a soteriology that integrates justification, sanctification, and glorification within an organic model of progressive union with God. Though he does not explicitly use the term “deification”, the language he employs regarding union and participation closely mirrors classical expressions of Christian theosis. For Nee, sanctification is not merely moral improvement but the transformative increase of the divine life, culminating in conformity to Christ’s image. Lee builds upon and expands Nee’s participatory soteriology into a comprehensive theology of deification, explicitly referring to it as “the high peak of the divine revelation” in the Holy Scriptures. For Lee, humans become God “in life and nature but not in the Godhead”. By employing the phrase “not in the Godhead”, Lee upholds the Creator–creature distinction—i.e., humans never participate in the ontological Trinity or God’s incommunicable attributes. Yet, in the first portion of his description, he affirms that human beings undergo an organic, transformative process by which they become God in deeply significant ways. His framework structures sanctification as a seven-stage process, culminating in the believer’s transformation and incorporation into the Body of Christ to become a constituent of a corporate God-man. This corporate dimension—often overlooked in Western accounts—lies at the heart of Lee’s ecclesiology, which he sees as being consummated in the eschatological New Jerusalem. Ultimately, this study argues that Nee and Lee provide a coherent, non-speculative model of deification that integrates biblical exegesis, theological tradition, and practical spirituality, and thus, present a compelling alternative to individualistic and forensic soteriologies while also highlighting the need for deeper engagement across global theological discourse on sanctification, union with Christ, and the Triune God. Full article

The relationship between Scripture and the Liturgy remains one of the most extensively debated subjects in theological discourse. In the wake of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, a divided Christendom witnessed the rise of a dichotomy between Scripture and Liturgy, as well as between the Word and the Sacrament. This dichotomy, however, is absent from the patristic thought, which perceives the unity and complementarity between Scripture and Liturgy, owing to their shared belonging to the one life of the Church—broadly defined as Tradition—and to the way they are understood and experienced as interconnected modes through which the singular Mystery of Jesus Christ is communicated to the faithful. The present study aims to demonstrate this unity by drawing on a substantial body of patristic writings, highlighting the fact that the life of the Church is one and is lived both as the rule of faith and the rule of prayer, and that through it, one and the same Christ communicates Himself to the faithful both through the Word and through the Holy Sacraments. For the Church Fathers, the Christian faith is not an abstract doctrine about Christ, but a real and personal encounter and communion with Him in the life of the Church. This patristic approach may offer a starting point for contemporary Christianity in addressing the current liturgical crisis and in rethinking and renewing future ecumenical dialogue. Such renewal presupposes a movement beyond secular formalism and nominalism, which have fostered excessive conceptualization and an antithetical view of Scripture and Liturgy, Word and Sacrament. Full article

The present research aims to contribute to the effective development of AI literacy and thus to its proper educational integration by investigating (i) the relationship between teachers’ AI literacy and digital competence and (ii) whether this relationship varies by gender, discipline, age, and teaching experience. This is the first large-sample study in Hungary to comprehensively analyze such relationships, based on a representative sample of 1103 teachers from 13 fields of education. After a theoretical grounding and literature review, the study describes the research methodology, analyzes the empirical results, and concludes. The research contributes to the AI literacy literature by providing empirical evidence from a previously understudied population—Hungarian university teachers—and by refining the understanding of the role of digital competence in the context of technological transformation. The findings highlight that the development of AI literacy does not require a one-size-fits-all approach but rather strategies tailored to the specific needs of target groups (e.g., gender, scientific fields, and experience levels). Full article

This article aims to provide an account of the political thought of Archbishop John Carroll on the topic of religious liberty as a core principle of the American founding. It examines the relationship of Church and State through the lens of a developing self-understanding in the American and Roman Catholic identities. American Catholic colonists were accused of having a divided allegiance that made them dangerous to the social compact, divided between papal authority and the authority of the republic. Further, the place of the Catholic Church in a more pluralistic religious landscape following the Reformation demanded a reexamination of the traditional Catholic teaching on religious liberty. One man in particular stands out as a seminal figure in the development of a rapprochement between the American liberal understanding of religious liberty and that of the Catholic tradition. This man was Archbishop John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic Bishop in America. Carroll’s theoretical and practical approach to the highly contentious issue of religious liberty is a noteworthy example of simultaneous commitment to the Catholic faith and responsiveness to the exigencies of the moment and the perennial demands of political life. Carroll’s example is useful for Catholics and all others, as a model for Church–State separation. Full article

The expectations, plans and goals of future pastors are developed and consolidated during theological studies. These plans and expectations, and the career strategies based on them can have a decisive influence on how gender-based differences with respect to opportunities in the churches develop. Since one of the particularities of the pastoral vocation is that work and private life are closely intertwined and difficult to separate, the personal choices of prospective pastors are crucial in shaping their professional careers. The results of our research based on focus group interviews conducted with female and male Protestant seminarians in Hungary suggest that female theology students are more reserved and cautious in their articulation of plans than their male counterparts. On the one hand, they assume that factors outside and above them may override them and that the conservative church environment may constrain their options. On the other hand, it was repeatedly expressed that, as women, they find it difficult to reconcile pastoral work and family life, and take it for granted that they will compromise more in the professional field. Only a few of the female participants plan to work as independent congregational leaders (senior pastors), whereas this ambition is very typical of male students. Full article

The liturgical reforms of the mid-twentieth century had major impacts on not only the forms of liturgies in the Western church but also on liturgical theology. The 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican province in the United States, along with several dioceses across the world, represents the culmination of these developments in that jurisdiction. Among its revolutionary suggestions is the reservation of Holy Baptism for certain occasions: the Easter Vigil, Pentecost, All Saints’ Day or the Sunday following, the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, and the visitation of a bishop. Many liturgical guides emphasize the advantages of observing these so-called “baptismal feasts,” but none treat them in any lengthy manner. Do the different occasions for baptism have something specific to say about what baptism is? How do the appointed lectionary readings shed light on baptism, and vice versa? In this article, I will explore these feasts and especially their assigned lessons in the Revised Common Lectionary. I will show that when read with a liturgical hermeneutics, the appointed scriptures and, therefore, the baptismal feasts themselves paint a comprehensive picture of a contemporary baptismal theology. Full article

Background: Assessing cancer survival trends is crucial for monitoring progress in cancer management and prevention. As part of the broader HUN-CANCER EPI study, this analysis examined overall survival (OS) in the Hungarian cancer population between 2011 and 2019. Methods: Using data extracted from the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) database, short- and long-term OS were estimated for various cancer types according to age, sex, and diagnostic period using Kaplan–Meier analysis. The study also identified cancer types with significant early mortality following diagnosis. Results: From 2011 to 2019, a total of 528,808 patients were diagnosed with cancer. During the 2015–2019 diagnostic period, the lowest 5-year OS rates were observed for esophageal (7.0%), pancreatic (10.7%), liver (12.5%), gallbladder (13.9%), and lung cancer (18.4%). Conversely, tumor types with better OS included testicular cancer (91.6%), thyroid cancer (89.0%), Hodgkin’s lymphoma (84.0%), melanoma (78.6%), and breast cancer (74.1%). A notable proportion of deaths occurred within 2 months of diagnosis for liver (33.2%), pancreatic (27.9%), and gallbladder cancer (29.0%). Significant early mortality within 6 months post-diagnosis was also noted for esophageal (51.3%), stomach (42.9%), and lung cancer (41.7%). Conclusions: The HUN-CANCER EPI study conducted between 2011 and 2019 provides valuable insights into cancer survival patterns in Hungary, emphasizing the importance of early detection and targeted interventions to improve patient outcomes. Full article

This paper critically addresses the pervasive neglect of indigenous approaches to social transformation within the field of international development cooperation. It shows how commonly used evaluation frameworks—shaped by Western assumptions about evidence, measurement, and progress—tend to exclude non-Western knowledge systems. Focusing on African Initiated Churches (AICs) as exemplars of development actors with transformational approaches that incorporate the spiritual, this study explores the possible reforms required in mainstream evaluation practices to recognise and include development alternatives. An analysis of AIC evaluation practices reveals the potential for decolonised frameworks rooted in African and indigenous epistemologies, including relational, communal, and spiritual ways of generating evidence. This paper argues that fostering mutual learning and dialogue in the field of development evaluation is fundamental to driving more inclusive and sustainable social change. Full article

With increasing wind energy infrastructure developments, better understanding of its impacts on tourism is needed. This study examines international visitors’ attitudes toward wind farms in Iceland and investigates how locational factors affect their compatibility with tourism. Based on a survey answered by 1005 departing visitors, this study reveals that 92% are concerned about climate change. However, a lower proportion, 76%, support the use of wind energy in Iceland. Central European visitors are the most likely to be negatively affected by wind energy development, while Asian visitors showed the greatest interest in visiting a wind farm in Iceland. Among visitors from the leading countries of origin, French tourists were the most negative toward wind energy development in Iceland. Wind farms were perceived as most suitable in industrial, offshore, and agricultural areas, whereas their suitability was considered lowest in national parks and other protected natural areas and cultural heritage areas. Positive attitudes toward the use of wind energy positively affected the perceived suitability of wind farms in all of the discussed areas, while a lower perceived compatibility of wind farms with the tourist experience had a negative effect. The study highlights the importance of careful spatial planning and participatory approaches to improve compatibility between tourism and harnessing wind energy. Full article

This study examines the role of Christian missionary interpreters from the Open Port Period to the Japanese colonial era, highlighting their historical significance and influence. During the Open Port Period, missionaries relied on Korean language teachers to serve as interpreters, translators, evangelists, and preachers. Although their English proficiency was often limited, they played a crucial role in early Christian missions. In the Japanese colonial era, elite intellectuals who had studied abroad increasingly assumed interpretation roles, actively contributing to theological education and social reform. This study analyzes historical records, newspaper articles, and existing research to reconstruct the evolving role and broader impact of Christian interpreters. The findings suggest that missionary interpreters were not merely linguistic mediators but key figures in evangelism and social transformation. Furthermore, the study highlights the historical transition from consecutive interpretation to simultaneous interpretation in Korean churches and underscores the need for systematic training programs. Given the growing linguistic diversity in Korean congregations, churches must recognize the importance of trained interpreters in ensuring effective multilingual worship and uphold the legacy of missionary interpretation. Full article

African immigrants in the UK, especially in places such as London, Birmingham, and Manchester, contend with institutional racism, xenophobia, and socio-economic marginalisation. This study analyses how first- and second-generation African diaspora communities understand Jeremiah 29: 4–7 to create resilience and belonging. This study uses desktop research from African diasporic churches and analyses the UK’s Inclusive Britain Strategy (2023) to contend that biblical tales are reinterpreted to confront modern issues, including the Windrush Scandal and racial inequalities in NHS maternal care. The document emphasises the influence of African-led churches in formulating integration plans and promoting policy reforms in the UK. The findings indicate that African diaspora churches reinterpret Jeremiah 29: 4–5 to promote resilience and structural involvement in combating systemic racism and socio-economic disadvantage in the UK. The paper concludes by reinterpreting biblical tales to connect spiritual resilience with systemic activism, promoting hybrid identities, and integrating legislative reforms with community-driven initiatives for equity. The paper recommends the decolonisation of curricula, the enhancement of culturally competent healthcare training, the expansion of church–state collaborations, and the modification of legislation such as the Hostile Environment to foster inclusiveness. This study enhances academic discourse by merging diaspora theology with policy analysis, presenting an innovative framework for the theological examination of migration and elevating African agency within UK socio-political environments through decolonial hermeneutics and hybrid identity paradigms. Full article

Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, was ruled by three Euro-Christian colonisers for over 450 years. Alongside their pursuit of trade and wealth, these colonial powers—the Portuguese (1505–1658), Dutch (1658–1796), and British (1796–1948)—sought to establish their distinct forms of Christianity: Catholicism by the Portuguese, Reformation by the Dutch, and Anglicanism and other Protestant denominations by the British. The missionary strategies and religious policies of these European colonisers varied significantly. Unlike Catholicism, which closely aligned with the external rituals of local religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, the Dutch Reformed religion emphasised Christian doctrine and biblical scripture, distinguishing itself in its liturgy, art, and architecture. This paper examines the origins and development of Dutch Reformed urban church architecture in Sri Lanka through archival, cartographical, and morphological research, complemented by an architectural survey of the surviving Dutch Reformed churches. The study reveals that the Dutch initially repurposed several Portuguese churches for Reformed worship, and later, they introduced the “Meeting House” typology, aligning with Reformed ecclesiastical and liturgical principles. Over time, this evolved into larger “Greek Cross Plan” churches, a trend that continued until the rise of Anglicanism. Full article

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the regulation of the immune system, with immunomodulatory effects that are key in the prevention of colorectal cancer (CRC). Over the past decades, research has shown that this steroid hormone impacts much more than bone health, significantly influencing immune responses. Vitamin D enhances immune organ functions such as the spleen and lymph nodes, and boosts T-cell activity, which is essential in defending the body against tumors. Additionally, vitamin D mitigates inflammatory responses closely linked to cancer development, reducing the inflammation that contributes to CRC. It acts via vitamin D receptors (VDRs) expressed on immune cells, modulating immune responses. Adequate vitamin D levels influence gene expression related to inflammation and cell proliferation, inhibiting tumor development. Vitamin D also activates mechanisms that suppress cancer cell survival, proliferation, migration, and metastasis. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with an increased risk of CRC, with deficiency correlating with higher disease incidence. Lifestyle factors, such as a diet high in red meat and calories but low in fiber, fruits, and vegetables, as well as physical inactivity, contribute significantly to CRC risk. Insufficient calcium and vitamin D intake are also linked to disease occurrence and poorer clinical outcomes. Maintaining optimal vitamin D levels and adequate dietary intake is crucial in preventing CRC and improving patient prognosis. This review explores the role of vitamin D in immune regulation and summarizes findings from randomized clinical trials assessing the effects of vitamin D supplementation on CRC outcomes. Full article