Studia Pastoralne
Rocznik Wydziału Teologicznego UŚ

AVVIO DI UNA RIFLESSIONE SUL MOTU PROPRIO "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM" DI BENEDETTO XVI

THE PRESBYTERIAT IN SERVICE OF A COMMUNION IN LIGHT OF THE POST-COUNCIL TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH.
Summary
Contemporary ecclesiology postulates: „the Church as communion might be more clearly understood and concretely incorporated into life” (The Final Report of the Extraordinary Synod). This idea should pervade all actions of presbyters and influence a new style of priesthood. This is confirmed both by post-council teaching of the Church and the teaching of the Church in Poland. It was particularly developed in a post-synodal exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (1992) in which John Paul II emphasised that „the ecclesiology of communion becomes decisive for understanding the identity of the priest, his essential dignity, and his vocation and mission”. Other documents of Magisterium Ecclesiae followed this direction. Three documents of the Congregation for the Clergy deserve special attention: Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests (1994), a letter The Priest and the Third Christian Millennium, Teacher of the Word, Minister of the Sacraments and Leader of the Community (1999) and an instruction The Priest, Pastor and Leader of the Parish Community (2002). Among Polish documents there are two written by the Second Polish Plenary Synod that deserve special attention: Needs and Tasks of a New Evangelisation at the Break of the Second and the Third Christian Millennium and Priesthood and Consecrated Life as Community of Life and Ministry with Christ. The documents emphasise that a priest should always remember that he „sanctifies himself by his care for a community which had been entrusted to him. This care should be manifested in being with a community and in a community”. Therefore the synod suggests that „in nominating parish priests one should take into account not so much and not only seniority and achievements but practical pastoral skills, especially the ability of team-work and a social sensitivity”.

The Church’s Commitment to Religious Inclusiveness in Teaching and Learning Theology at the University Level in South Africa
Summary
One of the major tasks facing Catholic theological education at the undergraduate level nowadays is that of helping to equip the churches and their leadership to respond to the growing raise of globalization, multiculturalism, religious diversity, and multiple religious belonging. In this new context, the Catholic institutions of higher education are required to help their students gain a competent knowledge of the non-Christian religions and develop a genuine openness to work with “others” for peace and unity in the world. The Catholic institutions should help future church leaders to overcome their ignorance about the other religions and thus understand better God’s self-revelation in the one salvation history, especially recognizing the unique and universal role of Christ in it.
The article firstly describes the contemporary context of religious diversity which creates new opportunities for the church to engage with religions. It defines “religious inclusiveness” not as a form of religious syncretism (incorporation of some doctrines, moral rules, myths, rituals or practices of other religions) but as a theological approach that gives equal attention to two essential Christian convictions: God’s love is universal and therefore reaches other believers; and God’s love is particular and is made visible in Jesus. The author argues that the idea of religious inclusiveness is not new; in fact it goes back as far as early Christianity, finds support in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and is present in the post-conciliar magisterium, especially in the apostolic constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae (1990) by Pope John Paul II.
In its further stage, the article pays attention to practical ways of implementing education for religious inclusiveness at the undergraduate level in Catholic institutions of higher learning by analysing a number of important areas: the urgency of theological education for religious inclusiveness; the significance of courses on interreligious dialogue; studying theology from a comparative perspective and other faiths’ spirituality; and testing theological studies through praxis and dialogue of life. The analysis ends by attempting to apply the above practical ways of teaching and learning theology to the South African context of religious plurality.

LA THÉOLOGIE DU CORPS COMME L’ASPECT ESSENTIEL DU MARIAGE D’APRES JEAN PAUL II.
Résumé
Il s’agit d’une analyse de l’enseignement du pape sur le mariage donné dans les catechèses des mercredis: 5 IX 1979 – 2 IV 1980; 11 XI 1981 – 9 II 1983; 23 V – 28 XI 1984. Leur titre commun est „Homme et femme, il les créa”. Cet enseignement constitut un regard nouveau de l’Eglise catholique sur la théologie du corps et la sexualité humaine. Il répond aux besoins du monde contemporain, en particulier aux attentes de la jeune génération. Il contribue en même temps à une meilleure compréhension du mariage chrétien comme communio personarum – communion des personnes.
Cet article montre le lien profond entre la théologie du corps et celle du mariage chrétien en tant que sacrement. L’introduction explique ce lien et presente sous cet angle le contenu des catéchèses „Homme et femme, il les créa”.
La réflexion de Jean Paul II est basée sur trois phrases clefs du Christ. Tout d’abord celle qui fait recours „au commencement” dans la discussion avec les pharisiens sur l’unité et l’indissolubilité du mariage (cf. Matt. 19,8; Marc 10,6-9). Ensuite les paroles du Christ sur „le désir” et „l’adultère du coeur” dans le sermon sur la motagne; enfin les paroles citées par les synoptiques sur la résurrection de la chair dans le monde à venir (cf. Matt. 2,30; Marc 12,25; Luc 20,35).
Ces trois points de repère permettent au pape de développer un enseignement approfondi sur les origines bibiques de l’homme et de la femme, sur la communion qui existe entre eux et qui s’exprime aussi dans la „parole” et le „don” du corps, sur le mariage comme sacrement, sur l’importance du corps humain ressuscité. Notre article se limite à une analyse de la première partie des catéchèses de Jean Paul II „Homme et femme, il les créa”.

PROMOTION OF THE FAMILY IN CANON LAW. Comments in light of § 1 can. 226 of Code of Canon Law.
Summary
Two remarks of John Paul II from his Letter to families (1994) constitute landmarks of the contemporary Magisterium de familia christiana. „The family itself – says number 19 of the document – is the great mystery of God. As the »domestic church«, it is the bride of Christ. The universal Church, and every particular Church in her, is most immediately revealed as the bride of Christ in the »domestic church« and in its experience of love: conjugal love, paternal and maternal love, fraternal love, the love of a community of persons and of generations”. This statement correlates with a part of number 17 of the said letter: „As a community of love and life, the family is a firmly grounded social reality. It is also, in a way entirely its own, a sovereign society, albeit conditioned in certain ways. This affirmation of the family’s sovereignty as an institution and the recognition of the various ways in which it is conditioned naturally leads to the subject of family rights”. As P.J. Viladrich rightly observed, a creative academic reflection on a convergence of meaning resulting from the both famous notions „domestic church” and „sovereign family” may contribute to implementation of a postulate to place family in a central position of systematics of the canon law. Christian family has an unquestionable constitutional and legal place in the Church and a society. What is at stake here is „a primary basic structure around which the people of God is build up, configured and fundamentally organised” (J. Hervada). Representatives of the so called „Spanish school” unanimously point at the canon – key to a new placement of a family in a canonical legal order. If the science of canon law still has got a task to introduce a congruent system of family law, a peculiar catalyst and a starting point of its fulfilment may be a formula of canon 226 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law which states that: „According to their own vocation, those who live in the marital state are bound by a special duty to work through marriage and the family to build up the people of God”.

FOR A THEOLOGICALLY CORRECT ICON OF MARY IN PREACHING.
Summary
How a picture of Mary painted by words of a preacher should look like to be theologically correct? Answering this question the author suggests that the picture should be correct in the following contexts: 1) source-wise – taking into consideration basic sources of teaching on Mother of God: Holy Scripture, Tradition of the Church, liturgy, documents of Magisterium Ecclesiae, 2) methodologically-wise – taking into consideration the following issued postulated in the contemporary mariology: showing Mary in correlations to the Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Church and men, where learning about one of the correlates contributes to a deeper understanding of the others, presenting marian content in the context of other theological and humanistic sciences, avoiding maximalism (attributing Mary with prerogatives of Christ, Holy Spirit and the Church) as well as minimalism (diminishing the role of Mary in the history of redemption, undermining the marian dogmas), 3) content-wise – taking into consideration a hierarchy of truths in preaching marian content, hence a proposition: more appreciation for the mystery of the Divine Motherhood, showing a sense of preaching about Mary due to her participation in the Mystery of the Son, underlining close relation of her life with the history of salvation, depicting the Holy Mother as an example to follow.

Person and Tasks of the Preacher as specified in Verbum Domini and Evangelii Gaudium
Summary
Proclaiming the word of God is one of the fundamental tasks of the Church in preaching the salvific message of the Christ. It is the ministry which is effectuated in the Church community and at the command of the Church. The ministry of preaching the word of God includes: conferences, sermons, catecheses and homily. In this ministry the homily, which is contained in the strictly defined frames and which is included in the liturgical space, occupies a special place. According to the preaching of the Magisterium of the Church included in theological massage and documents of the Church this task is entrusted only to the ordained ministers: deacons, presbyters and bishops. The discussed exhortations remind the homilists about their special duties arising from the office that was entrusted to them. These duties start not only from intellectual but also from the spiritual formation. While preparing the homily the homilist must take into account a number of aspects of preaching the homily. First the homilist himself must become a disciple listening attentively to his Master in order to deliver His words considering the whole teaching of the Church, on behalf of which he speaks. In the last years the whole Church, taking into consideration the difficulties it has perceived as well as more and more frequent weakness of the homily, attended to this problem by convening, at the wish of the Pope, the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The results of the synodal proceedings were post-synodal apostolic exhortations of Pope Benedict the XVI and Pope Francis, which describe the place and the role of the word of God in the life and mission of the Church. The exhortations discussed in this dissertation are Verbum Domini and Evangelii gaudium. These documents once again remind the teaching of the Church concerning the place of the homily in liturgical space and point out the measures that should be taken into consideration by the homilists (those who preach the word of God in the liturgy) in creation of the homiletic unit. All undertaken activities shall take into account updating the word of God, which brings understanding of the biblical message to the listeners and helps them to integrate it into their everyday Christian life, bringing them closer to God. The effective sign of working of the word of God is not only its influence on the congregation, but, firstly, on the homilist himself. The effectiveness of preaching of the word of God depends not so much on the skill of the homilist, as on the testimony of his unification with the word of God.

Basic patristic techniques of a homilist
Summary
The opinions provided by the Magisterium of the Church clearly emphasize the prescriptive and fundamental value of the teaching of the Church Fathers. A homilist who seeks exemplary solutions should not only resort to the treasure trove of the Fathers’ doctrine, but also adapt his teaching to their didactic and group-related model. The homilist’s techniques should be organized so as to facilitate direct access to the relevant passages of the Church Fathers. A key to it is subject-related indices in handbooks or in source publications of the the Fathers’ works.