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The author describes the crisis in which contemporary theology finds itself from various perspectives and suggests that it is primarily a crisis of the whole, or at least of Western Christianity. He shows that Pope Francis is also aware of this crisis and lists the appeals he addresses to theology, among which the call to develop dialogue with other disciplines, with the outside world and social institutions, and with other religions stands out. The Pope makes this subject of the freedom of theological research, which depends on theology maintaining a sapiential dimension, that is, the search for wisdom for the benefit of humanity. For the author, the greatest challenge for contemporary theology is not the decline in the number of believers in the Western Churches, nor the issues that currently arouse the strongest passions, but the recognition of the equality of religions, which no other science can resolve for theology, because it is a proposition that is difficult to accept within the limits of existing Christian discourse. Nevertheless, the theme of an all-human brotherhood that transcends religious and confessional differences is fundamental and crucial for the social relevance of theology in today's world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of the author's pastoral-theological thesis Synodality and a Mission of the People of God: a Transformation of Pastoral Practice in the Diocese of Brno as a Response to the Change of an Era (2023). The thesis was questioning how the Church should respond to the present change in epoch and especially to the weakness of the Christian testimony of the Communion of the People of God in the past and in the present time. Critical theological research, including the Magisterium of Pope Francis, and pastoral discernment demonstrate that the best answer is a synodal renewal. The work consequently offers an outline of the basic concrete features of this renewal. The work offers these results as an inspiration for other particular churches in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article deals with the role of the papacy during the first years of the Anglo-Saxon mission in Germania. The topic has usually been approached in the past with respect to the following development in Europe, namely the Carolingian Renaissance. The goal of the contribution is to emphasise the autonomous character of the eithth century, when the creation of a new empire in the West was not yet considered. During this time, the papacy was facing a crisis within the empire coming from the Lombards and Byzantines. The Pope found support in Franks, but mostly in Anglo-Saxon missionaries. The dynamics of the process comes mostly from the apostolic character of the Church, which was emphasised by the Pope and missionaries and which is illustrated with three selected epistles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HROMJÁK, Ľuboslav. The Contribution of Pope John Paul II for the Slavs in the Modern History of the Cyrilo-Methodian Cult. In this study, the author, based on the historical context of Cyrilo-Methodism in the 19th and 20th centuries, highlights the importance of Pope John Paul II for the Slavs and its importance in consolidating Cyrilo-Methodism in modern history through the publication of the papal letter Egregiae virtutis and the encyclical Slavorum apostoli. Great emphasis is placed on the contribution of John Paul II for the Slavic world by the declaration of Sts. Cyril and Methodius as patrons of Europe. Pope John Paul II contextualizes the Catholic Slavism of Leo XIII as its successor in the 20th century. By the declaration of Sts. Cyril and Methodius as patrons of Europe, according to the author, the Pope pursued two intentions: ecumenical and civilizing. He presented Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the context of Catholic Slavism as a civilizational and ecumenical bridge between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. John Paul II as the only Slavic pope on Peter's throne, he was the only one who could highlight the example of Sts. Cyril and Methodius for Western Europe, in search of Europe's spiritual roots. In this study, the author also points out the importance of the apostolic letter in the Slovak Catholic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented study The Holy See on the Threshold of the World War I in 1914 deals with the situation and attitude of the Holy See before World War I and shortly after its beginning. It reflects not only its internal changes before the conflict but also reflects on its presence in international relations at the beginning of the 20th century, in relation to the countries of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. It explains the position of the Holy See, analyzes the first reactions of Catholic head Pius X and, from the end of the summer of 1914, his successor Benedict XV on war operations. The involvement of the Holy See is understandable primarily because the war threatened the international position of the Catholic Church and its administration by making the contact of the Holy See with individual national churches more complicated while many acts were postponed in view of the ongoing world conflict. The material, spiritual and political conditions of the priests in individual dioceses deteriorated, as did the contact of the Holy See with them. The Pope's situation was all the more complicated because none of his predecessors was in a similar international situation of a war conflict of a global nature. The text is based on both published documents of an official nature and sources from the Austrian and Vatican archives which it confronts with numerous literature, especially of foreign provenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Slovak priest and writer comments on the visit of Pope Francis in Slovakia in 2021 and recalls the Pope's message to the Slovak Church, as heard particularly in his speech in St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava. The author examines three aspects that the Pope identified as essential elements in the life and mission of the Church: freedom, creativity and dialogue. According to the author these are indispensable life impulses that should become an integral part of the Church and upon which its future also depends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During his visit to Slovakia in 2021, Pope Francis delivered a speech in the Cathedral in Bratislava to bishops, priests, religious and all the believers. In it, he outlined what kind of Christian community we need today. Church should not be a fortress, power structure or a castle that looks down on the world from a distance and stands alone for itself. It should be the leaven that shapes the kingdom of love and peace from the dough of our world. According to the Pope, three realities play an important role in fulfilling this mission: freedom, creativity and dialogue. The Pope calls the Slovak Church to persevere in the journey of the freedom of the Gospel, the creativity of faith and dialogue arising from mercy of God who has made us brothers and sisters and calls us to be creators of peace and harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most significant appeals that Pope Francis has brought to the life of the Catholic Church is the call for a synodal transformation of the Church. Such a concept of the Church is closely related to what "catholicity" means as a characteristic of the Church. The article, therefore, analyses selected documents of the Second Vatican Council dealing with the catholicity of the Church and analyses the catholicity of the Church based on the synodal concept of the Church (the Church as communio ecclesiarum). The methodology of a "transversal reading" of conciliar documents shows the not-yet-fulfilled potential of the effective reception of the teaching of Vatican II. The text consequently aims to set out several key topics on how to develop the future of Catholic ecclesiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text examines trust within current Western society as a whole in relation to development of political hope. It proposes that recent turn towards populism (Donald Trump, Brexit etc.) is caused by a decline of trust in politics and has something to do with a crisis of political hopes of tradi tional type contained in political ideologies as liberalism, socialism, and conservativism. These i de olo gies are analysed as degraded version of homo deus, the great modern ideal. It is concluded that the current crisis cannot be solved by return to politics of traditional type. However, the Latourian turn towards the Earth and respect for the non­human world is the key which can be supported by Christianity, if only it develops towards direction presented by pope Francis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If the church is to be plausible to the society around, it must itself be a community where trust is honestly present – among its individual members, leaders and laymen, toward its surroundings, future, and God himself. This statement is illustrated by a description of trust in life of a parish which reflects its trust in God. The author uses updated biblical story about experience of Moses and the chosen nation being visited by Jitro, Moses´s father­in­law (Ex 18:13–23). He analyses trust included in the constitution of the Eucharist; following Bonaventura Bouše he is thinking about the sacrament of penance being practiced in the atmosphere of deeper trust; and focuses on trust in the teaching of pope Francis, e.g., exhortation Evangelii gaudium 88. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article takes a closer look at Pope Benedict XVI's message on the media, while setting the Holy Father's ideas in the general context of media theory. It focuses on key themes emerging from the papal messages: (1) the role of the media in communication and community, (2) the relationship between the media and education, (3) the polarity of silence and word. Starting with the above-mentioned points, it then freely moves on to the question of defining the function and task of the media. The at least partially formed answers to the definitions then meet in the article with reflections on the actual activity of the media in the world. It does not present a comprehensive solution to the conflict between the defined and the actual, nor is it its goal. The ambition of the conclusion is instead an attempt at indicating possible ways of further development of the media space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in 1854, he ended a theological debate on this question centuries long. The well--known Medieval Franciscan thinker John Duns Scotus offered one of the most important theological contributions to defend the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Because of the universality of Christ's redemptive work and the universality of original sin, the opposite opinion prevailed among theologians during his life. The aim of this paper is to examine Scotus's solution to this Marian question in the context of the Medieval debate on it. First, the most serious theological objections to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary are presented, as well as Scotus's response to them. In the analysis of Scot's solution, the emphasis is on his famous argument potuit, decuit, ergo fecit. Final remarks on his solution, including critical ones, are presented in the conclusion and its significance for the formulation of dogma is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid changes in the style of communication in the media over the last three decades have been enormous. Technological progress and the development of communication channels are constantly changing the ways in which authorities and communities are interconnected. In the paper, the authors examine the approach of the last three Popes to the new possibilities of communication through the Internet. This survey study traces how John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis anticipated the consequences of technological possibilities and social change in society in their texts and how their ideas manifested themselves in the public media space. The call for a new way of evangelization is shared by all three popes. Their texts and speeches not only reflect scholarly research on religious behavior on the Internet, but also often anticipate the possibilities of communication within the new digital continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction to the Octobore 2021 edition of pope Francis' homily on angered Jesus places this homily to a broader context of pope Francis' reflections on anger as we can find scattered throughout the fundamental texts of his pontificate and his view of a person and interpersonal coexistence in general. In this meaning he applies anger to momentary natural human reaction; anger, which does not remain with the first natural reaction but becomes permanent life attitude; and anger of society directed against the Church in connection with sexual abuse scandals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the correspondence between Gerbert of Aurillac (from 999 Pope Sylvester II, † 1003) and Adalbold (from 1010 Bishop of Utrecht, † 1026/27). Both scholars wrote, in addition to other works, several short texts focused on mathematical problems, including letters addressed to each other. The paper presents, mainly with respect to Gerbert’s letter to Adalbold regarding the area of the equilateral triangle according to geometric and arithmetic rules, the broader context and aims of these mathematical disciplines in the Early Middle Ages. The emphasis is especially on inspiration from ancient and older Early Medieval sources (e.g. Plato, Calcidius, Boethius or Victorius of Aquitaine, the so-called Pseudo-Boethius’ Geometria I and Geometria II), but also other contemporary sources (Abbo of Fleury, Geometria incerti auctoris, etc.) and other texts by Gerbert (primarily Geometria attributed to him) and Adalbold (especially The Commentary to Boethius’ Consolation, III,9). The main goal of the paper is to demonstrate the extremely close relationships between the mathematical and philosophical interpretation of the created world, in accordance with Plato’s legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to define more closely the model of theological thinking of the current Pope Francis on the example of his interpretation and communication of the religious thought of the Russian novelist F. M. Dostoevsky. In the theological thinking of Pope Francis, this concept has a mediating role between the cultural form of religion and its meaning and role for theology. Next, the study reviews the sources and cultural influences of his approach to theology. Finally, through an analysis of his texts, it presents specific systematic insights into the nature of the interconnectedness of Russian religious thought, including implications for the content and mode of mediating salvation to people today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Th e study focuses on the missionary activities of Constantine and Methodius in which Old Slavonic was used. Th e success of these activities raised interest in these missionaries even from the Papal Court. Th e missionaries were invited here by Pope Nicholas I and subsequent negotiations were led by his successor Adrian II, who approved their missionary activities in Old Slavonic and promoted Methodius to an Archbishop with an archdiocese that, in accordance with canon law (being the work of Christ, no diocese may cease to exist), was a continuation of the defunct ancient Pannonian diocese seated in Sirmium. In accordance with this law, this diocese was understood as a vacant one, and the Pope himself could appoint its bishop or archbishop. Th is led to opposition from the episcopate of East Francia, which considered this territory part of the Salzburg archdiocese based on secular law (a diocese ceases to exist aft er a certain period of inactivity, and the ruler of the territory in which the defunct diocese or archdiocese is located may decide about its new church organisation). Th e Franks also carried out attacks upon Methodius who was even imprisoned for two and a half years by the bishops of East Francia, and was only released following an intervention from the Pope. Methodius successfully defended his own position and eventually settled permanently in Great Moravia under Svatopluk’s rule. Th e precise location of his seat is, however, unknown. Following Methodius’s death in 885, the administration of his entire diocese was in all probability assumed by the Nitra bishop Wiching, an adversary of Old Slavonic liturgy. Wiching initiated persecution of supporters of the liturgy in Old Slavonic and forced them to leave the country. Eventually, while Wiching was already in the services of King (later Emperor) Arnulf, he left the archdiocese, which resulted in the collapse of the church organisation in Great Moravia. An attempt at restoring it was conducted by the new ruler of Great Moravia Svatopluk II (the son of Svatopluk I), who asked Pope John IX to settle the church organisation. At his behest, an archdiocese and three subordinate dioceses were established in the territory claimed by the Passau diocese. Th is resulted in an aggressive reaction directed against Great Moravia from the Bavarian clergy, expressed in its letter to Pope John IX, probably written in the year 900, when Central Europe was facing the imminent threat of a Magyar invasion. Th e result of the invasion was the fall of Great Moravia and its church organisation. A new church organisation in Central Europe began to develop under entirely diff erent conditions that call for further investigation and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the problems Pope Francis points to in his Encyclical Fratelli tutti is a problem of walls and obstacles in the contemporary world, the temptation to build culture based on exclusion and on walls. For Francis it is only a social and political issue but also spiritual and psychological. Francis shows that even Church and religion are not resistant to a temptation of building walls, this process even changes our sense to be Church. These new walls have weakened our sense of being one church, in the one world, in communion with the one human family. Catholic ecclesial notions of communion have been replaced with an imported secular model of cultural identity that reduces ritual and doctrine to tools to mark the difference. Francis presents ways to rediscover the relationship between Christians and believers with the human family, how to overcome the mentality of "us versus them" and connects this mentality with modern consumeristic habits. He presents an inclusive model of the Church that is called to bring in the world a radical quest for justice and equality and helps to remove the walls - physical or virtual - that divide one human family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By its all orientation the Encyclical Fratelli tutti offers most of all a vision founded on a diagnosis and balance of the actual state. The pope is aware that it is also necessary to deal with our past - not just a very precise description and analysis of historic processes, which are actually necessary for a good understanding of the present and for a good estimation of the trends. The other aspect to deal with our past is also very important, that is to right a wrong and overcome obstacles that may complicate our common way towards the future. The study introduces the fundamental issues of the encyclical Fratelli tutti about forgiveness, especially impulses that are important for our historical situation. It focuses on the importance of our memory, assumption of doing right a wrong and reconciliation as a journey and on Church and gospel in the ministry of reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The encyclical Fratelli tutti met with sometimes sharp rejection because of its criticism of capitalism. However, the Pope by no means condemns free-market competition and globalisation. According to him, however, a humane order of the (world) economy needs to increase the prosperity and social participation of all and, above all, to overcome the exclusion of the poorest and most vulnerable people. The vision of universal fraternity offers orientation not only for personal initiative, but also for the shaping of regulatory structures, both nationally and internationally. In doing so, the Pope draws on the tradition of the Church's social teaching with its central principles, which he develops further in the light of new challenges - as the article shows with reference to the order of the world economy in general and the world trade order WTO in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Francis is considered a harsh critic of capitalism. He remains faithful to this position in his encyclical Fratelli tutti. Yet the general nature of his criticism of the market economy is seen by many as „incompatible with the Church's existing tradition of teaching". This study focuses on the central question of private property in the encyclical Fratelli tutti from an economic and ethical perspective and examines whether the above thesis of a break in the Church's social teaching is true. In the encyclical, Pope Francis himself explicitly follows his predecessor John Paul II. However, John Paul II by no means formulated the concept of property, which Pope Francis develops further; he also took it from the Church's tradition. The author discusses the Christian doctrine of property, the social obligation of property as a social ethical principle, and current challenges in light of the Christian ethic of property, including international migration and issues of human rights and international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the first look at the encyclical Fratelli tutti is conspicuous that the pope Fracis uses the term "people" very often and in really different meanings. What is remarcable are extracts of FR 156-157, in which pope regrets, that "those, who stand up for the most vulnerable members of society, are usually criticised as populists" (FT 163). There is a danger that legitimacy of generally accepted meaning of the term "people" will be refuted (FT 157). What does the pope mean by this? Why is this term so important to him? The study expresses, how the pope uses the term in the encyclical; it clarifyies how much pope's Latin American roots helps to a better understanding of this term. He deals with "popular movements" which the pope evidently considers as really important. Finally, he adds a critical look at Pope Francis's possible problematic romanticization of the term people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seen through the lens of international law, the Member states have become somewhat complicated actors. Their EU membership often seems to be sitting in the room with them and the ensuing loyalty towards EU law may occasionally trigger the demand that international-law situations be resolved in a way accommodating the modus operandi of intra-EU relations. Thus, the postulate of specificity of EU law has been exported from the intra-EU legal space to shape the international-law assessment of the Member States' legal position. That assessment is dependent on one's initial classification of EU law: Is it one of the Member States' international commitments? If so, does it enjoy special status? Is it perhaps exclusively a part of their domestic law? This paper assesses EU-law and international-law responses which, rather unsurprisingly, tend to differ and seeks to capture glimpses of the on-going dialogue between international decision-making bodies and the EU Court of Justice on this matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study deals with the work of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in the diocese of České Budějovice in the 1920s. At the request of the Czechoslovak party, Pope Benedict XV shortly after 1918 decided that the redemptorist college in České Budějovice would be attached to the Prague province and the remaining three German ones transformed into a special viceprovincie, subordinated to the general order in Rome. This act aroused a strong resistance of the public, especially among local German Catholics. The study analyzes the background of this important decision, which did not only influence the ideas of the Holy See about religious conditions in Czechoslovakia, but also influenced the life of the religious community in České Budějovice. The whole dispute represents one of the most strained diplomatic conflicts in Czechoslovak-Vatican relations between the two world wars. The study is based on a large source base which put the influence of the redemptorists in the diocese of České Budějovice into the wider political-religious context of the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay examines the reaction of the Catholic Church to the coronavirus crisis. The author asks if the strong individual gestures including Pope Francis's extraordinary Urbi et Orbi is going to be the best fruit of the crisis for Christians? First, he maps spreading of the coronavirus and reactions of the Catholic Church to this issue. Second, he theologically examines these reactions - mass live--streams, domestic liturgies, dispensations, non-liturgical celebrations, etc. Third, he proposes some inspirations for Sunday celebration waiting to be reinvented in the post pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stylus Romanae curiae, as an important element influencing, regulating and completing the practical application of the Canon-Law rules, emerged originally from the mularies and rules of the Apostolic Chancery. The Popes at first insisted on their general central administrative and judicial bodies not only to exercise control over the application of universal rules, but also to complete the above-mentioned rules and perform the function of director of jurisprudence. Since then Stylus Romanae curiae began to influence not only the further development of Canon-Law sicence, but significantly also the legal practice, especially in completing gaps in the law, but also in the interpretation and decision-making of repeating types of causes in the sense of administrative directives, respectively precedents. Admitting the value of the source of law on the part of several canonists made of it over time an unwanted element that was eliminated by the papacy only at the beginning of the twentieth century. The main goal of this article is to point out the conceptual definition and practical operation of stylus Romanae curiae and the gradual weakening of its position in the Codex Law of the Catholic Church that culminated in the valid law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distinguished Polish academic, politician and diplomat reflects on John Paul II's legacy in Polish society and the Church, and what Pope Francis's pontificate reception is based on that. He talks about a certain instrumentalization of John Paul II without the necessary study of the depth and diversity of his teachings. That has led to shorthand and schematic conclusions and then it has been difficult to fully understand what Pope Francis brings. The lack of information about the new pope's teachings, skepticism about him and a sense that he has nothing to say to Poles lead to other specific manifestations of Polish Catholicism that the author believes can be linked to the biblical image of whitened graves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the lecture delivered on the occasion of the establishment of the Polish Coalition's club of thoughts the author presents the concept of the common good, as found in the work of Karol Wojtyła/John Paul II. Then he considers how these ideas are implemented in the present Republic of Poland. It mentions the Pope's words about the crucial role that is played by fair administrative law in a democratic state. The basis of this law should be always and everywhere a man and the whole truth about a man, his inalienable rights and those of an entire community. And he recalls that, alongside the objective dimension of the common good, one must also remember the subjective dimension, the dimension of personal participation in the community. Caring for the common good must be done by all citizens and must manifest itself in all areas of society's life. In a specific, particular way, this care is then required in the policy area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Polish Dominican is using the occasion of Pope Francis' visit to Poland in 2016 to provide a critical analysis of the state of the Polish Church. It notes that it has been in serious crisis since 1989, which must not be covered up by even the still seemingly vivid Polish Catholicism. It names and approaches a number of maladies of the Polish Church: threats to manicheism; absence of dialogue in the Church; flourishing sectarianism; clericalism; politicization of the Church; overconnection of the Church and nationalism; intellectual sterility; the gene of triumphalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author represents secularization not as a negative phenomenon but as a positive process of purification and metamorphosis that can lead to withdrawal from positions not belonging to religion. The secularization of society can thus be linked to the desecularization of the Church, the casting aside of that secularity that the Church destroys and that Pope Francis talks about many times. In the space of the Polish Church, the author sees the recognition of its role in a pluralistic society as an important problem. He points out that a pastorship based on antagonism, combat and defence, with a clearly defined enemy of both social and theological nature, such as communism, must reorient itself towards a strategy of free choice between different offerings in the marketplace of ideas. He sees the church's desecralization as an important process in revealing its true nature and focusing on effective pastoral and mission activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay addresses the actuality of John Paul II's teachings regarding Jews, Judaism and the Holocaust in contemporary Poland. He shows in several paintings (a speech in Yad Vashem, a prayer at the Wailing Wall, a visit to a Roman synagogue, a memory of Jewish childhood friends...) how important this issue has been to the Pope. At the same time, the author critically notes that despite of John Paul II's popularity in contemporary Poland and respect for him, this very dimension of his teaching is fading into the background, just as anti-Semitic and otherwise xenophobic views which are resurgent nowadays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study denies that the place where the negotiations between King Přemysl Otakar I and Bishop of Prague Ondřej took place in 1221, referred to in the sources as mons Scach or mons Scac, is the Schatzberg near Retz on the border of Moravia and Austria. The solution is Sadská, where several provincial assemblies were held in the 12th century. Such a place had sufficient capacity to host representative meetings of legates of the Pope, the Bohemian king and nobility, bishops, provosts and abbots from Central Europe. This place was also acceptable for Bishop Ondřej – the chapter functioning here was established at the beginning of the 12th century and remained favourable to Ondřej, unlike Stará Boleslav, Mělník and Litoměřice which were exempted from bishops control. Finally, the not-high hill (geomorphologically butte) Sadská (215 m above sea level) is one of the dominant features of the Polabí. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Czech priest and theologian is developing Francis' image of the church as a field hospital in light of the pastoral practice. In doing so, it is based first on images that do not match the Pope's intention: The church as a field museum, as a field temple, as a field library, as a field inn. All these images contain something positive and bearable, but deviate from the original intuition, which helps us better understand the original metaphor (what it means to be a doctor in a field hospital) and answer the question of what kind of church we ourselves dream about. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last papal document on holiness is the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis Gaudete et exsultate (GeE) from 2018. Surprisingly, the Pope's explicit statement in the introduction is that the document does not intend to define holiness. The reasons are in all probability related to the pastoral and encouraging character of the document. Despite the recommendations of the Pope, the author of this paper presents the hypothesis that the document nevertheless contains a certain defining strategy. It is not, however, a classic form of definition (essential or nominal) that contains the necessary and sufficient conditions. This interesting strategy is philosophically described by another approach, the theory of family resemblances of Ludwig Wittgenstein (from his Philosophical Investigations). Interestingly, the application of the non -essential approach to the definition of holiness turns out to have potential. The author of this paper does not claim that Pope Francis intentionally uses Wittgenstein or the theory of family resemblances, but rather that reading GeE with this methodology is comprehensible and provides meaningful results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study summarises Church canonical provisions on child abuse, ranging from the Elvira Assembly (after 300) to the proprio motu of Pope Francis, Vos estis lux mundi, and the most recent decree on the topic of 17 December 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the author focuses on the definition of the Holy See, given its status as a specific subject of international law, which is often mistakenly equated with the Vatican City State. Consequently, the fundamental features of the Holy See's diplomacy and foreign policy are described. The author puts special emphasis on the usage of soft power in its foreign policy. The attention is also devoted to the analysis of selected diplomatic actions and engagement of the Holy See in international relations, in particular, through the action of former popes: the intervention of John XXIII during the Cuban missile crisis and the initiative of John Paul II and Benedict XVI in the Holy Land and in Cuba, respectively. Furthermore, the character and role of apostolic nuncio in his diplomatic service is clarified. Finally, the specific approach of the Holy See to conclude international treaties is illustrated by the example of the conclusion of such an agreement with the Slovak Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]