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The paper examines the functions of “tradition” in the Catholic critical discourse basing on the works of one of the most provocative catholic authors of the second half of the 20th century. The meaning of “tradition” in Catholic theology seems to be rather vague; however, in the works of the 20th century theologians it is possible to trace two most general aspects of the concept: tradition as transcendent truth, given by God, and tradition as order, custom or teaching, created by people, historical in its character. The transcendent core of tradition has a strong positive connotation, while its historical aspect can be subject to critique. The two aspects are used both by the adherents of a conservative policy, and by the supporters of church reform, which testifies to a certain flexibility of the term. Eugen Drewermann, one of the most notable modern critics of the Catholic Church, uses the notion in a negative sense, which magnifies the critical potential of his argument. This critical effect does not result singularly from the definition of “tradition” Drewermann gives in his texts. In order to explicate the specific way the author uses the term and to reconstruct its critical potential, the article analyzes the notion of “tradition” functionally: basing on the author's three-volume thesis, Structures of Evil, where he combined biblical exegesis with current psychoanalytic knowledge, and Depth Psychology and Exegesis, the book where Drewermann continues to develop his innovative exegetical method. This approach makes it possible to trace how the notion acquires negative connotations: by excluding the transcendent aspect from the field of its denotations, by discussing religion in terms of psychoanalysis, as well as by linking tradition to such negatively connoted terms as “fear”, “neuroticism”, “external” and contrasting it to the “objective”, “internal”, “natural” and “true”. Eugen Drewermann’s critical interpretation of tradition based on the psychological understanding of religion in fact deprives Christianity of its transcendent origin and delegitimizes the modern institutional form of Catholicism: which allows the author to radicalize the question of the extent to which the Church is liable to change.

The Council of the Uniate Church held in the Polish city of Zamo?? in 1720 can be considered as an important milestone in the process of confessional identity formation of this church. Published by the decision of the Council in 1722 in the town Supra?l, the doctrinal compendium Sobranie pripadkov kratkoe (‘A short collection of cases’) was addressed to both the clergy and ordinary believers. This article undertakes for the first time a source analysis of Sobranie pripadkov, the authorship of which is traditionally attributed to Metropolitan Lev (Kiszka, 1633–1728). The relation of Sobranie pripadkov to two earlier works of the Metropolitan was analysed: the fi rst was published 1693 in Lublin in Polish, the second was a Cyrillic edition of ca. 1697, preserved in bad condition and without title page in the collection of the State Historical Museum (Moscow). As a result of the study, it was found out that the version of 1693 is an abstract presentation of the theological and canonical treatises of the Milanese Martino Bonacina (1585–1631). Material borrowed from Bonacina is expanded in the version ca. 1697 through instructive examples of Western origin and polemical theology of the Jesuit Bellarmino; and in the fi nal version of 1722 the material is supplemented by a number of fragments from the canon law treatises, quotations from theological and liturgical works. In its signifi cance, Sobranie pripadkov is comparable to the posttridental Roman Catechism (1566). Throughout the 18th century, the doctrinal compendium of the Council of Zamo?? was reprinted many times with various additions and changes; by the end of the century Sobranie pripadkov gains signifi cant circulation in parish practice.