Religion and Public Perceptions of Gays and Lesbians in South Korea

Public support for gay and lesbian rights has increased in Western democracies, yet less is known regarding views in South Korea, or East Asia more broadly. Rather than broad cultural claims, this analysis asks to what extent religious identification explains perceptions of gays and lesbians. Public opinion survey data from South Korea finds that Protestants were consistently less supportive of homosexual issues compared to Catholics, Buddhists, and those without a religious identification. Furthermore, after controlling for religion, identification with the largest conservative party associated with less support.     

民国时期天主教戏剧钩沉——一出天主教戏剧的解析

民国时期天主教机关报《圣教杂志》上刊载的《真道剧谈》是一出颇具代表性的利用本土戏曲手段实现教会价值判断的剧作,它对研究中国近代教会戏曲活动具有重要参考价值。     

科左中旗慧丰寺传法记事碑文分析

192 7年农历 5月 ,九世班禅额尔德呢·却吉尼玛从青海出发 ,途经北京、奉天来到哲里木盟 ,在科左中旗慧丰寺讲经授法。后立碑记事 ,言说为“国事东游”。而史实确为迎合当地王公贵族的政治需要 ,扩大黄教势力范围 ,为其日后重返西藏争夺宗教领袖地位做准备。     

Holy Rus: (Re)construction of Russia’s Civilizational Identity

ABSTRACT

Originally connected with the idea of Moscow as the Third Rome and the universal Christian idea of an Empire of Faith, Holy Rus (literally ‘Holy Russia’) has developed today into a transcendental concept of a unifying national force and inter-confessional dialogue based on common moral and spiritual values. The discourse of Russia’s civilizational identity has emerged with new vigor against a background of national and social disintegration. The idea promoted by the state and the Russian Orthodox Church is that Orthodoxy as a quintessence of fundamental moral values is destined to unite the peoples separated by state borders under the auspices of Holy Rus. The core of the civilizational perception is constituted by the supranational nature of Russkiy Mir (literally ‘Russian World’) based on the idea of sobornost. The research is based on the analysis of speeches delivered by President Putin and Patriarch Cyril dedicated to identity issues. The author argues that this official rhetoric is aimed at redefining the place of the Russian Orthodox Church vis-à-vis both Western modernity and domestic secularism within the context of its recovery as an institution after decades of oppression.     

Deux définitions de la collégialité et leur articulation: le cas d’un diocèse catholique

Against the background of the conflict observed between managers and professionals, two definitions of collegiality are identified: on the one hand, as a specific organizational form (bottom up) and, on the other, as a procedure of bureaucratic management (top down). A study of networks of priests in a catholic diocese in France is used to explore how these two definitions are related. Questions are raised about the effects of a too narrow organizational rationalization that uses collegiality only as a top down, bureaucratic managerial procedure. This always entails the risk of making the work done by experts sterile because it overlooks the first type of collegiality, which is based on the nature of the nonroutine tasks that members perform jointly thanks to an endogenous organizational structure of a bottom up type.     

Child Welfare Professionals and Incest Families: A difficult encounter

This paper provides a brief history of Catholic social services in Australia. The underlying theological base has been Catholic Social Teachings. The paper outlines Catholic Social Teachings and its impact on the development of distinctive Catholic social services. Catholic social services is an umbrella term, which includes the diocesan based services - Centacares, religious orders and lay associations such as St Vincent de Paul Society. A condensed history is presented, which highlights the various stages of the development of Catholic social services. These stages have been identified as the early years of the colony - charity for those in need, Industrialisation and ‘Rerum Novarum’- the right of all people to live in dignity, Catholic Welfare Bureau - improving coordination, training and expertise, Conservatism/Innovation and Advocacy - 1949-1986 and Restructuring of human services - the recent period.     

Building a Preaching Ministry in the English Church during the Reformation

Martin Luther’s concept of “priesthood of all believers” implies that everyone who has been baptised not only becomes a Christian, but also becomes a consecrated priest. There is room for a logical extension of Luther’s concept. If every Christian is a consecrated priest and has the right to administer the sacraments for himself, is there any necessity to retain a professional priesthood for the Church? While detailing how Luther’s concept entailed the shift of clerical functions from a sacramental priesthood to a preaching ministry as occurred within the evolving Protestant Churches, this paper offers a clarification of what Luther actually meant by his formula.     

Prospects for Change? Structural,Cultural and Action Dimensions of the Careers of Pioneer Women Priests in the Church of England

Like other organizations the Church of England has adapted to the greater and increasing involvement of women in paid work and other parts of the public domain. However, this has been a gradual, strongly contested and painful process for the Church. In 1986, it allowed women to enter the lowest rank of the clerical profession as deacons, and after many years of hard and bitter struggle the vote was won in the General Synod to ordain women to the priesthood. ¹ The first women priests were ordained in 1994. This article reports a study of 31 of the most senior and experienced Church of England women priests from dioceses across the whole of England. Women entering previously male‐dominated, or male exclusive occupations as in the case of the priesthood, are necessarily engaged in a process of change. The women priests in this study were active agents for change, they wanted to change the organization, both structurally and culturally. This article examines the question of whether these women ‘pioneers’ in the Church of England stand any chance of changing the organization and the occupation, or whether and to what extent they are changed themselves by needing to ‘fit in’. It will look at the structural and cultural factors, which may inhibit their agency or support it.     

关于景教研究的问题意识与反思

景教研究是古代中西交通史或中外文化交流史研究的一个重点,但令人遗憾的是,当西方基督教史研究已经在波斯教会和聂斯脱利派研究方面取得许多新认识的时候,国内的景教研究学者对这个团体一些基本特点的叙述仍停留在理雅各和左伯好郎的时代,甚至因袭以往对该派基督教形象特点的定义而提出错误的问题进而引向偏颇的结论。充分了解这群唐代来华的基督教宣教士所属母会的来龙去脉,充分了解早期基督教史,对于理解并评价景教徒在中国的活动,对于深入分析汉文景教文献的特点,都是不可或缺的前提。本文通过对四个具体问题的辨析而挑战和质疑中古景教研究专家们的一些疏漏,意在引起国内景教研究专家们的注意,认识到有关基督教史研究的丰富研究成果对于唐代景教研究不无裨益,也希望景教研究在当前语境下应有的一个新定位能够更受重视——景教研究不再单纯是针对出土文献的古代语言研究,还是一项需要多种知识结合的文化研究和宗教研究。     

晚清蒙古教案研究——以宁条梁案为中心

鸦片战争后,随着基督教对蒙古各部渗透增强,清廷传统的保护蒙部政策随之废弛,行之有效的政策尚未形成。宁条梁等教案爆发再度导致清廷应对蒙部变局措手不及,在各国势力胁迫下,清廷只能对蒙部问罪,包括迫使蒙部赔款、允许基督教在蒙部自由传播、要求蒙部承担保护教堂义务等。这些做法给蒙部和清廷都带来了恶劣影响,使得蒙部信仰空间彻底向基督教开放、牧地日益丧失、部众日益贫困、对清廷亦恶感渐生。清廷也开始忽略蒙部重要性,贱视其传统宗教信仰,力行压制之能事。此等失策给了沙俄渗透蒙部可乘之机,清廷同蒙部矛盾终未解决,最终导致蒙部部分地方乘辛亥革命之机,脱离清廷独立。