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More than a century ago, the German Catholic historian Sebastian Merkle made the case for a specifically Catholic engagement with the Enlightenment. His audience was largely Protestant academics, who assumed that Protestantism and modernity went hand in hand. But Merkle also refuted wholesale condemnations of the Enlightenment by conservative Catholics, who blamed the movement for the ills that had beset the Church since the French Revolution and which were at the root of the liberal attack on Catholicism up through the Kulturkampf. Merkle insisted that a moderate and constructive Catholic Enlightenment had embraced some aspects of modernity, and that it was important to acknowledge this historical reality in order to fully bring the Church into the modern age.

AbstractWhile the term 'establishment' is ambiguous, it generally refers to a formal relationship between a church and the state in which it operates. This can range from parliamentary representation (as with the Church of England) to mere observance by the monarch (as at the Church of Scotland's annual General Assembly). Since the 1960s there have been proposals regarding Crown appointments and the number and status of the Lords Spiritual. There exists no major push for full disestablishment of the Church of England, but a bill is currently before Parliament.

The article deals with the scientific achievements of Priest Mуkhailo Zubrytskyі (1856–1919) in the study of church history and religious issues. He stated that he had based his research on the data of the diocesan and deanery archives and libraries, as well as on his own observations. It is noted that scientific work should be conditionally divided into three subgroups: archeographic, analytical and historical. The first group of works includes the publication of archival documents and materials, including a number of church acts and official documents the second – the coverage of church relations, relations between priests and between believers and clergy, according to the third group include works of historical content, in which the author provided information on history of the church in Galicia and neighboring territories, as well as the history of individual parishioners of the region.
The archeographic and historical value of the materials found has been established. It is noted that Priest Mуkhailo considered the phenomenon of church affairs and history to be Muscophilic and the transitions of communities into Latin rites. He believed that this was a threat to the unity of the Russian people and also not conducive to its development. It should be emphasized that the historian at the same time stood up for the protection of the rural clergy, but criticized them for their weak connection with the local population and not active in social and cultural work. Note that the researcher was not critical enough to analyze the documents used. It is noted that this topic is only partially covered in the scientific work of domestic and foreign researchers.
Keywords: Mуkhailo Zubrytskyі, church, Muscophilism, diocese, priest, Stavropigia, clergy.

Using the representations of the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the media, this article retrieves the Cathedral's role in public life in Zambian church history in order to tease out its significance in post-independence Zambia. In drawing on a case study and social capital theory, the article shows that the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, as a pre-independence religious building, was represented as a national house of worship, a heritage site and a political shrine. By this, it was a national worship space that played a role in hosting functions of varied nature, and a symbol of religious heritage. As a political shrine, the Cathedral was a space for guiding the nation and fostering reconciliation in the critical political moments of the country. These representations not only revealed the dynamics of the church's role, but also closely aligned to the Cathedral's social capital in public life through the intersection of the church and state relations in post-independence Zambia. The article argues that the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, although not a popular aspect of Zambian contemporary church history, was a religious, material cultural site and a space that allowed the church to contribute to post-independence church history in the country.

Theology has been an integral part of the University of Pretoria since its inception and Church History has been taught since the establishment of the Faculty of Theology in 1917. At that time, the Presbyterian Church of South Africa and the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (NHK) were partners. The Presbyterian link with the Faculty ceased in 1933. From 1938 the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) joined the NHK and this remained the situation until 2002 when the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa re-established its links with the Faculty. At the present time, the Department of Church History and Church Polity is staffed by representatives of all three partner churches.

The growth of a myth of ancient origins pertaining to the church and monastery of Märṭulä Maryam and the exploration of its content and context form the central focus of this study. Material related to the church's apparent ancient origin provides appropriate data through which to illustrate at once the themes of historical fragility and resilience. Märṭulä Maryam consolidated its mythical history by suppressing the memory of its actual founder, thus altering the tradition of the church itself. This study will demonstrate that efforts to completely erase the memory of Märṭulä Maryam's founder and its original history were wholly in vain. Such acts of suppression inevitably leave indelible traces of the true past, not to mention the fact that its actual history is well secured within the records of other Ethiopian churches, as well as in those of Märṭulä Maryam itself.