Different organizational structures of the Catholic Church in Slovenia were a reflection of the circumstances in the Christian community in the Central European region. Being a basic structure, a diocese has existed since the antique period. The diocese is a religious community with a centre in a large settlement (civitas). With the spread of Christianity into the rural areas and into the peasant environment, parishes began to come into existence. In historiography, the terms 'primitive parishes' began to be used to refer to the oldest parishes. They were characterized by their vastness. The number of primitive parishes increased in the 12th century. Due to remoteness of diocesan centres from the communities in rural areas and because of the inability of bishops to be in touch with the priests in rural areas, intermediate stages of organization were coming into existence during centuries, i.e., archdeaconries and deaneries at some places. Some important changes occurred in the operation of the Catholic Church and in its organization in Slovenia during the years after the Second World War. New parishes were established. The change of the state boundaries required changing the diocesan boundaries. Finally, the creation of the independent state of the Republic of Slovenia required a new setting up of the pastoral work and a new territorial organization of dioceses. Adapted from the source document.
The article proposes to improve using of the concepts "freedom of religion" or "freedom of faith" and "legal religious tolerance". Such categories as "freedom of religion" or "freedom of faith" are more popular now in the state and international legal acts.
The application of hermeneutic, comparative, historical, formal legal and dialectical methods of scientific research allows concluding that the term "legal religious tolerance" is better suited to the realities of the legal system than the concept of "freedom of religion" or "freedom of faith". The content of the concept of "freedom of religion" as one of the main categories of human rights and freedoms enshrined in international acts and in the legislation of the most states of the Western Legal Tradition is based on the philosophical ideas of the early modern period. Despite the humanity and the enlightening liberality of those ideas, they remain too idealized and complicated in their practical legal application. The legal content of the concept of "religious tolerance", with all the disadvantages of its vagueness, due to its hermeneutic flexibility leaves much more space for the practical law enforcement.
The categories of "state religion" and "religion of the majority population" are supposed to exist. It does not require absolute detachment of public authorities from regulating religious relationships. Moreover, it mitigates collisions between the application of this right and other civil rights. The author states that using of the legal category of "religious tolerance" is much more suitable. Since its content is in line with the canons of the religious laws of the different religions, natural law, and the historical legal tradition of the long development of society, the concept of "religious tolerance" should be used for the regulation of the religious legal relations in the states with different religious communities.
Spinoza, Pufendorf and Locke all championed freedom of thought (including freedom of religion) and of speech; all three thinkers deserve credit for having forged the fundamental principles of the liberal tradition. Spinoza, in particular, was the first writer in modern times to articulate a systematic defence of democracy. He believed that the state should promote the welfare of its citizens, while maximising their freedom. Although he equated right with power, he also advocated respect for the moral law, stressing the importance of being good to other people. Keywords: Spinoza, Pufendorf, Locke, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, liberalism
In: Ukrai͏̈nsʹkyj sociolohičnyj žurnal: naukove ta informacijne vydannja, Heft 23
ISSN: 2079-1771
Today, in many countries around the world, the role of religion in the public sphere is strengthening. This causes the methodological problems of the theory of secularization, which claimed the gradual and irreversible decline of religion. At the same time, the processes of religious revival in societies that have undergone secularization do not lead to the restoration of religion in the forms that preceded it. To denote this state of society, which occurs after secularization, Jürgen Habermas proposed to use the term "post-secular". A number of both foreign and domestic scientists became interested in this issue. But the purposeful study of postsecularity is still in its infancy and is mostly descriptive. In the scientific works devoted to its research, insufficient attention is focused on specific characteristics of postsecular societies. Therefore, there is a need to generalize these characteristics in order to better understand post-secular society. To achieve this goal, the article analyzes some conceptual approaches to the study of postsecularity. These approaches argue that the "return" of religion does not preclude the preservation of a powerful (or even dominant) secularization cluster in society. Post-secularization is a move forward and the creation of a new system characterized by religious freedom, pluralism, competition between different denominations, rather than a return to the traditions of the pre-modern era. In a post-secular society, as the authors of the works analyzed in the article prove, religion has all the opportunities from secular power for its development. At the same time, there is a reduction in the role of religious institutions and the individualization of religious practices, ie the "privatization" of religion, which is an element of secularization. But this "privatization" is significantly different from secularization, because it is not due to coercion, but to pluralism of choice. According to many researchers, a post-secular situation is possible under the condition of ideological pluralism and parity between religious and non-religious people, when each party has the opportunity to propagate its opinion, but does not impose it, when there is no place for privileged and discriminated, but awareness of mutual coexistence. That is, post-secularity is possible only in democratic and legal societies. The post-secular situation is also characterized by religious competition, intensification of missionary work, manifestations of fundamentalism, globalization of religious piety, transformation of religion into a commodity and the emergence (mostly in the West) of the phenomenon used to refer to the term "spirituality". The situation of post-secularism is a situation of uncertainty, when it is not known how the processes of interaction between the secular and the religious will take place in the future, and it is impossible to make any predictions about how stable this situation is. As the analysis carried out in the article shows, the post-secular approach has not become a full-fledged theory, but is perceived mostly as a program of what should be paid attention to, as a certain correction and continuation of the secularization approach. But with its help, scientists are trying to describe religious processes in modern societies.
The article focuses on the main trends in the revival of religion in the modern world, its active presence in global politics and international relations. It is substantiated that the religious revival at the turn of 1980-1990 in Ukraine, sharp Orthodox-Greek-Catholic and inter-Orthodox conflicts were the result of significant distortions of its institutional and confessional space caused by the party-Soviet religious policy. Special and specific signs of "return of religion" in Ukraine in the context of global religious changes, in particular, the dynamism, complexity and to this day the incompleteness of this process. The content and essential characteristics of the mutual influences of socio-cultural transformations and dynamics of changes in the religious complex of modern Ukraine, the influence of events related to the Revolution of Dignity and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war in the East of the country are analyzed. Peculiarities of life and social positioning of the main actors of the Ukrainian religious landscape, in particular, institutions of the Orthodox complex, UGCC, Protestant denominations, Islamic community, new religious movements are revealed. A number of difficult challenges facing the newly formed Orthodox Church of Ukraine are substantiated - ensuring internal unity, minimizing conflicts, creating their own landmark projects, finding a dialogical model of church reconciliation to overcome the religious frontier of the division of Ukrainian society. The dynamics of public ideas, clear ambivalence and controversy of public consciousness in the religious aspect - from the traditionally high level of trust in religion and the church, to a steady decline in assessments of their importance in the lives of citizens and socio-political processes. Conclusions and proposals on the intensification of the state policy of nationalcivil consolidation and active involvement of religion and religious organizations in this process have been formulated.
The article considers the problems of relations between the Church and the state in the classical sociological theory of M. Drahomanov and modern sociology. In the Western sociology of religion, considerable attention is paid to distinguishing the contexts of state and Сhurch practices, which can be compatible or incompatible with democracy. Compatible with democracy is a form of interaction between Church and state that ensures the protection of religious freedom and religious self-expression of all religious organizations and excludes discrimination based on religion. The negative consequences of the violation of the «principle of separation of Church from the State» described in the works of M. Drahomanov are analyzed. The socio-cultural effects of state intervention in the affairs of the Church at the level of society are investigated: violation of the principle of freedom of conscience, religious repression, forced unification of religions, and migration of believers as a result of repression by the state. It is emphasized that the violation of the principle of freedom of conscience contributes to the formation of an imposed and inauthentic identity of the individual, the growth of religious conformity, and the strengthening of «categorical inequality» in society. The social consequences of religious discrimination are analyzed: the growth of mass tension and frustration in society, the conflict between different Church communities, and the weakening of the effect of cohesion. The negative consequences of the violation of the «principle of separation of Church from the state» for the state Church are demonstrated: weakening of influence in society, rejection of the intellectuals, and latent atheism of the population. It is emphasized that to neutralize these negative effects, it is necessary to observe the constitutional principle of separation of the Church from the state. It was concluded that the separation of Church from state should contribute to the establishment of interreligious tolerance and understanding in society.
The article analyzes the important role of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (hereinafter referred to as the UOC-KP) in consolidating Ukrainian society. The Christian religion, filled with Ukrainian content and spirit, is an important part of the Ukrainian ethno-cultural space. For many centuries Ukrainian Orthodoxy has actively promoted Ukrainian ethnic, state-building, nation-building and ethnocultural processes and consolidated Ukrainians. However, since the resubordination of the Kyiv Metropolitanate in 1686 to the Moscow Patriarchate, it has become an instrument of assimilation of Ukrainianity and the destruction of Ukrainian identity. For three centuries these destructive and assimilation processes concerning Ukrainian Orthodoxy continued. Since the beginning of the disintegration of the USSR, Ukrainians began a long struggle for the elimination of totalitarian-imperial and spiritualcolonial fetters. The process of restoration of the UOC was headed by Metropolitan Filaret (Denisenko). With the active assistance of Metropolitan Filaret, on June 25, 1992, the UOC-KP was created, and on October 22, 1995, he was elected its primate. At the turn of the millennium, the UOC-KP became one of the catalysts of the consolidation processes in post-colonial Ukraine. The UOC-KP systematically and purposefully implemented the Ukrainian language, the state outlook, the national-patriotic education among the clergy and its congregation, thereby bringing together Ukrainians and forming from the post-Soviet population conscious citizens of the Ukrainian state. The UOC-KP consistently consolidated Ukrainian society, united Ukrainian politicians with a state vision and, eventually, achieved its first victory. On October 11, 2018, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate adopted a fateful decision to grant Ukrainian Orthodoxy the autocephaly.
The article describes the division of the Ukrainian community of Canada in the interwar period into a number of public and political organizations. The focus is on the national and patriotic bloc, which opposed the communist one. The basis of this bloc constituted liberal the Ukrainian self-reliance league of Canada, nationalist the Ukrainian war veterans association in Canada, the Ukrainian national federation of Canada, conservative the Ukrainian catholic brotherhood of Canada, and the United hetman organization. The basis of the various conflicts in the bloc, including differences in ideological postulates of liberal, nationalist and conservative societies and views on the religion of Orthodox and Greek Catholics who were members of the organizations mentioned above are analyzed in the study. It is described how opposing parties resisted against each other, and what role the press played in those conflicts. The article also enlightens attempts of agreements between public organizations and mentions joint actions to support the Ukrainian issue in the world. The common goal could reconcile the national and patriotic public associations at the time of the formation of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee on November 7, 1940, which marked a new stage in the social and political life of the Ukrainian Diaspora, as it was emphasized in the article. The reasons that hindered Ukrainian societies from reaching a mutually acceptable consensus and promoted further aggravation of relations were elucidated. The main consequences of conflicts in the environment of national and patriotic public organizations were identified, namely how it was reflected in the social and political life of the Ukrainian diaspora during the interwar period, how it was perceived by the ruling circles of Canada, and how it was used by the communist groups.
The article considers the comparative and legal grounds for the definition of the category "marriage" in family law of Ukraine, interpretation of the concept of "marriage-like unions" in legislation, judicial decisions and legal doctrine of EU states. The author defines the characteristics and peculiarities of these concepts, outlines the approaches to the regulation of family relations in this field and formulates conclusions and proposals aimed at the harmonization of national legislation with EU law.
In the article, both general scientific and special legal methods of research have been used. In particular, comparative-legal, historical, formallogical and other methods have been applied. The article concludes that the example of some European states proves the existence of the advanced legislative approaches to the legal understanding of family unions.
In Ukraine the marriage is exclusively a family union of a female and a male registered with the state registration authority for civil status acts. In the laws of EU states different and much broader criteria for treating such unions can be applied. The presence of various legal forms of unions indicates that foreign law recognizes a family union between persons irrespective of their genders and recognizes such family union as a family. It is said that a characteristic feature for a family is a stable relationship. At the same time, harmonization of the Ukrainian legislation with the EU legislation in the field of marriage and family relations may take place on specific issues (for example, a registered partnership), but it is not advisable to adopt a foreign legal model, since in Ukraine there are distinctive factors for the formation of family relationships, such as traditions, religion, culture.
The Republic of Moldova is an important trade and economic partner of Ukraine. Shared border, closeness of foreign policy positions and interaction in the international arena, the commonality of history, culture, historically close cooperation in the economic and trade spheres, in dealing with contemporary challenges and threats, etc., necessitate a closer study of this country. This article is intended to highlight and analyze the main historical, geographical, socio-economic and cultural features of the development of Moldova. A thorough study of the processes in the modern Moldovan society, the nature of their emergence, etc. will allow different interested structures of Ukraine, including state authorities, to make more effective use of the opportunities of the two countries to build up mutually beneficial cooperation, both within the framework of multilateral and international platforms. This may contribute to solving similar problems facing the Ukrainians in building a completely new legal community in our country, a society based on recognized European and Euro-Atlantic values. The article is based on available scientific research, including copyrights on the Republic of Moldova, which in general provides an objective and useful cross-section of the basic features of this country. The article highlights the major historical milestones of state-building in Moldova, from ancient times to the present, formation of its basic public institutions, informs about the activities of state leadership and public figures, the state and administrative-territorial structure of the modern Republic of Moldova. The work shows the current political, socio-economic and humanitarian situation, in particular in the fields of culture, education and religion, level of relations of this country with Ukraine, place and role of the Ukrainian community both on the Right Bank and on the Left Bank (Transnistria) in the life of Moldova, etc. Prominent place in the article is devoted to the coverage of the basic parameters of the physical and geographical location of the Republic of Moldova, which determines its natural features, economic development, the structure of the national economy, tourist attractiveness and more.
The article analyzes the causes and consequences of the split in the evangelical-Baptist environment in the 1960s; found that one of the main causes of the split in the bosom of evangelical Baptist Christians was the destructive influence of state authorities on religion in general, and Christian denominations in particular when initiated by state bodies of the union of Protestant religious communities under the auspices of the All-Union Baptist Council Church for organization under control of special services bodies; it has been proved that the conflicts between the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada and the Council of Churches were artificial. The confrontations among the believers were mainly provoked by SSC agents and secret services, and were only in the hands of the Communist Party regime, which helped him control events, pacify some and repress others; it is proved that under the influence of the movement for the independence of the church from the state headed by «initiators», the regime has been operating since the second half of the 1960s. gradually began to ease the pressure on officially registered communities of evangelical Baptist Christians. Prayer meetings began to be attended by teens, and ordinary members and members of other congregations were allowed to preach. As a result of these changes and some easing of tensions between the church and the government, many believers and congregations began to return to the official union governed by the ACEBC, without wishing further confrontation; it is shown that the internal church events of the 60's of the twentieth century, which were provoked by the SSC special services and led to the split of the EBC community, reflected on the position and activities of the EBC Church and in the period of independence of Ukraine, the higher leadership of the split community (the ACEBC and the Church Council) and could not reconcile and unite in a united union. This significantly weakens their spiritual position in today's globalized world, where cohesion and competitiveness play an important role.
The article deals with the theoretical and practical aspects of the problem of forming of the civilizational identity of Ukrainian citizens. On the example of Jewish identity, the author sheds light on different interpretations of such categories as "identity", "identification", "civilizational identity". The article reveals the essence of the cultural-historical approach to the problem of identity, analyzes the types of collective identity, examines the confessional and ethnic dimensions of Jewish identity. The author analyzes different models of Jewish identity, the factors influencing the formation of these models, as well as the dynamics of changes of Jewish identity. The study deals with the philosophical understanding of the phenomenon of civilization identity as a new kind of human identity. The research proves that in the context of transition to a civilization of a new informational nature, not only the socio-cultural reality, but also the key properties of the human personality are transformed. The author considers the components or "bricks" of civilizational identity: attitude to religion, attitude to work, attitude to a state and power, attitude to family, attitude to the environment. The author analyzes the structure of Ukrainian identity. The Maidan conflict with Antimaidan is viewed through ethnic, denominational, linguistic, territorial, historical, geopolitical and value projections. The author argues that this conflict has an inter-civilizational nature. The article reveals the essence of conflicts, argues the position of conflict as an attribute of social being, traces its impact on the processes of social transformation. The causes and conditions of inter-civilizational conflict in the territory of Ukraine are analyzed. The paper compares two models of civilizational identity based on either European or Eurasian value system. The civilizational progress of Ukraine in the context of world modernization is analyzed. The article is not limited by the statement of the problem, it suggests a specific way to minimize the negative consequences of the modern crisis taking into account the changed social realities, can become one of the tools for the revival of the main European values in modern Ukrainian society.