The situation for divorced and remarried couples in the Catholic Church is one of the most arduous contemporary questions. Having said this, the strict Roman attitude on this issue has evolved from the strict teaching of Jesus himself. The first part of the article consequently discusses the accounts of Jesus’ divorce teachings preserved in the synoptic gospels and in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Each place is considered in its own context and differences are observed. The second part of the article traces the evolution of the Catholic divorce doctrine from the early church to the pontificate of Benedict XVI and presents several suggestions proposing how to help those people in their severe life situation.
Faith is the question which is much emphasized in the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI. Faith is what leads every Christian to God. Without faith we are deprived of the sense of life. According to Benedict XVI, faith is what determines the unity of an individual with the Triune God. The belief in the existence of one God in three Persons is one of the most mysterious aspects of the Christian doctrine. To accept it, one has to mature within the Church, which is a natural environment and the source of faith. Faith is initiated by God's grace, however, it is necessary for an individual to cooperate with it. Faith means to become close to God and acknowledge the truth revealed by Him. The full maturity and internal stability of a person is based on his relationship with God, which establishes itself in the encounter with Jesus and which is being strengthened by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Benedict XVI emphasizes the need to combine faith with reason. Faith and reason support each other. Faith is deepened and becomes better justii ed in the process of reasoning. The open dialogue between faith and reason helps a person to see the rationality of belief in God. Faith is a common act and the credo of the Church. What the Church needs today is the young with their faith and idealism. The Church needs them to show the world Jesus Christ, who becomes visible in the Christian community. That is why the dialogue with the young is so important. The young should be seen not only as an object of pastoral work, but also an active element of the Church's mission. The Pope's teaching also stresses the role of the Church as the natural environment of faith and warns people against juxtaposing Christ and the Church. Faith is connected with hope and love. The three virtues depend one on another, strengthen, complete and impact mutually. Faith is also manifested bythe attempts made by a person to deepen it. It shows an individual a perspective of the reality which is everlasting, eschatological and which is identii ed with heaven.
The author has treated Joseph Ratzinger’s – Benedict XVI’s writings as a particular’ exegetic will’ to be read and used In the contemporary exegesis. The Pope formed his thoughts from both the position of a believer holding important oi ces within the Church,and from the position of a researcher. According to the Bavarian theologian, hermeneutics of faith is the most appropriate hermeneutics to be accepted by historical/critical method. The author of the article notices that the Pope’s contribution is not merely recalling the earlier exegetic directions and is not the call for a balance in using scientii c and theological methods in the interpretation of the Bible. It is something more – a call for a synthesis of a historical/critical method and hermeneutics of faith. Benedict XVI has suggested how to achieve this goal; such a synthesis should resemble the unii cation of God’s two natures In the person of the Son of God (without mingling and separating)
The author bases on the Popes adhortations Sacramentum caritatis and Verbum Domini. The Pope pays attention to the subject of a homily, its functions and features. Following the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, he recalls the unity of God and His Word,which makes a preacher particularly responsible for what he says. Benedict XVI treats the homily as a part of the liturgy and points out its three functions: integrative, preparatory and updating. The preacher cannot make the Word of God his own ‘property’, spread his private opinions, focus on subjects not inspired by the liturgy or not corresponding with the Church’s teaching. The homily should be concrete, conveyed with the language to be clear for everyone and putting the person of Jesus in the centre. The preacher’s involvement in what he says is very important and the well updated Gospel strengthens the faith, brings joy and spurs into mission.
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This study presents an early commentary on the new encyclical letter focusing on its second, i.e. practical-theological and social-charitable, part. It points out its uniqueness and extraordinariness in the history of theology, and especially in the history of the Magisterium theology, the individual circles of its addressees, its spiritual as well as ecumenical potential, and its addressing of topics previously untouched.
The author focuses on the references to pre-Christian sources of the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI. The material under discussion includes homilies, the Wednesday catecheses, the Sunday noon speeches and some other selected texts. Addressing dif erent people at various intellectual level, generally believers, Benedict XVI uses single terms or simple Greek and Latin phrases. He explains them and rel ects on them. He also uses, in the same function, quotations from the ancient literature and refers to history or even mythology. In his speeches addressed to the representatives of science, culture or politics, the Pope refers to the arguments made by outstanding Greek philosophers, especially Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. According to the author of the article, Benedict XVI’s love for Latin and his profound knowledge of the ancient literature helps him not only to convey the theological content ef ectively, but also to defend the Christian culture against the Western trends in reasoning, deaf to religious argumentation.
The author of the article presents the role and place of the Holy Spirit in the Church on the basis of Pope Benedict XVI’s homilies, speeches, the Wednesday catecheses and fragments of the adhortation Sacramentum caritatis. The Pope – Joseph Ratzinger – presents the Christcentred image of the Church with its rich pneumatological dimension . The role of the Holy Spirit in the Church is the consequence of His nature, who is He within the Holy Trinity and of the fact that He is sent by Christ, is called the Spirit of Christ, is the Spirit of the Truth that leads to the whole Truth, which is Christ. This aspect does not overshadow the Christ-oriented vision, what is more, makes it lively and present. Christ’s Church is enlivened by the Holy Spirit and should always be directed towards Christ, united to Him and God the Father through the Spirit. Benedict XVI’s teaching, based on the Revelation and Tradition, shows the following dimensions of the Church: apostolic, one but dif erent, holy and common, the Church of prayer, united by the love of the Holy Spirit, missionary, lively, fuli lling man’s desire to live in unity, goodness, respect and cooperation . Hence, the Church of the Spirit cannot be separated from the Church of Christ or stand in its opposition. An important feature of Benedict XVI’s teaching on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church is showing Him as acting in concrete people seen as the members of the Church, always in the perspective of the whole Church..
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