Review article
Problematika braka i obitelji u okružnicama i poslanicama biskupa J. J. Strossmayera
Drago Iličić
; Antun Gustav Matoš Elementary School in Vinkovci, Vinkovci, Croatia
Abstract
When we speak of Strossmayer as a benefactor, politician, orator and educator, we speak of someone or something about which many have heard or read. The laity as well as the clergy know that Strossmayer was also a bishop and exceptionaly active one. It seems that his service as a bishop, as manifested in his speeches and treatises, was systematically undervalued. Thus the primary intention of this paper is to acquaint the reader with one of Strossmayer’s fields of activity as bishop through his written communication with the clergy and the faithful. The Bishop’s writings are presented here as reflections, invitations, incentives and decrees to the diocesan clergy in the form of circular letters and epistles, all of which deal with the topic of marriage and the family. By analyzing these we can clearly see what, according to Strossmayer, the foundations of a successful marriage and a stable family are, and wherein lie the traps of the society of his time which were used to attempt to destroy the Christian meaning of marriage and family. In the end, the Bishop clearly states all the pastoral — catechist — liturgical steps that the clergy are to take in order to protect marriage and the family, and in so doing to protect the Church itself. The Bishop’s guidelines and advice could and should be valid even today. Therefore, as we celebrate the Year of Faith, this paper aims to point out the importance of faith as we encounter it in Christian marriage and family and the need for the Church’s constant concern and care for its quality, and furthermore to model these after Strossmayer.
Keywords
Bishop Strossmayer; the clergy; the faithful; Christian marriage; family; circular letters; epistles
Hrčak ID:
113706
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2013.
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