Original scientific paper

The Role of the Theological‑social Discourse of the Church in Croatia in Creating the Culture of Dialogue and Reconciliatio

Stjepan Baloban ; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

There are various forms of »discourse« of Church officials ad intra and ad extra, i.e. towards outside, towards society, the state, and the world in which Christians live. In this article, entitled The Role of the Theological‑Social Discourse of the Church in Croatia in Creating the Culture of Dialogue and Reconciliation the author engages with the issue of the role and place of Christians and faith in public life and with the role of the Catholic Church in events in public life in Croatia. This concerns the social dimension of faith, which is an issue that is in Croatia still not only unclear but also surrounded by many difficulties in the Church and, even more, in the social space. On the basis of the post‑conciliar social teaching of the Church, the author points out numerous, but until now unused, possibilities for the Catholic Church of creating the culture of dialogue and reconciliation in the Croatian society that is being polarised even more. In the first part of the article, entitled What Is the Real Influence of the Discourse of Church Officials in Croatian Public?, the author analyses the real influence of the Church on social events in Croatia that has been decreasing rapidly in the last ten to fifteen years. There are numerous reasons why this is so, but one of the most important, according to the author´s argument, is contents and manner in which the Croatian society. The concrete social discourse of the Church that would be understandable and acceptable to the Croatian society has still not been formed in Croatia. In such situation, the role of the interpreter of Church positions in relation to social events in Croatia has been taken by civil experts for religious issues, who do not possess the needed theological‑ecclesial competency for transmitting the social discourse of the Church to the concrete Croatian society. Hence, Church and theological experts are being evicted progressively from the public discourse and, therefore, they cannot contribute to the development of Croatian society through their theological‑social discourse. The second part of the article, entitled The Relevancy and Possibilities of Theological‑Social Discourse of the Church, points out many possibilities that the post‑conciliar popes, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, offer for the formation of the theological‑social discourse in particular churches and, in this case, in the Church in Croatia. Most importantly, the four Roman bishops progressively offer a common platform on the basis of which lay believers could actively participate in public life of a given society. All of this can be summarised by the central social message of pope Francis, i.e. the progressively present danger of secularised vision of society and public life in which there is no place for God, but also the attempt of the social teaching of the Church to find a place of faith in the public life. In the third part, entitled Church´s Contribution to the Culture of Dialogue and Reconciliation as a »Historical Kairos« in the Preservation of Religious and National Identity, the author points out various possibilities that the social teaching of the Church offers for the formation of the culture of dialogue and reconciliation in the social teaching of pope Benedict XVI and pope Francis. The special emphasis is put on the social teaching of pope Francis, who sees a way out of crisis in which the world is sinking precisely through dialogue.

Keywords

social discourse of the Church; culture of dialogue and reconciliation; social dimension of faith; secularised vision of society; polarisation of the Croatian society; permanent principles for the formation of society; religious and national identity; operationalisation of the social discourse of the Church; dialogue as a way out of crisis

Hrčak ID:

190455

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/190455

Publication date:

12.12.2017.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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