Original scientific paper

Moral-ethic Challenges Forty Years After the Council

Stjepan Baloban orcid.org/0000-0002-3138-3222 ; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

Keeping in mind the post-council development of moral theology and specific Croatian circumstances, the author debates the moral-ethic challenges, forty years after the Council, starting from the fundamental council message, i.e. the call to theologians to always seek appropriate ways to proclaim the Christian moral message to people of their time (cf. Gaudium et spes, No. 62).
Through the media, the Croatian public is dealing more with sensitive moral-ethical issues, such as artificial insemination, sex education, abortion, homosexuality, paedophilia and as such building a moral-ethic approach to these and other issues that are different to the usual way of life of the Croatian people. The topic is dealt with in two parts: Inspirations of the Second Vatican Council and Some contemporary ethical challenges. In the first part the author discusses the fundamental council presumptions of the development of moral theology, above all about Christocentrideal directions that are permeated from Optatam totius, No. 16, and some other council documents. This approach in the post-council period came across various difficulties but in more recent times, we are confronted with texts that deal with this topic. In the second part the author limits himself to two wider areas that have emerged recently as moral-ethical challenges. On the one hand, the field of marriage, family, general sexual life and bio-ethics that deal with moral theology. On the other hand, he deals with the social field that social teachings of the Church deal with, that is, social ethics. Keeping in mind the specific Croatian situation the first field is dealt with through the question of sexual education, amendments to legislations and the actuality of bioethics. The paper claims a selective approach to sexuality; the problems faced with creating new Croatian legislation in this field that does not reflect the true situation in Croatian society; and the actuality of bioethics in Croatia where Croatian theologians have made a significant contribution. Numerous moral-ethic challenges exist in the social field in Croatia with which the author is familiar. Seeking a response to the question: What is the role of Croatian theologians and official Church representatives, the author claims that Social speech in the Croatian Church is being put to the question. Based on the Compendium of social teachings of the Church, the author presents Social pastoral care as the way to active participation of Christians and the Church in social life which is at the same time a fundamental precondition for the 'new Evangelisation' that Pope John Paul II spoke about.
In his conclusion which is based on the encyclica Veritatis splendor and other discussions by moral theologians, the author discussed the connection between moral-ethic-social challenges and the vision of moral theologians. In a plural society where the image of a 'Christian ethical world' has been lost we expect moral theologians to testify the prophesising credibility of ethic beliefs of the Church. Anyone representing the Church in moral-ethical-social issues in the Croatian Church and public must be competent and permanently conscious of the council message to continually seek an 'appropriate way' to transfer the Christian moral message to the people of their time.

Keywords

moral-ethical challenges; appropriate way to transfer moral messages; Christocentric morals; sexual education; legislative amendments; bioethics; social teachings of the Church; social speech of the Church; social pastoral care

Hrčak ID:

24447

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/24447

Publication date:

21.2.2006.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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