In this article the author analyzes the image of God who keeps silence. This image only rarely appear in the Bible, where God is usually presented as the One, who speaks; as the One who acts through his powerful word. In the first part the author shortly discusses semantic of silence in the Hebrew Bible. Then he presents an attempt of classification of reasons of God’s silence in the Bible and in the related Ancient Near Eastern Texts according to the model developed by M. C. A. Korpel and J. C. D. Moor in their influential book The Silent God. Finally, he focuses on some texts that according to the model presented by Korpel and Moor should classified as incomprehensible; the texts in which this silence could be considered a challenge, an invitation or even a form of a communication between God and human being. 

Man, as a rational and free being, by his nature, can and should reach the truth, abide through it and all his life based on truth. Truth is a „meeting place” of reason and faith that create a deep and inseparable unity, recognizing at the same time its autonomy in reaching the truth. The rich history of the achievements of the human intellect testifies to the fact that „man has travelled a certain path over the centuries, which led him gradually to meet with the truth and to face it” (FR 1). Due to his nature, man seeks a non-empirical truth with an existential dimension related to the context of his life. It is in the context of truth that reason, and faith do not remain in opposition to each other but create a deep and inseparable unity between them (see FR 16). Although reason and faith form unity, they are, in fact, two different ways of reaching the truth, and at the same time, two different ways of experiencing such relationship.  

The essential task of theology is the rational service of truth discovered in faith. Its instruments include equally faith and reason. Theology is about  trying to understand the relationship between man and the living God and telling about it. 

Every truth demands its expression, externalization. Statements about God and the relationship between man and God can be different and can take various shapes. Ultimately, however, it is about trying to say what is inherently unspeakable, but in some form, it should be spoken. The most important medium and the sign of theological truth is the word. But it also has different expressions and can be expressed in many ways. Every statement about God is incomplete and partial. It contains an element of paradoxicality resulting from the fact that it cannot be shown in a wholly unambiguous and comprehensive way. God cannot be „shut down”, or „not fit to someone” nor fully express using theological formulas. Each of them is marked by partiality. God is always a mystery to the human mind. The Christian East distances itself from speaking out and interpreting the truths of Christian faith in the form of theological treaties. It also disregards the creation of high religious conceptual systems. Taking over the Byzantine models of thinking, He shaped a type of spirituality with a mystical,  liturgical, and iconographic orientation. The contemplation of the mystery is the foreground, not the purely rational  approach to it. It assumes that the reflection of the Mystery, the openness to the enlightenment leads to learning without the need to define it. Thus word and silence appear as similar dimensions of theological communication. They follow each other and are completed. They have a common goal: bringing about a genuine dialogue and deepening the closeness of man with God and people with each other.

The problem of silence is one of the most important issues on the basis of spiritual theology as well as Christian formation. It acquires a special meaning in the face of contemporary anti-Christian and anti-Catholic challenges and trends. The process of successive secularization, which is the result of postmodernity, makes silence become unclear and incomprehensible. In this way, they are reduced to a purely naturalistic level. The practice of silence has its deep biblical foundation in both the Old and the New Testament. The words and attitudes of Jesus Christ, whose the Christian imitates, they are a reliable determinant of working on themselves in this regard. Also, the practice of the Church over many centuries is proof of the validity of this tool of sanctifying. Silence is reflected in theological analyses that are based on supernatural and anthropological principles. It should be said that silence occurs in correlation with silence and loneliness leading to the integration of man and, above all, is an effective tool for striving for union with God.

The article discusses the problem of the importance of listening as an essential component of evangelization. It is not enough to talk about preaching realized by the Church from the perspective of the Gospel’s delivery with the only emphasize on the role of its preachers. It is also necessary to reflect on listening to and accepting the word of God as a necessary complement  to the process of evangelization. Therefore, at the beginning the evangelization itself was described on the basis of Evangelii nuntiandi by Paul VI. Next, the need to listen to God and to people by the preacher of the Gospel was discussed. On this occasion the truth about the uniqueness of God’s word and the primacy of God in human life and preaching was clearly articulated. Then, referring to the thoughts of Umberto Eco and Paul VI, the process of evangelization was presented as an open work, which is interpreted by the addressee. It is the auditor of the Gospel, who completes the works of evangelization when he or she accepts the Gospel and subordinates it to his or her life. The final reflection is dedicated  to the indication of Mary from Nazareth as the model of the hearer of the word of God and of the evangelizer.

An analysis of dialogue documents indicates that there are important thematic areas that are not addressed in them or, quite often, are addressed in a fragmented way, so as to more accentuate existing convergences than the scale and consequences of discrepancies. This applies to both certain dogmatic controversies and ethical issues. Silence in the ecumenical dialogue is therefore ambivalent. It can be an expression of expectations for further progress of this dialogue and overcoming difficulties, but it can also be an attempt to evade the most difficult issues and their assessment. It is the context which sets the goal of this brief theological-ecumenical reflection. The article addresses the issues of silence and word in the ecumenical dialogue. Firstly, it proposes some ways of interpreting „ecumenical silence”. Secondly, it presents the characteristics of the „ecumenical word”.

Christian tradition, drawing its inspiration from the Bible, emphasises that silence constitutes one of the key elements of spirituality and the cognitive process in theology. Therefore, not only tradition but also today’s struggle with the „dictatorship of noise” call for a renewed justification of the need for silence. In this article we highlight the need for the return to silence in theology, since it provides the opportunity to grasp the dimension of the mystery included in God’s revelation and it helps us to open our ears to God’s voice and to get the correct understanding of it so that it would grow to love, contemplation and adoration. Thus, it is all concentrated around the most appropriate attitudes of man towards God.

The paper is an attempt of semantic clarification of the basic biblical term of conversion μετάνοια. This clarification is done be the comparison with the terminology of conversion in the Old Testament and especially in Book of Jonah as related to the logion about conversion of Nineveh in the Gospels (Mat 12,41 = Luc 11,32). The literary context of the term was also considered. A basic manifestation of the Cristian metanoia is the total rupture with the sin and the faith in God, which fruits with good behavior. The motivation of the metanoia is not so the changing of speculative thinking, but the sincere and profound regret for the committed sin.

The article presents a review of historic proposals for the identification of the mysterious Two Witnesses from Rev 11,3-13. This problem has been repeatedly undertaken in the history of exegesis, which results in a very large number of proposed solutions with a wide thematic scope. In order to organize the data, the proposals were divided into four groups – interpretations referring to the Old Testament and to the New Testament, extra-biblical identifications and symbolic identifications. In each group were presented several proposals and basic arguments put forward by individual researchers. It has also been noted that such a large number of proposed interpretations makes it difficult to present the whole issue concisely and very thoroughly, and therefore at the outset it is necessary to narrow the scope of research. In conclusion, the symbolic way of interpreting the text seems to be the most appropriate.

The role of the Holy Spirit in the salvific event of Jesus Christ points to His constant and dynamic action. The Holy Spirit speaks of Jesus as the beloved Son of the Father, with whom he is one. The revelation that Jesus brings about his Father reaches its fullness in the revelation of the Holy Spirit as the eternal bond of love between the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit revels the whole mystery of Christ and gives us an insight onto his role in the life and mission of Jesus. This can be clearly seen in the following events: incarnation, visitation, offering in the temple, spiritual development, baptism in the Jordan, temptation in the desert, preaching, death on the cross and resurrection.

The present article aims at presenting the roots of the controversy between Constantinople and Moscow around Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The topic has been viewed from three perspectives: a historical, theological-and-canonical, and political one. First of all, the controversy between Constantinople and Moscow results from their differences in interpreting the history of the Kiev Metropolia, and, consequently, from the arising differences in attributing it to the jurisdiction of the one or the other Patriarchate. From the theological and canonical point of view, the problem consists in a lack of a common position in contemporary Orthodoxy concerning a procedure of establishing autocephaly. Finally, a political factor can be clearly perceived in the controversy around Ukrainian autocephaly, namely, the strict bond between Church issues and political interests of both the Kremlin and Ukrainian political elites.

The subject of our work is to examine the concept of liturgical syntax in the consciousness of early Church based on the relecture of the Scripture and Tradition by Ioannis Zizioulas. With regard to the Scriptures, our study will be based primarily on the relecture of the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians. The interpretation of biblical content in the author’s optics will allow us to distinguish two basic aspects of the ancient Eucharistic community (geographical and eschatological), shaping the ecclesiological-eucharistic concept of the liturgical syntax in the first centuries of Christianity. In the patristic, according to Zizioulas’research, the liturgical dimensions of the syntax of early Church will be sought by Ignatius of Antioch in his Episcopal Bishop model of the Church, with Justin Martyr, an eyewitness of the Eucharistic community of the second century, and Maximus the Confessor, presenting the iconic perspective of living liturgical community.

The idea of reparation is thoroughly connected with the cult of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The most important element of such cult is the reply given to the love of God. The aim of the article is the discussion on the subject of reparation and its actuality in the contemporary world in the context of the allegations that appear towards  such idea.

The missionary activity of the Church takes place in a specific context. Biosphere is a new proposal for missionary commitment. It requires respect for the rich world of nature and teaches new use of the gifts of God. The problem of ecology and mission is complex and full of interdependencies. The encyclical Laudato si’ of Pope  Francis and the activities of both ecclesiastical and secular entities in this area have contributed to making some changes in the conduct of the mission. Many factors should be taken into account in the eco-mission theme, such as: climate change, degradation of the natural environment on individual continents, intergenerational solidarity, the issue of integral development and the concept of ecological conversion.

The ecological challenges of our time have become a specific area of the periphery in need of the light of the Gospel. On the other hand, the missionary activity of the Church has been somehow enriched by a key element of human life, which is the environment in which the recipient of the Gospel lives. These activities are mutual and Community. Hence the topic of ecology in a missionary context requires an integral approach.

The purpose of this article is to show that the most important feature of information provided by a journalist is truth. One of the basic human rights is the right to true information, because the common good can be built only on the truth. The journalist’s task is to take care of the truthfulness of information at every stage, both during the collection, transmission and use of appropriate technical means.

This year’s 50th anniversary of the Coronation of Virgin Mary’s figure from Lipy, which has been worshipped on the Land of Lubawa since the 13th century, persuades us to think about its cult. The article describes the history of Virgin Mary’s from Lipy cult – from its beginning until now, the course of the indulgence and crowning celebrations in 1969 as well as the difficulties connected with it. It also includes the structure of pilgrims from the Sanctuary in Lipy, the description of the Virgin Mary’s from Lipy figure and its patronage. The jubilee of the celebration of the Coronation performed by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński shows that the old cult of Virgin Mary from Lipy, near Lubawa is still popular.

The new authority in post-war Poland was trying to remove or at least to minimise the presence of Church in the public life in every way. The politicians were treating the party and the country on the one hand and the Church on the other hand as two separate beings. The acknowledgment of Church and Christian rights had a licensing character, treated as a privilege provided by the sovereign, in other words by the country or the party. The superiority of the country was clearly marked, its ideological character and function of management. The Church limitation by the communist state can be divided into two periods: up to the year 1956 where repressions and persecutions were more open and ruthless and those after taking the governmental reigns by Władysław Gomułka. In the first  period we find deprivation of Church property rights, nationalization of ‘Caritas’, the decree of taking the clerical positions in the Church, finally the arrest and the imprisonment of cardinal Wyszyński. While the reigns of Władysław Gomułka, among others, religious education was withdrawn from schools, permissions for new churches building were not given, public holidays based on Church holiday were reduced.

The article The pedagogical concept of the SOS Children’s Villages by Hermann Gmeiner and its contemporary application in Poland presents an educational care system, the SOS Children’s Villages, as one form of care for orphaned and abandoned children. The article includes four parts: the introduction, pedagogical principles of the SOS Villages, the changes in the functioning of the SOS Children’s Villages in Poland and the conclusion. The introduction describes the subject-matter of the article and a brief history and development of the SOS Childreris Villages in the world and in Poland. The second part entitled Pedagogical principles of the SOS  Children’s Villages presents four basic principles of the functioning of the SOS Children’s Villages, created by the founder of the villages, Hermann Gmeiner, which form the basis for their educational care activities. Those are: a mother, siblings, a family, a village. Each of the above principles is discussed in detail. This part of the article focuses on the views of H. Gmeiner which concern critical remarks about the functioning of the above principles and in particular the lack of a father in the family of a village. The third part of the article refers to the changes made in the SOS Children’s Villages in Poland. The amendments concern the adaptation of the activities of SOS Children’s Villages in Poland to the applicable laws, especially the law on family support and foster care system. As a result of the  introduced changes, families operating in the Children’s Villages of SOS have become family-type care and education facilities. This part of the article also discusses internal legal acts regarding the functioning of villages as a whole and individual family-type care and educational facilities. The ending is a general summary of the article with an indication of the conditions of the evolution of the idea of Hermann Gmeiner. The main goal of the foster care system was formulated which is preventive work with a dysfunctional family enabling the development of children in biological families.

Report from the scientific symposium On the threshold of the word. Rediscover the sense of silence, Krakow, May 25, 2019