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1 – 10 of 49“Being connected” is one of the key terms of Franciscan Spirituality. St. Francis decided not to become a hermit (although it always was a great temptation for him), but he lived…
Abstract
“Being connected” is one of the key terms of Franciscan Spirituality. St. Francis decided not to become a hermit (although it always was a great temptation for him), but he lived within the world with the people, especially with the poor. He felt a deep connection with everything and everybody on earth. Nature for him was mother, sister, and brother. Therefore, he had to help creation and creatures, whether an animal, a tree, or a leper. Expressions of this deep connection are his demands and the Franciscan characteristics of (evangelical) poverty, being a minor friar in the brotherhood. Peace and the responsibility for creation or ecology for peace are essentials of this connectedness. Francis wanted to live in peace with everybody and tried to create peace wherever it was possible and necessary. St. Bonaventure laid emphasis especially on this aspect of the Franciscan way of life. For today that has consequences: a radical shift, a conversion toward life and peace-making, toward the poor, and the helplessness of creation. Being connected in this way also has consequences for a re-thinking of the common models of economy.
Thomas Dienberg, Bernd Beermann and Markus Warode
Pope John Paul II named Saint Francis as the “heavenly patron of those who promote ecology.” Revisiting the Franciscan values, as lived by St. Francis, could be of great help in…
Abstract
Pope John Paul II named Saint Francis as the “heavenly patron of those who promote ecology.” Revisiting the Franciscan values, as lived by St. Francis, could be of great help in solving our ecological, economic, and social problems. St. Francis can show the way to deal with Mother Earth for the sake of the future of the planet. His passionate love for creation, his adoration of seeing God in everything and everywhere, and therefore the adoration of the beauty of creation, his experience of God in the world as an incarnation theological principle, and his ways and actions of compassion give witness to a brotherly love toward everybody and everything. A Franciscan approach to integral ecology includes vulnerability, being connected, voluntary poverty, compassion, solidarity, contemplation and attentiveness, justice and peace, and prophetical wisdom.
The chapter presents a real life project in the “Klostergarten” of the Capuchin Franciscans in Muenster, Germany. To reestablish biodiversity and knowledge of how to use and preserve rare and old agricultural species, traditional varieties of regional apple trees, a good number of herb and vegetable strains have been reintroduced in the garden of the Capuchin Franciscans in Muenster. The importance of biodiversity and a holistic-spiritual approach toward nature is made clear to people visiting the garden through documentation, guided tours, and educational programs.
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In his apocalyptic book on the environment and public policy, Timothy C. Weiskel warned of the consequences of humanity's intrusion into the biological and geo‐chemical processes…
Abstract
In his apocalyptic book on the environment and public policy, Timothy C. Weiskel warned of the consequences of humanity's intrusion into the biological and geo‐chemical processes of the natural world. He said that our intrusions have been massive and thorough; that they now threaten to transform ecosystemic parameters; and that unless responsible public policy directs itself toward moderating our current destructive impact on the environment, we will face ecosystemic collapse and human catastrophe “on a vastly greater scale than has ever been recorded in human history.”
Presents the scientific methodology from the enlarged cybernetical perspective that recognizes the anisotropy of time, the probabilistic character of natural laws, and the entry…
Abstract
Presents the scientific methodology from the enlarged cybernetical perspective that recognizes the anisotropy of time, the probabilistic character of natural laws, and the entry that the incomplete determinism in Nature opens to the occurrence of innovation, growth, organization, teleology communication, control, contest and freedom. The new tier to the methodological edifice that cybernetics provides stands on the earlier tiers, which go back to the Ionians (c. 500 BC). However, the new insights reveal flaws in the earlier tiers, and their removal strengthens the entire edifice. The new concepts of teleological activity and contest allow the clear demarcation of the military sciences as those whose subject matter is teleological activity involving contest. The paramount question “what ought to be done”, outside the empirical realm, is embraced by the scientific methodology. It also embraces the cognitive sciences that ask how the human mind is able to discover, and how the sequence of discoveries might converge to a true description of reality.
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A SPLENDID conference, I thought. True, there were those who complained, those who thought some of the papers were elementary and those who thought that we had come a long way to…
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A SPLENDID conference, I thought. True, there were those who complained, those who thought some of the papers were elementary and those who thought that we had come a long way to learn very little. I don't agree at all. Some of the papers did, I admit, deal with basic considerations but it does nothing but good to re‐examine the framework of our services from time to time. In any case other papers were erudite, and for the first time I have seen an audience of librarians and authority members stunned, almost, into silence.
The second decade of the twenty-first century finds Brazil racked by a series of scandals that are extreme even by world standards. This chapter presents an explanation for one of…
Abstract
The second decade of the twenty-first century finds Brazil racked by a series of scandals that are extreme even by world standards. This chapter presents an explanation for one of the behaviors that have produced these scandals. Specifically, it is the offering of bribes to public officials by individuals or companies that stand to benefit from contracts to perform public services and, furthermore, the paying of kickbacks to the officials if the contract is awarded. I liken this behavior to the making of vows to the saints in the “popular” or “folk” form of Catholicism – and other popular religions that accept its basic premises – and the fulfillment of the promise if and when the otherworldly being provides what the petitioner requested. Part 1 of the chapter examines an election for mayor of the city of Fortaleza in 2012 in which the office was “bought” for what seemed to be an exorbitant amount of money. I hypothesize that this is to be explained by the anticipation of the city receiving government contracts to build a soccer stadium, a rail system, and other projects related to the 2014 World Cup. In Part 2, I examine Brazil’s religions beginning with popular Catholicism, to show that the normative way of gaining something desired from a supernatural – be it the restoration of health or the recovery of a lost item – is to offer it something it values and then fulfilling the promise if and when the petitioner receives what was requested. I contend that this important religious pattern continues to provide the template for the secular behavior that is being judged to be corrupt by standards other than those found in the religiously based worldview of many Brazilians.
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Tehmina Khan and Peterson K. Ozili
Purpose: Ethical investing is considered to be the pinnacle of embedding environmental considerations in investing. Environmental considerations form a major part of corporate…
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Purpose: Ethical investing is considered to be the pinnacle of embedding environmental considerations in investing. Environmental considerations form a major part of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and CSR is considered to have a positive effect on investment returns. The purpose of this chapter is to assess the degree of environmental considerations embedded in faith-based funds investment criteria. The comparative analysis between principles and practice through faith-based investing is undertaken.
Design/Methodology: Prospectuses of selected faith-based mutual funds and other information around investment strategies provided on the Funds’ websites have been analyzed in detail. Content analysis has been undertaken in order to evaluate the existence and types of environmental related criteria demonstrated by the Funds. The criteria are compared to the faith principles on environmental responsibility.
Findings: It is generally assumed that CSR requirements form the premise of socially responsible investing. The authors find that faith-based investing criteria are narrowly defined and that they represent biases which do not promote environmentally responsible investing.
Implications: The major implication is that inspite of the availability of faith-based environmental responsibility principles, faith-based funds represent a case of economic returns prioritization over environmental considerations. Environment accountability principles that exist need to be promoted regularly so that they become an essential element of every day decision-making including faith-based economic decision-making.
Originality: This study contributes to the debate on ethical investing from the perspective of faith-based mutual funds.
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A brief description of the parts of a modern book: The usual order, &c., of the various parts of an average modern book may be enumerated as follows:—
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Michał Wilczewski, Zbigniew Wróblewski, Mariusz Wołońciej, Arkadiusz Gut and Ewelina Wilczewska
The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the role of spirituality, understood as a personal relationship with God, in missionary intercultural experience.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the role of spirituality, understood as a personal relationship with God, in missionary intercultural experience.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted narrative interviews with eight Polish consecrated missionaries in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay. We used thematic analysis to establish spirituality in missionary experience and narrative analysis to examine sensemaking processes.
Findings
Missionary spirituality was defined by a personal relationship with God as a source of consolation, psychological comfort, strength to cope with distressing experiences, and Grace promoting self-improvement. It compensated for the lack of family and psychological support and enhanced psychological adjustment to the environment perceived as dangerous. Spirituality helped missionaries deal with cultural challenges, traumatic and life-threatening events. Traumatic experiences furthered their understanding of the mission and triggered a spiritual transition that entailed a change in their life, attitudes and behavior.
Research limitations/implications
Comparative research into religious vs nonreligious individual spirituality in the experience across various types of expats in various locations could capture the professional and cultural specificity of individual spirituality. Research is also needed to link spirituality with expat failure.
Practical implications
Catholic agencies and institutions that dispatch missionaries to dangerous locations should consider providing professional psychological assistance. Narrative interviewing could be used to enhance missionaries' cultural and professional self-awareness, to better serve the local community. Their stories of intercultural encounters could be incorporated into cross-cultural training and the ethical and spiritual formation of students and future expats.
Originality/value
This study captures a spiritual aspect of intercultural experience of under-researched expats. It offers a model of the involvement of individual spirituality in coping in mission.
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