Category Archives: Church and Society

May 25

A car accident is a car accident?

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Last Thursday 19 May 2016 was held an expert-meeting of the Theology after Gulag research group (ThaG-group). Main coordinator was Dr Katja Tolstaja of INaSEC: the Institute for the Academic Study of Eastern Christianity at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.of INaSEC: The ThaG-group is interreligious and multidisciplinary, and aims at understanding the experience of communist totalitarianism from religious, sociological, historical (and son on) perspectives. Continue reading →

Mar 30

Oekraïnereferendum

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Verhef het Oekraïnereferendum van 6 april 2016  boven GeenPeil. Een ‘ja’-stem is een stem voor een betere toekomst voor Oekraïne. Een ‘nee’-stem een knieval voor Russische propaganda, bodemloze angst en emotie. Een brede, losse coalitie van gelovigen, maatschappelijke activisten en zakenwereld maakt zich breed voor een breuk met het communistische verleden. Die verdient onze steun. Lees hier de kerkelijk geëngageerde stemmen.

Aug 05

Catholic Social Teaching in Eastern Europe and Self-Secularisation

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On 29 May 2015 Frans Hoppenbrouwers of Communicantes discussed the fate of Catholic Social Teaching in Eastern Europe at the Dutch Centrum voor de Sociale Leer van de Katholieke Kerk (CSLK). Follow this link for the text in English: “Catholic Social Teaching in Eastern Europe. Faith and Action as Types of Self-Secularisation in the Context of the One Europe ”.

Apr 28

Reconciliation in Ukraine

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At the conference “Ukrainian Reconciliation Projects and the Future of Europe”, 21/22 April in Kiev, Frans Hoppenbrouwers of Communicantes remembered how he visited the Stepan Bandera Historical Memorial Museum in Kalush in 2003 (see picture). The then recently opened museum had been financed by German millionaire and newspaper editor Gerhard Frey, who was the founder of the right-wing Deutsche Volksunion (DVU). The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishop Sofron Mudry of Ivano-Frankivsk added his Church’s approval by attending the 1997 ceremony of laying the foundation stone. Several years ago, the DVU was disbanded and is now – o tempora, o mores – part of the pro-Putin Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD).
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Feb 12

Publieksdag: De kerken en de oorlog in Oekraïne. Wat dragen kerken bij tot vrede en verzoening?

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Eind 2013 begonnen in Kiev anti-regeringsdemonstraties, waar ook gelovigen en kerkleiders aan deelnamen. Het aanvankelijk vreedzaam protest groeide in korte tijd tot open oorlog uit. Tijdens deze publieksdag op Paaszaterdag 4 april 2015, een jaar na de Russische bezetting van de Krim, onderzoeken sprekers uit Oekraïne en Nederland wat de rol van de kerken kan zijn bij het streven naar vrede en verzoening. Enkele vragen. Hoe kunnen kerken in Oekraïne bijdragen tot een vrede die steeds meer uit zicht is geraakt? Welk verzoeningspotentieel hebben zij in huis om de gevolgen van dit conflict te verlichten, nu en in de toekomst? Waar liggen kansen? Waar de valkuilen? Zijn kerken deel van het probleem? Is hier, zoals sommigen beweren, sprake van een botsing van culturen en religies?
Deze dag is bedoeld voor  iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in Oekraïne, het conflict Rusland-Europa, oecumene, de relatie religie-oorlog-vrede en de publieke rol van kerk en geloof.
Inschrijven tot en met woensdag 2 april 2015!

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Dec 18

Felix dies Nativitatis … Merry Christmas … З Різдвом Христовим

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Felix dies Nativitatis — collegium moderatorum Fundationis “Communicantes”
Buon Natale — il consiglio amministrativo della Fondazione Communicantes
Frohe Weihnachten — der Vorstand der Stiftung Communicantes
Merry Christmas — the board of the Foundation Communicantes
Joyeux Noël — le conseil d’administration de la FondationC ommunicantes
Zalig Kerstfeest — namens het bestuur van de Stichting Communicantes
З Різдвом Христовим — вίд ίменί адмίнίстрацίϊ “Комунίкантес”
С Рождеством Христовым — от имени администрации “Комуникантес”

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Communicantes – constructief en wederzijds / konstruktive und wechselseitige Verständigung / constructive collaboration and mutual understanding – Rom. / Röm. 12,13

Dec 18

Documents of the Vatican II Council in Ukrainian

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Recently, the Documents of the Vatican II Council have been published in Ukrainian translation. All the documents have been translated from Latin into Ukrainian, while competent Ukrainian authors wrote in-depth commentaries. It was in fact our former collaborator Paul Wennekes, who pushed Myroslav Marynovych, vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University and director of the Institute for Church and Society, to place this heavy burden on his shoulder. Finally, all the work that went into it payed off. Myroslav did an excellent job. Many congratulations! Communicantes provided funding to start the project.

Oct 14

Peace in Ukraine?

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Frans Hoppenbrouwers of Communicantes visited Western Ukraine, where he didn’t see any fascists in black shirts practicing their goose step. In fact, everything was peaceful and quiet. Even the monument of the Soviet victory over fascism, which is located along an important traffic artery of the metropolis Lviv and which is just a few steps away from the Military Academy was in great shape. (See boots with wreath.) It was great to see that all this (pro-)Russian propaganda about Ukrainian fascist is by and large nonsense. Of course, people are not exactly happy with the Russian leadership and its evil doings.I am now preparing an article about my talks with victims of violence, peacemakers and a military chaplain about making peace. At Facebook you will find some pictures from Lviv and people.
Jun 28

Remembering the First World War

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A hundred years ago, the First World War broke out. The assassination of the Austrian successor to the throne Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 was the starting signal of the “war to end war”. The bitter experiences and outcome of World War One and yet another World War on top of that, just 20 years later, led to the “European Peace Project”, which became embodied most significantly in the European Union. Continue reading →

Jun 11

EuroMaidan: a Pilgrimage from Fear to Dignity

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Frans Hoppenbrouwers of Communicantes met with Bishop Boris Gudziak, Eparch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Paris and together we discussed the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. We talked about what caused the protests that lead to this crisis, the involvement of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the disappointment about the attitude of the European Union and the stance of the Russian Orthodox Church. Read: EuroMaidan: a Pilgrimage from Fear to Dignity.