Renewal of Religious Leadership According to an Ancient Model. Bishop Joseph Hubert Reinkens and Bishop Martin of Tours

Im Jahr 1866 verfasste der damals in Breslau lehrende römisch-katholische Kirchenhistoriker Joseph Hubert Reinkens eine der ersten historisch-kritischen Studien in deutscher Sprache über Martin von Tours, in der er sich u.a. mit Martins bischöflichem Leitungsdienst befasste. Nach dem Ersten Vatikanischen Konzil (1870) wurde Reinkens 1873 der erste Bischof für die Alt-Katholiken im Deutschen Reich. Der Beitrag beschreibt den Einfluss, den Reinkens' Martin-Rezeption auf sein theologisches und praktisches Verständnis des Bischofsamts hatte.

RELIGIOUS SCULPTURE OF THE CHILOÉ ARCHIPELAGO, FROM THE 17TH TO THE 21ST CENTURY

Despite its central role in religious life of the region, the sculptural tradition of the Southern Chilean Chiloé Archipelago, ranging from the 17th century to the present day, has been vastly understudied. Isidoro Vázquez de Acuña’s 1994 volume Santeria de Chiloe: ensayo y catastro remains the only catalogue of Chilote sculpture. Though the author includes photographs of a vast array of works, he does not attempt to place the sculptures within a chronology, or consider their place within the greater Latin American context. My thesis will place this group of works within a chronological and geographical context that reaches from the 16th century to the present day, connected to the artistic traditions of regions as far afield as Paraguay and Lima. I will first consider the works brought to the Archipelago by religious orders – the Jesuits and Franciscans – as well as influences on artistic style and religious culture throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. I will focus in particular on three works generally considered to be from the 17th and 18th centuries – the Virgin of Loreto at Achao, the Saint Michael at Castro, and the Jesus Nazareno of Caguach – using visual analysis and sifting through generations of primary and secondary sources to determine from where and when these sculptures came. With this investigation as a foundation, I will consider how they inspired vernacular sculptural expression and trace ‘family trees’ of vernacular works based on these precedents. Vernacular artistic traditions are often viewed as derivative and lacking in skill, but Chilote sculptors in fact engaged with a variety of outside influences and experimented with different sculptural styles. I will conclude by considering which aspects of these styles Chilote artists chose to incorporate into their own work, alter or exclude, artistic decisions that shed light on the Archipelago’s religious and cultural fabric.

Religious vocation: an unnecessary mystery.

Mode of access: Internet.

Religious pamphlets

A collection of miscellaneous pamphlets on religion.

Tax administration : tax law compliance of churches and tax-exempt religious organizations /

"GAO/GGD-88-84."

Eastern Christianity and the Cold War, 1945-91

Despite widespread persecution, Orthodox churches not only survived the Cold War period but levels of religiosity in Orthodox countries remained significant. This book examines the often surprising relations between Orthodox churches and political regimes. It provides a comprehensive overview of the dynamics between Eastern Christianity and politics from the end of the Second World War to the fall of communism, covering 40 Orthodox churches including diasporic churches in Africa, Asia, America and Australia. Based on research from recently-opened archives and publications in a wide range of European languages, it analyses church-state relations on both sides of the Iron Curtain. It discusses the following key themes: the relationship between Orthodox churches and political power; religious resistance to communism; the political control of churches; religion and propaganda; monasticism and theological publications; religious diplomacy within the Orthodox commonwealth; and religious contacts between East and West.

Religious faith and heterosexuality:a multi-faith exploration of young adults

This paper examines the understandings and practices of 515 heterosexual religious young adults living in the UK in terms of their religious faith and sexuality. It presents qualitative and quantitative data drawn from questionnaires, interviews, and video diaries. Four themes are explored. First, participants generally understood sexuality in relation to sacred discourses. Second, regardless of gender and religious identification, the participants drew from religious (e.g. religious community) and social (i.e. friends) influences to construct their sexual values and attitudes. Third, the religious and familial spaces within which the participants inhabited were structured by heteronormative assumptions. Thus, the participants must negotiate dominant norms, particularly those pertaining to marriage and sex within it. Finally, the paper focuses on married participants, offering insights into their motivations for, and experiences of, marriage. Overall, the paper demonstrates that, like their lesbian and gay counterparts, heterosexual religious young adults also had to manage various competing and mutually-reinforcing sexual and religious norms in constructing a meaningful life.

Xinjiang and Central Asia: Ethno-religious, political, and economic interactions

The neighboring regions of Xinjiang and Central Asia, linked historically on the famous Silk Road, later developed separately as a result of the incorporation of the former into China and the latter into the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. Thus, interaction between Xinjiang and Central Asia has been constrained by the nature of the Sino-Russian or Sino-Soviet relationship. However, the demise of the Soviet Union--which resulted in the independence of five Central Asian states--and the recent economic reforms in the People's Republic of China suggest dramatic new possibilities for interregional cooperation.^ In this thesis, an historical and comparative approach is employed to study Chinese policies in Xinjiang and Soviet policies in Central Asia, and concludes that despite several decades of separate development, the common ethnic and religious origins of the indigenous peoples and their former ties will facilitate greater interaction between the two regions. ^

When Consumption Embraces Faith: How Religious Beliefs and Practices Influence Consumption

Marketers have long looked for observables that could explain differences in consumer behavior. Initial attempts have centered on demographic factors, such as age, gender, and race. Although such variables are able to provide some useful information for segmentation (Bass, Tigert, and Longdale 1968), more recent studies have shown that variables that tap into consumers’ social classes and personal values have more predictive accuracy and also provide deeper insights into consumer behavior. I argue that one demographic construct, religion, merits further consideration as a factor that has a profound impact on consumer behavior. In this dissertation, I focus on two types of religious guidance that may influence consumer behaviors: religious teachings (being content with one’s belongings), and religious problem-solving styles (reliance on God).

Essay 1 focuses on the well-established endowment effect and introduces a new moderator (religious teachings on contentment) that influences both owner and buyers’ pricing behaviors. Through fifteen experiments, I demonstrate that when people are primed with religion or characterized by stronger religious beliefs, they tend to value their belongings more than people who are not primed with religion or who have weaker religious beliefs. These effects are caused by religious teachings on being content with one’s belongings, which lead to the overvaluation of one’s own possessions.

Essay 2 focuses on self-control behaviors, specifically healthy eating, and introduces a new moderator (God’s role in the decision-making process) that determines the relationship between religiosity and the healthiness of food choices. My findings demonstrate that consumers who indicate that they defer to God in their decision-making make unhealthier food choices as their religiosity increases. The opposite is true for consumers who rely entirely on themselves. Importantly, this relationship is mediated by the consumer’s consideration of future consequences. This essay provides an explanation to the existing mixed findings on the relationship between religiosity and obesity.

RELIGIOUS SCULPTURE OF THE CHILOÉ ARCHIPELAGO, FROM THE 17TH TO THE 21ST CENTURY

Despite its central role in religious life of the region, the sculptural tradition of the Southern Chilean Chiloé Archipelago, ranging from the 17th century to the present day, has been vastly understudied. Isidoro Vázquez de Acuña’s 1994 volume Santeria de Chiloe: ensayo y catastro remains the only catalogue of Chilote sculpture. Though the author includes photographs of a vast array of works, he does not attempt to place the sculptures within a chronology, or consider their place within the greater Latin American context. My thesis will place this group of works within a chronological and geographical context that reaches from the 16th century to the present day, connected to the artistic traditions of regions as far afield as Paraguay and Lima. I will first consider the works brought to the Archipelago by religious orders – the Jesuits and Franciscans – as well as influences on artistic style and religious culture throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. I will focus in particular on three works generally considered to be from the 17th and 18th centuries – the Virgin of Loreto at Achao, the Saint Michael at Castro, and the Jesus Nazareno of Caguach – using visual analysis and sifting through generations of primary and secondary sources to determine from where and when these sculptures came. With this investigation as a foundation, I will consider how they inspired vernacular sculptural expression and trace ‘family trees’ of vernacular works based on these precedents. Vernacular artistic traditions are often viewed as derivative and lacking in skill, but Chilote sculptors in fact engaged with a variety of outside influences and experimented with different sculptural styles. I will conclude by considering which aspects of these styles Chilote artists chose to incorporate into their own work, alter or exclude, artistic decisions that shed light on the Archipelago’s religious and cultural fabric.

Relationship between religiosity, religious coping and socio-demographic variables among out-patients with depression or diabetes mellitus in Enugu, Nigeria.

Background: Religion is a powerful coping strategy. Diabetes and depression are common conditions in our environment that induce psychological distress, thus requiring coping for better outcome. Studies indicate that increased religiosity is associated with better outcome in clinical and general populations. Therefore, studies of the distribution of religiosity and religious coping among these populations are essential to improve outcome. Objectives: To assess the association between religiosity, religious coping in depression and diabetes mellitus, and selected sociodemographic variables (age, gender and occupational status). Methods:Using simple random sampling we recruited 112 participants with diabetes and an equal number with depression consecutively, matching for gender. Religiosity was determined using religious orientation scale (revised), religious coping with brief religious coping scale and socio-demographic variables with a socio-demographic questionnaire. Results: Intrinsic religiosity was greater among older people with depression than among older people with diabetes(t=5.02,p<0.001); no significant difference among young people with depression and diabetes(t=1.47,p=0.15).Positive religious coping was greater among older people with depression than among older people with diabetes(t=2.31,p=0.02); no difference among young people with depression and diabetes(t=0.80,p=0.43). Females with depression had higher intrinsic religiosity scores than males with depression(t=3.85,p<0.001); no difference in intrinsic religiosity between females and males with diabetes(t=0.99,p=0.32).Positive religious coping was greater among participants with diabetes in the low occupational status(t=2.96,p<0.001) than those in the high occupational status. Conclusion: Religion is indeed a reliable coping method, most commonly used by the elderly and females with depression. Positive religious coping is more common among diabetic patients who are in the low occupational status.

Molecular Diversity Of Fungal And Bacterial Communities In The Marine Sponge Dragmacidon Reticulatum.

The present work aimed to investigate the diversity of bacteria and filamentous fungi of southern Atlantic Ocean marine sponge Dragmacidon reticulatum using cultivation-independent approaches. Fungal ITS rDNA and 18S gene analyses (DGGE and direct sequencing approaches) showed the presence of representatives of three order (Polyporales, Malasseziales, and Agaricales) from the phylum Basidiomycota and seven orders belonging to the phylum Ascomycota (Arthoniales, Capnodiales, Dothideales, Eurotiales, Hypocreales, Pleosporales, and Saccharomycetales). On the other hand, bacterial 16S rDNA gene analyses by direct sequencing approach revealed the presence of representatives of seven bacterial phyla (Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Lentisphaerae, Chloroflexi, and Planctomycetes). Results from statistical analyses (rarefaction curves) suggested that the sampled clones covered the fungal diversity in the sponge samples studied, while for the bacterial community additional sampling would be necessary for saturation. This is the first report related to the molecular analyses of fungal and bacterial communities by cultivation-independent approaches in the marine sponges D. reticulatum. Additionally, the present work broadening the knowledge of microbial diversity associated to marine sponges and reports innovative data on the presence of some fungal genera in marine samples.