Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

This thesis is an exploration of the meaning of cosmogenesis, the universe as an emergent process. Focused on its utilization within the functional cosmology of Thomas Berry, this paper investigates what implications the discovery of cosmogenesis can have for human-Earth relations in light of the ecological crisis within the framework of religion. It also queries into how the insights of cosmogenesis can be lived out in concrete ways, and what that might look like in religious terms. The first half of the thesis explores the meaning of cosmogenesis in its physical details, locates the work of Berry within the larger dialogue on religion and science, and identifies how the concept functions in Berry's cosmology. The second half discusses how Christianity can operate within a functional cosmology that takes the insights of cosmogenesis seriously, discusses contemporary Christian responses to the ecological crisis, and offers several ways that such insights can be manifested as praxis.

This thesis studies Archbishop Elias Zoghby and his efforts at Orthodox-Catholic reconciliation within the Patriarchate of Antioch in the light of contemporary ecumenical thought. He has spent the past forty years promoting the cause of unity among the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and has written several articles and books on the unification of the Byzantine Churches of Antioch. Kyr Elias encountered many challenges and criticisms for his project of Double Communion and received much attention for his theological contributions. Although his ideas have been set aside as impractical, it is argued that his treatment of the subject of ecumenism is based on the experiences of everyday life of the lay faithful of Antioch. As such it is a viable representation of lived communion. Chapter One examines briefly the history of the Church of Antioch its experience of the tragedy of schism, and its special vocation to breaking new ground, all from a perspective that helps to better understand the present ecumenical climate within that Church and the milieu from which Archbishop Zoghby emerged. Chapter Two introduces the man himself, his life and his ministry. In the third chapter the written ecumenical works of Archbishop Zoghby are examined chronologically. In Chapter Four is an analysis of his ideas, explored by means of the reactions of both the Catholic and the Orthodox authorities to his initiatives. Furthermore, this chapter sets Kyr Elias's writings alongside the ecumenical ideas of Pope John Paul II's encyclical Ut Unum Sint in order to compare and contrast the two. The conclusion notes some of the weaknesses of Archbishop Zoghby's initiative, but also highlights some aspects of his proposals that have not yet been fully accepted and perhaps not even fully understood by the ecumenical movement at large.

This thesis is directed towards the goal of advancing ethical discourse in public policy development. It examines a piece of the public policy process in a specific instance---public documents discussing genetics and the use of genetic technologies. The documents considered are examples of a part of the process that raises values questions and issues in the public domain as an explicit part of a decision process. This project is about one value in particular---human dignity---which is used as one of the core values in virtually all public policy documents discussing genetics. Human dignity is an example which focuses our discussion on how the term is used, what is the content of its expression, and what is its meaning for those who make decisions. The thesis is not an exhaustive inquiry into the meanings attached to human dignity. In addition, the thesis will explore the meaning of the expression human dignity from a theological perspective. It will be argued that the theological perspective may serve to be illustrative of insights not noticeably present in the public discourse. This thesis is presented in four chapters. Chapter 1 presents a brief overview of the rapidly evolving science of genetics and the issues it raises in the public forum. Chapter 2 is a more detailed examination of some of the public documents noted in passing in Chapter 1. It works with their presentations of human dignity and its importance in their presentations. Documents chosen are from public bodies in Canada, France, and the United States. We have chosen three documents from each country: one that deals with research involving human subjects, in that much of the technology in the field of genetics is presently at the level of research; one that deals with genetic testing; and one that deals with reproductive cloning. Chapter 3 attempts to bring some clarity in the use of human dignity through a brief sketch of the meanings attached to it, as well as its relationship with the term autonomy. Kant and Rawls are discussed and a perspective on their work from the point of view of Habermas, Virtue Ethics, Feminist philosophy, and the law as found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is included. Further efforts to bring clarity to the discussion of the content and meaning of the term human dignity is sought via a theological perspective represented by Richard A. McCormick. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Le projet que nous avons développé dans cette recherche a été comme formule par Augustin lui-même. Dans son De fide et symbolo, un discours qu'il fût invité a prononcer au Concile d'Hippone en 393, saint Augustin avait exprimé la nécessité d'une meilleure connaissance du proprium de l'Esprit Saint. L'Esprit Saint, a-t-il dit, n'a pas encore été étudié avec autant d'abondance et de soin par les doctes et grands commentateurs des divines Écritures de telle sorte qu'il soit aisé de comprendre également son caractère propre.1 Ces lignes traduisent une préoccupation pneumatologique qu'il fallait suivre chez celui qu'on nomme a juste titre le docteur de la Trinité. Dans quelle mesure a-t-il tenté, pour sa part, de connaître davantage le Saint-Esprit? C'est le meme De fide et symbolo qui donne alors d'autres précieuses indications. En énumérant, sous la forme d'un bilan théologique, les divers noms que l'Ésprit Saint avait reçu, le futur évêque d'Hippone met un accent particulier sur Donum Dei: c'est un nom qui vient de l'Écriture et qui a été attesté dans la théologie des devanciers. Notre projet consiste alors à montrer qu'Augustin a privilégié Donum Dei comme le nom qui conduit a la connaissance du caractère propre de l'Esprit Saint. L'hypothèse s'appuie sur le De fide et symbolo comme un engagement théologique et une déclaration de méthode de la part d'Augustin alors jeune prêtre. Or, l'on sait par ailleurs qu'Augustin n'a pas écrit de traité sur l'Esprit Saint. N'aurait-il donc pas donné suite à la préoccupation si visible dans son discours? Donum Dei mene a tous les chantiers de la réflexion théologique d'Augustin; car avec ce nom, sa théologie de l'Esprit promet d'être intégrée à l'ensemble du mystère du salut. C'est au coeur d'une christologie et d'une ecclesiologie, d'une anthropologie et d'une théologie de la grâce, dans l'enjeu d'une sotériologie et d'une mystique qu'il faut suivre un fil conducteur pneumatologique qui fasse comprendre ce qui est propre a l'Esprit-Saint au sein de la Trinité. En partant du Don de l'Esprit Saint, c'est l'oeuvre ad extra du Saint-Esprit qui mène à son caractère propre au sein de la Trinité. Le regard peut ici se renouveler sur la critique adressée par nombre de chercheurs à Augustin de développer une théologie trinitaire statique, sans lien avec l'économie. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) 1De fide et symbolo, IX,19 (CSEL 41,22: "De Spiritu sancto autem nondum tam copiose ac diligenter disputatum est a doctes et magnis diuinarum Scripturarum tractatoribus, ut intelligi facile possit et eius proprium").

The dissertation's Chapter One focuses on the 'shape' of the Byzantine-rite Funeral Service for Lay-persons (= BF), an ordo whose contents (presented in Greek text with parallel English translation in Appendix I) were effectively canonized by the advent of printed euchologies in the sixteenth century. Amongst western communities of Byzantine-rite Christians (as indeed, increasingly, in Byzantine-rite homelands), this 'traditional' ordo is often abbreviated by the omission or condensation of much of its psalmody and hymnography. Chapter Two prepares for my intended interpretation and analysis of BF's complex 'Text' that incorporates intertwining penitential and resurrectional themes and is composed of the foregoing assemblage of texts, music and ritual. In laying out elements of my own methodology for interpreting and analyzing BF's liturgically-mediated theology, Chapter Two opens by insisting (following a lead from American liturgiologist, Joyce Ann Zimmerman) that BF in its entirety---texts, setting, music, and ritual---can and must be 'read' holistically as a performative 'Text' (with upper-case 'T'), having its own language and 'sign systems'; such an approach accords well with contemporary hermeneutical theories. The first of these readings, namely the interpretive endeavour to uncover BF's 'intended sense,' occupies Chapter Three. Although this operation is relatively time-consuming, its conclusions are straight-forward. BF encompasses a number of sombre 'themes of lamentation' (lament for a mythic 'Paradise Lost'; separation from and farewell to the deceased; impending judgment; and memento mori) that are set alongside other, more hopeful 'themes of celebration' (rest from the cares of life; hope of a future resurrection; and unending life in God's 'Eternal Memory'). In Chapter Four, I prepare for undertaking an analytical 'second reading' of 'BF-as-Text' (in Chapter Five) that will try and justify, from a practical pastoral standpoint the presence in BF of a 'lamentation layer'; the case against BF's detractors is to be strengthened by demonstrating how lamentation, interpreted as theologically justifiable in Chapter Three, is also pastorally essential to BF's 'human adequacy'. Psychologically, the bereaved face the need to try and accomplish their so-called "grief work" (Freud's trauerarbeit ) which dictates that an eventual recovery from bereavement is predicated on overcoming: (1) denial of the reality of a particular death; (2) suppression of thoughts and feelings regarding the deceased; (3) unhealthy clinging to the deceased's presence and memory; and (4) stagnation (a reluctance to invest in new relationships and projects). Sociologically, it can be shown that North American mourners inhabit a society that is dominated by three major distortions (from a Christian perspective) of death's significance: a widespread 'denial of death' (well described by Philippe Aries); an attempted 'taming of death' (through the 'death-awareness' movement); and a 'triumph of death' (manifested by indulgence in risk-taking behaviours and by the advocacy of such practices as euthanasia and assisted suicide). Anthropologically, following the schema proposed by van Gennep's description of life's significant passages, mourners' transition from 'separation' to 'reincorporation' appears especially difficult in societies like ours that no longer accord special status to mourners nor prescribe methods for their passage through the difficult time of death-induced loss. It is out of this milieu of WB that Byzantine-rite mourners encounter the paradoxical 'lamentation-to-Alleluia' paradigm proposed to them by BF, a meeting that I attempt to characterize in Chapter Five. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Introduction. After spending many years in South America and in the inner city of Chicago, I came to the university with the question: how does an Augustinian community live its spirituality in a situation of violence? I realized too that violence was somehow connected with the inner person, at the level of the heart. As an Augustinian, I wanted to see how harmony appears in the bishop's writings and in those of the Augustinian Order and how it contributes to understanding human relationships. No one has looked at the theme of harmony from this perspective before, and here lies the originality of this study. We know that spiritual traditions are revitalized when their contents are examined in the light of new needs and concerns emerging from the concrete situations in people's lives. Hypothesis. The hypothesis which launches the research is the following: "the element of harmony in Augustine's own religious experience has the potential to provide a better understanding of the self and of others." After collecting and analyzing an abundant material I raised this question: "to what extent does the spiritual tradition of the Augustinian order reflect the thought of the bishop of Hippo?" Answers to this question paved the way to see better how harmony offers new connections of relating and a clearer understanding of the self, God and others. This is the goal of the thesis. Conclusion. The conclusion showed the demonstration that I have made: the theme of harmony appears in Augustine's writings and in those in the tradition of the Order of St. Augustine and how this theme contributes to a better understanding of the self and others. There are areas where the congregation in its spirituality has been both faithful and forgetful. We return to my original question: how does an Augustinian community live its spirituality in a situation of violence? The basic attitude is this: where discord breaks the bonds of relatedness, harmony reinforces them. The Augustinian is called to be a "principle of harmony" and to stand up to all the forces that cause fragmentation and alienation. It is a wake-up call to appropriate its core teaching: to be "lovers of spiritual beauty." (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The sanctorale of the Ruthenian (Kyivan) Catholic Church, as represented by the 1929 Lviv Liturgicon of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsy counted six saints of ancient Kyivan Rus' (tenth-eleventh centuries), three Lithuanian martyrs of the later medieval Kyivan Metropolitanate (fourteenth century), and Josaphat, martyred in 1623 for the cause of Union with Rome, canonized by Rome in 1867. In addition, there were Cyril and Methodius, and Parasceve (of Tarnovo, Bulgaria)---without the geographical identification. Previously there had also been authoritative Ruthenian Catholic calendars with only Josaphat. At the same time, the Ruthenian Orthodox calendar developed in the seventeenth century a Slavic sanctorale of many dozen, sometimes close to a hundred Slavic saints. In the course of a general revision of the Ruthenian liturgical books---the Recensio Ruthena (RR) editions (1940-1952), performed by the Congregation for the Eastern Church at the request of the Ruthenian bishops---the RR Commission admitted that from the historical perspective, and in the eyes of the Orthodox, this was a severe distortion of the Ruthenian sanctorale, and resolved to "restore to the Ruthenians their ancient saints." The present study investigates the deliberation process behind the RR Slavic sanctorale on two levels. First, it researches the motivations, the principles, and the sources of the work of the RR Commission on the basis of hitherto unpublished archival material---the two principal source documents of the Commission: the Osservatzioni, or preliminary commentary and suggestions prepared by Korolevskij, and the Minutes of the sessions of the RR Commission. Second, in order to fully appreciate the choices and the work of the RR Commission, the present study surveys both the Western theological discussion on the question of Eastern Slavic saints, and the development of diverse positions in the Ruthenian (and Russian) Catholic Church to these questions, whether in theological speculation or liturgical practice. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Cette thèse de théologie veut étudier le lien entre la transcendance et la technique dans la pensée de Gabriel Marcel afin d'apporter une contribution a l'éthique chrétienne. En effet, à une époque ou l'omniprésence de la technique et de la science influence d'une manière significative la vie en société, il n'est pas surprenant que cela ait suscité de nombreuses réflexions de la part de philosophes au XXe siècle. Gabriel Marcel fait partie de ceux qui se sont penchés sur cette question. Sa réflexion porte moins sur la technique comme telle, que sur ses répercussions sur les relations entre les êtres humains. À cette dimension que nous pouvons appeler horizontale, s'ajoute une dimension verticale qui est la transcendance entendue comme une réalité qui fonde notre existence et lui confère un sens. Ultimement, cette transcendance se nomme Dieu. De prime abord, le lien entre la transcendance et la technique n'apparaît pas évident. Cependant, Gabriel Marcel nous montre qu'il ne faut pas en rester à cette première impression. Bien qu'il reconnaisse que les progrès techniques apportent leur lot de bienfaits indéniables à la société humaine, il n'en a pas moins dénoncé les graves dérivés. Pour Gabriel Marcel, la déshumanisation des relations humaines par la technique provient de sa mauvaise utilisation. Plus profondément, elle tient à la façon dont l'homme se situe dans l'existence et du sens qu'il peut y trouver. Si l'homme se ferme à une réalité qui fonde son être et lui donne son sens, il risque de se refermer sur lui-même et de se considérer comme le seul point de référence de ses projets et de ses actes. Dans cette optique, le recours à Carl Mitcham nous aidera à préciser certaines questions au sujet de la technique. Par exemple: en sont les intentions? Quels en sont les enjeux? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)