As the dialogue between science and religion has grown more robust, Christians have been led to more nuanced ways of thinking about the connections between these two modes of inquiry. This essay focuses on exploring various deficiencies in naturalistic conceptions of the cosmos, and further exploring how Eastern Orthodox theology provides a more encompassing picture of human beings and their place in the cosmos.

The Bioethics Committee of the Church of Greece, headed by Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, was founded a few years ago, bringing together clergy, medical and legal experts. In his address, Metropolitan Nikolaos explains the concerns and the conditions that led to its foundation and he outlines some of the activities and the principles of the Committee. This address, a somewhat broad-brush presentation of the state of bioethics in Greece, is offered as a proposal as to how (...) the Church can work within a secular state, and how it can attempt to raise awareness about the spiritual aspect of bioethical concerns. Overall, the Bioethics Committee tries to promote public dialogue about sensitive bioethical issues, and to make sure that the spiritual perspective is duly informed by medical science. In addition, the Committee tries to make sure that the spiritual perspective is considered by the state in the face of existing or emerging law that touches on bioethical concerns. (shrink)

Due to the environmental and health impact of the private transport sector, social scientists have largely focused on psychosocial and contextual factors associated with people's choice over transport means. This study aims to contribute to this line of research by applying a user-centered approach, with the objective of taking into account the specific environmental and social context of the metropolitan area of Cagliari city. To accomplish this aim, four groups of people were matched according to their shared starting point: (...) car users vs. public transport users, and light-rail users vs. non-light-rail users. Groups were interviewed using a focus group method. Participants were invited to discuss their everyday travel experiences and to exchange their ideas on different sustainable and less sustainable means of transport. Both consolidated drivers/barriers in the field of environmental psychology and public transportation design features have been investigated. Other than highlighting the importance of socio-psychological factors to promote more sustainable transport choices like in previous studies, the present research offers an insight into how these aspects and factors are shaped and experienced in the narratives of residents. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Das Mittelalter Jahrgang: 18 Heft: 2 Seiten: 73-97.

B a c k g r o u n d. It is devoted to understanding the figure of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, whose activity is the embodiment of moral virtues and the role of the church in times of war and the post-war state as one of the factors of the unity of the nation. The ideological, civic, artistic and patronage factors of the formation of the personality of Andrey Sheptytsky are considered. It is illustrated how the metropolitan combined (...) church service with such areas of activity as educational, social, cultural, socio-political, support for women, humanistic, because the basis of all areas of the metropolitan's activity is service to God and people, with his example and deeds he inspired people to be better, to be morally mature citizens. M e t h o d s. To study this problem, classical methods of both historical and philosophical analysis and the humanities were used. Together with the method of biographical analysis of the biography of Andrey Sheptytsky, we used the basic principles of scientific knowledge: objectivity and consistency, analysis, generalization, explanation. R e s u l t s. The features of the biography of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (Roman-Maria-Alexander) are revealed, his origin from an ancient boyar family, which had an influence on the formation of his worldview. The activities of Andrey Sheptytsky on the metropolitan throne (which he ascended on January 12, 1901) are meaningfully revealed, which go beyond religious service and encompass the national life of the community and the people. The directions of the metropolitan's activities that contributed to the national and cultural revival are revealed. One of the factors in the formation of his civic identity and state ideology is noted (acquaintance with the leader of the Kyiv community, professor of history at Kyiv University Volodymyr Antonovych). The prerequisites that contributed to his fascination with art, which led to his further teaching of the course of the history of church art at the Theological Academy, are meaningfully revealed. The figure of Andrey Sheptytsky as a patron of Ukrainian art (his invitation to Lviv and support for the artist Oleksa Novakivskyi) and the role of the metropolitan as the founder of the National Museum in Lviv are investigated. C o n c l u s i o n s. It is proven that in the person of Andrey Sheptytsky, the Bolshevik occupiers saw a threat to the rule of their regime and eventually resorted to persecution of the metropolitan both during his lifetime (arrest (1914), exile (1914-1917)) and after, falsifying the historical truth about his activities. It is substantiated that Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky created the appropriate conditions for the upbringing and training of a new galaxy of clergymen who acquired fundamental knowledge, in particular in philosophy, history and culture. Thus, through education, he supported intergenerational ties and national consciousness. The Metropolitan managed to implement a strategy that united the factors of intellectual, spiritual, educational, cultural and artistic principles, which in the future contributed to the formation of a galaxy of followers and leaders, thanks to whom we partially survived as a nation in the darkest times. It is proven that Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is a reformer in his views, he managed to introduce the Ukrainian language into worship, reform theological education. Understanding the need to form and educate a new generation of clergy, he in every way supported schools, theological seminaries, cultural and educational societies, internships of theological students abroad, and the publication of religious and educational magazines. (shrink)

The Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) is a rapidly evolving region that experiences significant changes in land use patterns over time. Analogous to other Indian cities, these transformations are particularly evident in the periphery of Chennai's urban core, where substantial land use shifts have occurred between 2001 and 2021. These changes were assessed utilizing LANDSAT 7 Thematic Mapper (TM), LANDSAT 5 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) for the years 2001 and 2011, and LANDSAT 8 (OLI) for 2021. This study employs (...) unsupervised classification to investigate major land use/land cover alterations. Findings indicate that CMA has undergone substantial land use modifications over the past two decades. Notably, there has been a marked decline in open land and vegetation due to extensive reclamation for urban and commercial development. The results demonstrate that the area covered by open land and vegetation decreased by 70.23% and 4.56%, respectively, while the built-up area increased by 56%. The study also identified a pattern of urban expansion primarily along the GST road, OMR road, and Thirupati highway. The research further examines land use changes by creating buffer zones at distances of 500 meters, 1 km, 1.5 km, and 2 km. The detailed analysis, along with the spatio-temporal differentiation maps and tables generated through geospatial data, will be invaluable for understanding the growth dynamics of CMA. This information will also support the decision-making process for local planners, stakeholders, and academicians. (shrink)

Andrey Sheptytsky - Metropolitan of the Greek Catholic Church, belongs to the key figures of Ukrainian history of the first half of the twentieth century. Its influence on the spiritual and national-political life of Ukrainians of that time, the processes of crystallization of national consciousness, as well as on the sphere of practical politics, cannot be overestimated. A. Sheptytsky's life path is an object of constant attention of historians, but it would still be early to assert its full and (...) comprehensive coverage. One of the debating issues in historiography remains the formation of national-political and religious views of the future Metropolitan. As you know, A. Sheptytsky was descended from the Polonized family, the process of his upbringing and education took place in the circle of Polish culture and national-state tradition. Already at adulthood, he made a conscious choice in favor of the Ukrainian Church and nation. The reasons and motives for this choice require a thorough study, taking into account the many factors that led it. (shrink)

The polemical literature of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, comprehensively covering the issue of unification, had already outlined most of the important issues surrounding the transition of part of the Ukrainian Orthodox clergy to the union with Rome. However, their resolution raises a lot of controversy and ambiguous estimates of this controversial event. Therefore, actualization of this problem in modern science is a natural phenomenon. Today, as V. Shevchenko rightly points out, “the passionate relevance of the unified issue (...) has already acquired the importance of historical urgency”. In addition, the role of the two most influential dioceses of the Kyiv Metropolitanate, Lviv and Peremyshka, which actually defined the fate of both Ukrainian Orthodoxy and Ukrainian Greek Catholicism, has not yet been properly considered and objectively assessed in these processes. (shrink)