Contenuti per la categoria: Diritto ecclesiastico comparato e straniero

Vatican geopolitics, political institutions and episcopal ordinations in the People's Republic of China. Reflections on State-Church Relations

ABSTRACT: The agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China, concluded in 2018 ad experimentum, has been extended until 31-12-2024.Relations between the Vatican and the Holy See do not follow a linear trend, due to the recurring attempts of some Chinese clergy-so-called patriot clergy-to accept appointments as Diocesan Ordinary without the mandate of the Holy See. In such cases, the relevant regulatory provisions entail excommunication latae sententiae. This contribution, analysing some historical precedents such as the struggle for the endowments and the separation of the constitutional clergy in the period of the French Revolution, proposes an interpretation of the events to understand the Holy See's attitude in the remission of the excommunication to the patriot bishops: the realisation that Catholicism was no longer a phenomenon limited to the European world. The centre of gravity of the Church's influence is irreversibly declining towards non-European areas.

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa - 2. Introduzione al tema - 3. Ius publicum ecclesiasticum sinicum - 4. L’accordo del 2018 tra Santa Sede e Repubblica Popolare Cinese - 5. Il primo quadriennio di applicazione. Riflessioni critiche - 6. Storia e controstoria - 7. Le radici medievali dei rapporti tra Chiesa e Stato: tra Gregorio VII ed Enrico IV - 8. L’età moderna. Le aperture del vescovo G.B. Chiaramonti per una 'democrazia cristiana'. Gli 'articoli organici' del periodo napoleonico - 9. Storia e modernità nelle relazioni tra Chiesa e Repubblica Popolare Cinese.

ABSTRACT: The current article analyzes the inextricable and instrumental link between intangible religious heritage and tangible religious heritage. More specifically, UNESCO’s nomination processes are examined in order to investigate the evolution and the approach of national and global institutions to intangible religious heritage. Rituals, architectural techniques of constructions and several UNESCO’s nomination dossiers of religious towns are used to shed a light on problematic aspects. Among them, we should wonder if intangible religious heritage underwent a process of political “instrumentalization”, “scientificization” and “objectivization”: which are the consequences of this institutional activity?

SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. Intangible Heritage and Legal Framework - 3. The National Dimension of UNESCO’s Nomination Processes - 4. The Global Dimension of UNESCO’s Nomination Processes - 5. Intangible Religious Heritage and Criticalities: Is There a Political Instrumentality? - 6. Architectural Techniques of Construction: Uncharted Aspects and Legal Issues - 7. Architectural Techniques of Construction and UNESCO - 8. Rituals: Uncharted Aspects and Legal Issues - 9. Rituals and UNESCO - 10. Conclusions.

ABSTRACT: The article analyzes the recent Latvian Law by which the State unilaterally declares the autocephaly of the Latvian Orthodox Church. The latter was previously under the Patriarchate of Moscow and all Russias. In addition, the study illustrates the changes made to the Law of Latvia, on the legal status of this Church. Much emphasis is put on the violation of the principle of separation, enshrined in art. 99 of the Latvian Constitution, further addressing the tendency to change the ecclesiastical policy of the European Union as a result of the war in Ukraine.

SUMMARY: 1. The State proclaims by law the autocephaly of the Latvian Orthodox Church - 2. Birth and development of the Latvian Orthodox Church - 3. The Religious Freedom Law and its amendments - 4. The Law on the Latvian Orthodox Church and the amendments made by the Saeima in 2019-2022 - 5. State legislative intervention, separatism and the Constitution - 6. Separatism, secularism and neo-jurisdictionalism in the European Union.

SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. The necessary conditions of social negotiation - 3. Nordic Secularism - 4. Organic religious literacy - 5. Translation - 6. Conclusion.

ABSTRACT: The refusal to shake hands with a female reporter by a Muslim politician from the Miljöpartiet resulted in a controversy in Sweden. Together with a number of court cases, it revealed a disparity between the established judicial line and the views of the general public. The Swedish controversy received a response from Denmark, where the ruling coalition introduced new citizenship legislation with an obligation to shake hands with the mayor during a naturalization ceremony. These controversies highlighted the rising tensions on multiple levels, between majority and minority, religious freedom and gender equality, law and public opinion. This paper takes a closer look at the role of law as a negotiator and employs the notions of Nordic secularism, organic religious literacy, and the ethos of hospitality towards the untranslatable, in order to answer two questions: where these tensions come from and what are the possible ways of overcoming them.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. Il Primo emendamento e le garanzie gemelle dell’Establishment Clause e del Free Exercise Clause: una panoramica ricostruttiva - 2.1. I tre principali test utilizzati dalla Corte in sede di judicial review e basati sul Primo emendamento: il Lemon test, l’Endorsement test e il Coercion test - 2.2. La recente sentenza Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. del 27 luglio 2022: l’abbandono (definitivo) del Lemon test in favore del criterio ermeneutico orientato alla “history and tradition” - 3. Le origini e la mobilitazione politica del motto degli Stati Uniti d’America - 3.1. Il XVIII secolo, la Rivoluzione americana e la diffusione del motto “E Pluribus Unum” - 3.2. Il XIX secolo e la Guerra Civile: la giustapposizione di “In God We Trust” accanto a “E Pluribus Unum” - 3.3. Il XX secolo e la Guerra fredda: “In God We Trust” diventa (l’unico) motto nazionale - 3.4. I diversi usi del motto nazionale lungo il dispiegarsi della storia - 4. Le caratteristiche dell’American civil religion e le sue ambivalenze - 5. Il motto nazionale in alcuni significativi obiter della Corte suprema: il deismo cerimoniale e le sue critiche - 5.1. Il deismo cerimoniale in alcune pronunce della Corte suprema - 5.2. Le riflessioni (preoccupate) della dottrina - 6. Riflessioni conclusive e spunti di comparazione - 6.1. L’uso della storia e della cultura nell’ordinamento italiano: cenni di comparazione sull’insegnamento della religione cattolica e sull’esposizione del crocifisso a scuola - 6.2. L’altro verso dell’American civil religion: ideologia e populismo.

The U.S. motto "In God We Trust" in light of the history and tradition “of the First Amendment

ABSTRACT: This essay reflects upon the U.S. national motto “In God We Trust” and religious liberty. It describes the birth and the life of the U.S. national motto from an historical and a normative perspective, and in relation with three crucial events that forged the United States’ historical conscience: the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the Cold War. It highlights how the motto has embraced different purposes and meanings, as well as attained varying levels of religiosity. After having introduced the main features of American civil religion, the paper pays attention to the various obiter that the Supreme Court has offered about the constitutionality of this symbol. The conclusions focus on two aspects: a brief comparison with the Italian legal system, which underlines the existing similarities between the “history and tradition” argument fostered by the U.S. Supreme Court and the appeal to the “historical heritage” and the “religious culture” that can be found in the Italian legal and political debates on the display of the crucifix in the classroom and the teaching of the Catholic religion. Secondly, they reflect about the ideological and illiberal turn that the American civil religion may take.

SOMMARIO: 1. Osservazioni propedeutiche: la crescente rilevanza di un approccio metodologicamente propenso alla riconversione ambientale e alla solidarietà sociale - 2. Caratteristiche generali idonee a proporre le dottrine buddhiste come case study di precipua significatività - 3. Le tracce di una riflessione culturalmente orientata: l’eredità dei maestri canonici - 4. Gli insegnamenti del Buddha come principi di una taumaturgia giuridica interculturale - 5. L’astensione curativa: una nozione rafforzata di condotte omissive - 6. Un bilancio casistico: materiali di studio sui rapporti tra il buddhismo e le istituzioni statali - 7. Possibile conclusione a partire dallo stato dell’arte: il buddhismo tra dottrina, rito e habitus.

Sustainability and environmental transition: the legal Buddhist contribution

ABSTRACT: We are currently experiencing an increasing attention on the economic sustainability and the environmental issues. This process still merely seems a theoretical declaration because its concrete efforts are appearing weak and fragile. The aim of this essay is to underline the possibility of a better comprehension of those sets of problems by studying the spiritual and legal contribution of Buddhism: a not theistic axiology that implies a renewed approach to ecology and economics, able to determine methodological consequences even in the sphere of public law.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. La monarchia di Idris Al Senussi e la Costituzione del 1951 - 3. L’Islam nella Libia di Re Idris - 4. Moammar Gheddafi e la Terza Teoria Universale: l’Islam all’interno del “Nuovo” sistema libico - 5. Gheddafi e il movimento islamista - 6. La caduta di Gheddafi, la Dichiarazione Costituzionale del 2011 e l’Islam - 7. L’ultima bozza del 2017 e i contrasti infiniti - 8. Brevi riflessioni.

The Constitution and the role of Islam in Libya from independence to the fall of Moammar Gaddafi: origins and perspectives

ABSTRACT: This study aims to retrace Libya's constitutional path from Independence, obtained in December 1951, up to the "post-Gaddafi" era, which began with his fall in October 2011 and where the agreement on a new Constitution is still today - after more than ten years - one of the thorniest issues in the construction of a real Libyan State. Particular emphasis will be given to the religious aspect that has characterized the Constitutional Charter of Libya in its short national history and to the religious challenges faced in the different historical phases. The study will be divided into three parts. The first one will try to frame the constitutional discourse in the new independent Libya under the monarchy of King Idris al-Senussi. In the second part, will be addressed to the drastic changes that occurred with Moammar Gaddafi's rise to power. Finally, in the last part will try to draw a picture of what the situation is today and to understand what are actually the obstacles that are holding back an agreement between the rival factions (East and West) on a shared Constitution.

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa - 2. Il caso del Montenegro: identità nazionale e identità religiosa - 3. La costruzione di un’identità nazionale - 4. Prodromi di un divorzio annunciato - 5. Personalità giuridica delle Chiese e patrimonio religioso - 6. Beni culturali contesi - 7. Verso una risoluzione dei contrasti con la Chiesa ortodossa serba? - 8. Patrimonio culturale montenegrino e ruolo delle organizzazioni internazionali - 9. Conclusioni.

 Religious freedom, cultural heritage and identity: the case of Montenegro

ABSTRACT: With the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, the Balkan populations found themselves having to face the necessity of replacing their common Slavic origins with national identities that found a solid point of reference in religion. The cultural heritage, at first common thanks to Tito's unifying work, became again the heritage of the single nationalities and the object of ethnic-local identity claims. In this situation, the anchorage to cultural heritage and the particular care taken by governments to claim its management and control, become instruments of identity whose effects inevitably reverberate on the delicate balance between the religious communities present in the different territories. The case of Montenegro shows the complicated relationship between the protection of cultural heritage, national identities and religious belonging to the different components of Orthodoxy, each of which claims exclusive and unique ownership over their respective territories, thus contributing to rewrite the contents of cultural heritage, reducing it to an increasingly local dimension. Thanks to the work of international organizations such as UNESCO with "its" world heritage and the Council of Europe, which is working to promote diversity and dialogue in the field of cultural heritage, this regains its dignity, respecting the citizens' feelings and their quality of life.

SOMMARIO: 1. ‘E la mirabile coppia apparve’: prolegomeni allo studio dei rapporti tra gaming and religion ˗ 2. Una mappatura del campo di indagine dei Digital Religion Studies: gaming as religion, didactic digital games … ˗ 3. … religion in gaming: ovvero cattedrali, moschee, schiere di angeli e demoni nelle narrazioni videoludiche ˗ 4. ‘Gli amori difficili’: la problematica relazione tra gaming and religion ˗ 5. Il diritto sulla scena: gaming and religion con gli ‘occhiali del giurista’ ˗ 6. Un puzzle di norme diverse e contrastanti: una radiografia sulla libertà di panorama in Europa … ˗ 7. … e in Italia ˗ 8. Postille conclusive: spunti di riflessione de iure condendo.

Religious symbols and cultural heritage in videogames: intersections between gaming and religion, or two inescapably communicating destinies. New spaces for research and theoretical reflection

ABSTRACT: Within a multiple reading grid, this contribution aims first of all to focus on the theme of the migration of religious symbols outside their natural ecosystem, electing videogames among the many ‘profane’ and even 'pop' languages ​​of mass media society. Starting from the ancient marriage between games and religion, we will investigate the forms in which the religious material ˗ Christian and non ˗ is shaped within the world of videogames, trying to perimeter the field of investigation of that very particular line of research called Digital Religion Studies. Subsequently, starting from the famous case of Manchester cathedral, we will try to demonstrate the problematic nature of the relationship between gaming and religion. By shifting the wide angle to the field of law, the legal regime reserved for videogames will be elucidated, albeit skeletally, and then highlight how the classification systems of videogame contents do not protect the religious feeling of the faithful. The Manchester controversy will also provide an opportunity to investigate that labyrinthine plexus of provisions that governs the digital reproducibility of cultural heritage. It will end with some de jure condendo reflections on the regulation of religious data in videogames and on the subject of freedom of the panorama.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. The coronavirus crisis: a tragedy and an opportunity - 2. Demanding governments’ accountability - 3. The conditions for legitimate restrictions on freedom of religion or belief - 4. The significance of equality and State’s neutrality for the protection of religious freedom - 5. Advantages of dialogue and cooperation between State and religion - 6. Support and doubts in the reaction of religious communities to governmental measures - 7. Final remarks.

ABASTRACT: This article explores peculiarities of the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to other health crisis experienced in the past. Each character is thoroughly examined in the article. The article focuses on four thematic areas: the legal regulation of the fight against coronavirus; the equality of treatment of religious freedom in relation to other fundamental rights; the cooperation between the State and religious communities; and the reactions of religious communities to governmental measures. The article argues that rather than raising new questions, COVD-19 has forced us to deal with familiar questions under unprecedented circumstances. In this frame, time has played a central role as a factor to be taken into account to scrutinize the legitimacy of measures introducing severe limitations to fundamental rights and freedoms. Finally, the article claims that from a legal perspective, the experience of the past months reveals that, especially in times of crisis, we need a scrupulous respect for the requirements of the rule of law, including a strict accountability and transparency from governments, and putting especial emphasis on the protection of fundamental rights, among which is freedom of religion or belief.