Page 439 - Stati inu obstati, revija za vprašanja protestantizma, letnik X (2014), številka 19-20, ISSN 1408-8363
P. 439
SYNOPSES, ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN
for the present time, “a time of apathy and resignation”. In the introductory
section, the paper attempts to sketch the significance of Bloch’s contribution to
the development of utopian studies, while the second section provides an expo-
sition of the author’s distinction between abstract (closed, static) utopias, which,
due to an excessively concrete rendering of utopicum, appear to be unfeasible, and
concrete (open, dynamic) utopias, which “learned hope” (docta spes) prevents from
being merely “a breeding ground of illusion”. The third section of the paper is
devoted to Bloch’s investigation of the utopian or anticipating consciousness,
while also demonstrating his method of searching for ever new utopian perspec-
tives in the major cultural creations of the past.
Key words: Ernst Bloch, utopia, ideology, anticipating consciousness, hope
UDC 27-4:272:929Frančišek,papež/089.3
Peter Kovačič Peršin
Pope Francis faced with the dilemmas of the Roman Catholic Church
The election of Pope Francis was planned. He was a personality capable of
returning a moral reputation to the Catholic Church, of accelerating moral re-
newal and carrying through urgent reforms. Shortly after the abdication of Pope
Ratzinger, the Italian periodical for geopolitics Limes published on its website
the statement that the Buenos Aires Cardinal Bergoglio would be the new pope.
The facts themselves at the election show that even in the Vatican, conciliar
principles of more democratic behaviour are starting to gain recognition. The
first measures undertaken by the new pope dealt with the two most outstanding
scandals of the Catholic Church, which Pope Ratzinger had been unequal to. He
removed the leadership of the Vatican Bank and demanded transparency in fi-
nancial dealings also within dioceses. He gave the green light for the arrest of a
group of clerics who had recruited boys for paedophile favours for Vatican prel-
ates. Still more telling are his personnel changes. The retirement of the key
conservative Cardinal Bertone and his team shows a thorough reform of the
Curia. The nomination of Archbishop Pietro Parolin, a man of dialogue, as state
secretary means that Pope Francis wants to smooth over the conflicts between
the leadership of the Catholic Church and its base, and also conflicts with op-
ponents, especially regarding liberation theology, which the two previous popes
ruthlessly suppressed, thus causing a quarter of Latin American Catholics to step
over into fundamentalist Christian sects. The pope entered into dialogue with
the theologian Hans Küng, author of the Global Ethic project and of dialogue
among world religions. He also accepted open dialogue with the public, triggered
by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica with its editor Eugenio Scalfari, who de-
437
for the present time, “a time of apathy and resignation”. In the introductory
section, the paper attempts to sketch the significance of Bloch’s contribution to
the development of utopian studies, while the second section provides an expo-
sition of the author’s distinction between abstract (closed, static) utopias, which,
due to an excessively concrete rendering of utopicum, appear to be unfeasible, and
concrete (open, dynamic) utopias, which “learned hope” (docta spes) prevents from
being merely “a breeding ground of illusion”. The third section of the paper is
devoted to Bloch’s investigation of the utopian or anticipating consciousness,
while also demonstrating his method of searching for ever new utopian perspec-
tives in the major cultural creations of the past.
Key words: Ernst Bloch, utopia, ideology, anticipating consciousness, hope
UDC 27-4:272:929Frančišek,papež/089.3
Peter Kovačič Peršin
Pope Francis faced with the dilemmas of the Roman Catholic Church
The election of Pope Francis was planned. He was a personality capable of
returning a moral reputation to the Catholic Church, of accelerating moral re-
newal and carrying through urgent reforms. Shortly after the abdication of Pope
Ratzinger, the Italian periodical for geopolitics Limes published on its website
the statement that the Buenos Aires Cardinal Bergoglio would be the new pope.
The facts themselves at the election show that even in the Vatican, conciliar
principles of more democratic behaviour are starting to gain recognition. The
first measures undertaken by the new pope dealt with the two most outstanding
scandals of the Catholic Church, which Pope Ratzinger had been unequal to. He
removed the leadership of the Vatican Bank and demanded transparency in fi-
nancial dealings also within dioceses. He gave the green light for the arrest of a
group of clerics who had recruited boys for paedophile favours for Vatican prel-
ates. Still more telling are his personnel changes. The retirement of the key
conservative Cardinal Bertone and his team shows a thorough reform of the
Curia. The nomination of Archbishop Pietro Parolin, a man of dialogue, as state
secretary means that Pope Francis wants to smooth over the conflicts between
the leadership of the Catholic Church and its base, and also conflicts with op-
ponents, especially regarding liberation theology, which the two previous popes
ruthlessly suppressed, thus causing a quarter of Latin American Catholics to step
over into fundamentalist Christian sects. The pope entered into dialogue with
the theologian Hans Küng, author of the Global Ethic project and of dialogue
among world religions. He also accepted open dialogue with the public, triggered
by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica with its editor Eugenio Scalfari, who de-
437
