Peter C. A. Morée

Protestants in the 20th Century between Faith, Dreams, and Power

Juha Meriläinen

'Whose Dollar, His Religion': The WCC, the LWF and the Reconstruction of European Protestantism in the Early Cold War Years, 1945-1948

Ondřej Matějka

A Generation?: A School? A Fraternity? An Army? Understanding the Roots of Josef Lukl Hromádka's Influence in the Czech Protestant Milieu 1920-1948

Pavel Filipi

Das weltpolitische Dreieck in der sicht von Josef Lukl Hromádka

Jiří Piškula

Zwischen Kirche und Staat: Spuren von Josef Lukl Hromádka in tschechischen Staatarchiven

Peter C. A. Morée

A Broken Man?: Josef L. Hromádka in 1968 and 1969

Cornelia von Ruthendorf-Przewoski

Die Kirchen in der DDR und die neue sozialistische Verfassung von 1968

Klaus Fitschen

Von der Ostdenkschrift zu den Ostverträgen: Diskurse in der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland über die Entspannungspolitik Willy Brandts

András Korányi

Zwei Herren dienen?: Auf Wegen der Unsicherheit vor und nach 1968 in Ungarn

Laurens Hogebrink

The Ecumenical Movement and the Cold War: Lessons and Legacy

Werner-Christoph Schmauch

A Homo Politicus of Christian Background: Sketches of a 70-year Political Autobiography on Two Continents

Author:

Peter C. A. Morée

Cite As:

Morée, Peter C A. “Protestants in the 20th Century between Faith, Dreams, and Power.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 3–13.

Author:

Juha Meriläinen

Abstract:

After the Second World War the World Council of Churches developed a program of reconstruction aid for member churches. This took place in the context of the beginning of the Cold War, when the reconstruction program of the Marshall Plan aimed to limit the influence of the Soviet Union in Europe. The article discusses the aims of the program of the WCC and the role of the Finnish Lutheran Church in its implementation.

Keywords:

WCC - Cold War - Second World War - Truman - Finnish Lutheran Church - LWF.

Cite As:

Meriläinen, Juha. “‘Whose Dollar, His Religion’: The WCC, the LWF and the Reconstruction of European Protestantism in the Early Cold War Years, 1945-1948.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 14–24.

Author:

Ondřej Matějka

Abstract:

When in the 1920s Josef L. Hromádka started as a teacher of theology at the newly founded Hus Faculty in Prague, he quickly gained influence on the students because of his personal charisma. This social capital is of key importance for the understanding of the rise of his authority within the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren as well as of the diminution o f the Lutheran tradition in this church, as it was dependent on the older generation of pastors.

Keywords:

Josef L. Hromádka - Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren - Hus Faculty.

Cite As:

Matějka, Ondřej. “A Generation?: A School? A Fraternity? An Army? Understanding the Roots of Josef Lukl Hromádka’s Influence in the Czech Protestant Milieu 1920-1948.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 25–38.

Author:

Pavel Filipi

Abstract:

This study examines how J. L. Hromádka in his publications after the Second World War transformed the concept of a bipolar world of West and East into a tripolor, as he stressed increasingly the significance of China as the third player on the scene of world politics. Subsequently Hromádka analyzed the main conflict in world politics as between revolution and counterrevolution.

Keywords:

J. L. Hromádka - Cold War - China - WCC.

Cite As:

Filipi, Pavel. “Das Weltpolitische Dreieck in Der Sicht von Josef Lukl Hromádka.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 39–44.

Author:

Jiří Piškula

Abstract:

Josef L. Hromádka left many traces in the archives o f the former communist regime. One of them concerns a rather critical, unknown statement of the Association of Protestant Churches about the communist coup d’état from 1948. Another trace concerns the system of financial benefits used by the communist authorities to motivate church representatives to a cooperative attitude.

Keywords:

Josef L. Hromádka - Communist Coup d’état - Communist Church Politics - Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren.

Cite As:

Piškula, Jiří. “Zwischen Kirche Und Staat: Spuren von Josef Lukl Hromádka in Tschechischen Staatarchiven.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 45–52.

Author:

Peter C. A. Morée

Abstract:

This articles examines documents from 1968 and 1969, which reflect the development in opinion and standpoint on the Prague Spring, communism and the Soviet Union of the Czech protestant theologian and founder of the Christian Peace Conference Josef L. Hromádka (1889-1969). Often it is suggested that he died as a disillusioned man because of the Soviet-led invasion into his country of August 1968. The conclusion of the article is that Hromádka did not give up his faith in the socialist vision, but till his death he stressed his commitment to a better world based on the communist idea.

Keywords:

Josef Lukl Hromádka - Prague Spring - Christian Peace Conference.

Cite As:

Morée, Peter C A. “A Broken Man?: Josef L. Hromádka in 1968 and 1969.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 53–67.

Author:

Cornelia von Ruthendorf-Przewoski

Abstract:

The new constitution o f the German Democratic Republic, which was adopted in 1968, aimed to consolidate the position o f the communist regime in this country. Also the churches had to play a role in this respect. The constitution brought a reset in the relation between church and state, which by many protestants was felt as a sharp contrast to the situation in Czechoslovakia o f before August 1968. This study discusses the reactions to the new constitution in and the consequences of it for the East German Evangelical Church.

Keywords:

GDR - Church Politics - German Evangelical Church - 1968.

Cite As:

Ruthendorf-Przewoski, Cornelia von. “Die Kirchen in Der DDR Und Die Neue Sozialistische Verfassung von 1968.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 68–89.

Author:

Klaus Fitschen

Abstract:

This study analyses the reactions o f West German protestants on the new policy o f the West German chancellor Willy Brandt of the late 1960s, to sign treaties with Eastern European countries (primarily Poland), which included a recognition of the political situation after the Second World War. A part of the protestants in Western Germany supported this Ostpolitik, another part expressed its hesitations.

Keywords:

Willy Brandt - Ostpolitik - Evangelische Kirche Deutschlands - Cold War - Ludwig Raiser.

Cite As:

Fitschen, Klaus. “Von Der Ostdenkschrift Zu Den Ostverträgen: Diskurse in Der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland Über Die Entspannungspolitik Willy Brandts.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 90–100.

Author:

András Korányi

Abstract:

This study examines the relations between the churches and the communist regime in Hungary in the years before and after 1968. Attention is given to the so-called theology of diaconia, which represented a theological answer and acceptance of the situation of the churches under the Kádár-regime.

Keywords:

Kádár - Hungarian Lutheran Church - Hungarian Reformed Church - Theology of Diaconia - Zoltán Káldy.

Cite As:

Korányi, András. “Zwei Herren Dienen?: Auf Wegen Der Unsicherheit Vor Und Nach 1968 in Ungarn.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 101–9.

Author:

Laurens Hogebrink

Abstract:

This paper presents findings of a series of seminars about how churches and the ecumenical movement deal with the past of the Cold War. It focuses on the mechanisms which determined the attitudes in the ecumenical movement during the Cold War and formulates lessons which can be learned for churches in both East and West. It also examines the legacy of this recent past, with a focus on the post Cold War security debate in Europe as presented by an Open Letter about European security by a large group of former dissidents from Central and Eastern Europe of 2009. Finally, it discusses possible approaches to assess issues of the ecumenical movement and the Cold War.

Keywords:

Cold War - Ecumenical Movement - Churches 1945-1990 - WCC - Dissidents.

Cite As:

Hogebrink, Laurens. “The Ecumenical Movement and the Cold War: Lessons and Legacy.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 110–33.

Author:

Werner-Christoph Schmauch

Abstract:

In this biographical contribution Werner-Christoph Schmauch discusses his engagement in church, peace movement and political life since the Second World War.

Keywords:

Werner-Christoph Schmauch - Cold War - peace movement - Christian Peace Conference - Josef L. Hromádka.

Cite As:

Schmauch, Werner-Christoph. “A Homo Politicus of Christian Background: Sketches of a 70-Year Political Autobiography on Two Continents.” Communio Viatorum 54, no. 3 (December 31, 2012): 134–55.