Introduction The Saint Gerard of Cenad International Symposium, Second Edition “Saint Gerard of Cenad: Tradition and Innovation”
Author(s): Claudiu Mesaroș, Claudiu Călin

Socrates and theory of virtues in the Deliberatio supra hymnum trium puerorum by Gerard of Cenad
Author(s): Claudiu Mesaroș

Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to investigate one of the philosophical directions of Gerard of Cenad’s Deliberatio, namely, the link between acknowledging Isidore of Seville’s suggestion that Socrates was responsible for giving the subject of cardinal virtues to philosophy, in their turn important for the development of Gerard’s discourse, and the further development of Gerard’s discourse on virtues, more precisely, his identification of the cardinal and theological ones, as in István Bejczy’s hypothesis.

Mind and Religious Experience in Saint Gerard of Cenad
Author(s): Ionuţ Mladin

Abstract:
In Deliberatio supra Hymnum Trium Puerorum (Meditation on the Hymn of the Three Young Men), St. Gerard of Cenad envisages, among other topics, the philosophical problem of mind as an important element in the act of faith. The mind has no human value than the interpretation of the Evangelical writings. With love, faith, and godliness, thoughts are mostly related to the heart, and this is the way of access to Christian virtues. Mind enlightened by the Holy Spirit is the key to understand symbols in the Scripture, understanding the mysteries of creation in general.Concern for the mind itself is not a pointless search, because the mind is a means by which man comes closer to God.

Saint Gerard of Cenad and the Intellectual Disputes of the Year 1000
Author(s): Gabriela Tănăsescu

Abstract:
This paper aims to situate St. Gerard of Cenad’s position in apocalyptic millenarianism as differentia specifica in genus proximum of the doctrinal position of the Church, subscribing to the thesis that Gerard’s position constituted an attempt to connect the Jewish apocalyptic literature and the Christian millennarialism. It argues that St. Gerard of Cenad used the hymnal poetry of the prophet Daniel not only in order to invocate as theological argument “the inter-Testamentary unit” ‒ the fact that, in hermeneutic terms, the Old Testament announces the New Testament or “the coming of Jesus” ‒, but also to criticize the arbitrary and unbelieving power and to transmit to it and to all those who “rise” against the faith, alike Nebuchadnezzar in olden times, an apocalyptic admonishment.

L’Église et l’État en Hongrie dans la première moitié du XIe siècle, avec un regard spécial sur Legenda Sancti Gerardi et Deliberatio
Author(s): Remus Mihai Feraru

Abstract:
Notre étude porte sur les relations entre l’Église et l’État en Hongrie, dans la première moitié du XIe siècle et leur implications sur le plan politique, idéologique et religieux. La relation étroite entre l’Église et la royauté hongroise caractérisait l’organisation politique de la Hongrie mediévale. Notre recherche se fonde particulièrement sur la biographie anonyme de l’évêque Gérard de Csanád (Legenda Sancti Gerardi) et Deliberatio, une traité théologique et philosophique appartenant au même Gérard ; ces deux sources reflétent les rapports entre l’Église et l’État pendant les règnes des Étienne Ier(997-1038) et ses successeurs Pierre Orseolo (1038-1041; 1044-1046) et Aba Sámuel (1041-1044).

Considerations Regarding the Beneficial Policy Led by the Popes of Avignon in the Diocese of Cenad in the Fourteenth Century
Author(s): Răzvan Mihai Neagu

Abstract:
The main purpose of this study is to present and investigate the involvement of the popes of Avignon in the diocese of Cenad. In the case of the bishopric of Cenad, the interference of the French popes in the fourteenth century did not register significant proportions, as it happened in the bishopric of Transylvania or that of Oradea. Nevertheless, the popes’ interference existed, influencing the activity of the diocese, which was integrated in the vast general governing mechanism of the Catholic Church, issued and developed by the popes of Avignon. The first canon appointed by a pope, registered in documents, was Nicholas. He was appointed on February 25 1333 by Pope John XXII. Although the preserved documents do not allow for a detailed analysis of this papal interference mechanism, the ones that were preserved indicate the involvement of the French popes in the life of the diocese of Cenad, especially visible in the appointment of ecclesiastic positions, as well as in the taxation system. Documents attest that the pontiffs had fifteen interventions in the diocese during the times of the Avignon papacy, appointing or confirming ecclesiastic benefits. They appointed six clergymen as canons, while another six received archdeaconship positions or dignities in the cathedral chapter, which subsequently involved owning a canonship. The French popes also granted at Cenad two unmentioned positions in the cathedral chapter, as well as an unspecified ecclesiastical benefice.

The Medieval Idea of Legitimacy and the King’s Two Bodies
Author(s): Lorena Stuparu

Abstract:
Based on Ernst Kantorowicz’s work The King’s Two Bodies, this paper intends to show that the idea of the sacred nature of political power, of the legitimacy which transcends the secular institutions is still alive in collective mentality. Analyzing the symbolism of the duality of the king’s body (divine and human), Ernst Kantorowicz argues that the ideological foundations of the modern state are founded on in the idea that the kingdom is a mystical body whose head is the king – this is possible through the divine hypostasis of his body. According to the fundamental Christian ideology of kingship, in the first centuries of the Middle Ages, the king is human by nature and divine by grace. Also according to medieval mentality, the human side of the king embodies a veritable quantity of opposite characteristics – the mystery of the modern state can be interpreted on the level of a political philosophy which does not exclude the theological dimension of the secular society.

Saint Gerard in the Serbian Textbooks of the 19th Century
Author(s): Svetozar Boškov

Abstract:
Textbooks represent a peculiar and intriguing way of historical reception. They are used for educating children and students, but in the particular setting of the nineteenth-century Austrian-Hungarian Empire, they were printed, translated, and published in a variety of political, ideological, and cultural, circumstances.
The personality of Saint Gerard was refected in a number of different Serbian textbooks in the nineteenth century. The majority of these textbooks was published in Southern Hungary, i.e. now part of Serbia and the Romanian region of Banat. The aim of this paper is to present what was written on the character, work, and aims of Saint Gerard in the nineenth-century Serbian textbook. Through author biographies, curriculums, and the textbooks themselves, it is possible to highlight the importance of theHungarian medieval history in textbooks and the role of Christianity not only in the textbooks themselves, but in the educational system, as well.

The Bollandists’ Life of Saint Gerard
Author(s): Boris Stojkovski

Abstract:
In t on the structure of the Bollandists’ “Life of Saint Gerard,” which can be found in the sixth volume of the Acta Sanctorum Septembris. The Life itself consists of four parts: a sort of preface, i.e. a historical commentary, a chronology of the most important events in the life of Saint Gerard and Vita, which is, in fact, a version of the well-known Legenda minor, and some appendices. The foreword is of the most scholarly value because it lists many interesting older works used by the Bollandist writer.

Bishop Augustin Pacha (1870-1954)
The Years of Imprisonment and His Release Shortly before His Death
Author(s): Claudiu Călin

Abstract:
Augustin Pacha, Bishop of the Diocese of Timisoara, shepherded the Catholics of Banat for over three decades. He lived through the dualist monarchy, the First World War, as well as through the social changes of the interwar period. An enemy to nationalism and socialism, and a supporter of the German Christian Catholic identity of the Swabians in Banat, Pacha was a member of the intellectual elite persecuted and even eliminated by the communists after 1948. Arrested in 1950 and sentenced to prison in 1951 in a show trial, the old bishop was released in the summer of 1954. The communist regime knew he was dying. This decision is interesting in the context of the time and even today, 60 years later.

Die Rolle des hl. Gerhard im sozio-kulturellen Leben der Banater Christen
Author(s): Franz Metz

Abstract:
Nur kurze Zeit nach dem Märtyrertod von Bischof Gerhard begann man im Banat seiner in Legenden und Berichten zu gedenken. Im Laufe der Jahrhunderte hat dieser Gerhardskult viele Änderungen erlebt, ihm zu Ehren wurden Gedichte geschrieben und Lieder komponiert. Selbst nach der Teilung seines ehemaligen Csanader Bistums nach dem ersten Weltkrieg wurde er in allen drei Nachfolgediözesen nicht nur als erster Bischof des Banats sondern auch als ein Heiliger geehrt. Durch die Folgen des zweiten Weltkriegs, die Vertreibung der Donauschwaben aus den südslawischen Ländern unddie spätere Auswanderung des größten Teils der Banater Schwaben nach Deutschland gelangte der Gerhardskult auch in dieses Land. In Stuttgart wurde so das St. Gerhards-Werk gegründet, in München aber das Gerhardsforum Banater Schwaben.

Western Biblical Studies in the Work of Roman-Catholic and Orthodox Theologians
1867-1918
Author(s): Alin Cristian Scridon

Abstract:
During the dualistic period (1867-1918), the historical Banat region in Romania had two active Churches: the Roman-Catholic and the Orthodox churches. Of course, there were also Greek-Catholic and Protestant (Lutheran and Calvin) churches, but most Christians belonged to the Roman-Catholic and Orthodox communities. Because of ethnical separations, the orthodox were further divided into the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Romanians of Banat were led by two Bishopric Centres: Caransebes and Arad. Both bishoprics were canonically dependent on the Transylvanian Metropolitan Church with its headquarters in, Sibiu. The Roman-Catholic Bishopric of Timisoara led valuable activities, having a clerical school in its jurisdiction. Therefore, historical Banat had three theological study centres: Arad, Caransebes, and Timisoara – although Arad was not officially part of the historical Banat.

Catholic Priests from the Diocese of Csanád in the Hungarian Revolution and the War of Independence (1848 – 1849)
Author(s): Péter Zakar

Abstract:
The Church, mainly the local clergy, played an important, galvanising role in Hungary in 1848. In the spring of 1848 the possibility of a democratic transformation in the Catholic Church seemed to be a crucial point. The liberal priests started a strong movement in the heart of the Diocese of Csanád. Alajos Magyari, a teacher in the seminary of Temesvár wanted to abolish celibacy and to create a new democratic Catholic Church government. The supporters of Church modernisation adopted the philosophy and culture of Enlightenment, Liberalism, and Romanticism, creating an immanent theology on these bases. Ten priests from the Diocese of Csanád joined the Honvéd Army and took up weapons, while another ten priests served as army chaplains. The Revolution and War of Independence resulted in the formation of a unique revolutionary theology.

Der Widerstand gegen Rechtsextremismus: Die antitotalitäre Haltung der Banater Eliten in der Zwischenkriegszeit
Author(s): Mihai A. Panu

Abstract:
Soon after World War I, the entire European continent experienced major socio-political transformations. The emerging structural economic and political imbalances triggered an unprecedented radicalization of various societal relations and attitudes which eventually reached a culminating point during World War II.
This paper investigates the manifestations of National Socialism in interwar Banat and the key role played by the Catholic Church as an ideological counteracting force. In this highly controversial and disproportionate relation not only the pure facts or end results represent a historiographical stake but also the key public figures which somehow managed to influence or change the course of history. In the interwar Banat, a decisive public role in the struggle of containing the impact of the Nazi ideology was played by the catholic bishop Dr. Augustin Pacha.

Christening Names in Cenad
Author(s): Dușan Baiski

Abstract:
The subject of this article deals with the Christening names of Orthodox Romanians from the town of Cenad, Romania. The Study was done based on documents related to christening between 1976-1903 and 2011-2013. In Christening names in the registers of religious cults in Cenad have changed, in time, based on various influences, adaptations, and spellings. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the most dominant names were those of Biblical influence, regardless of the child’s nationality. After 1989 however, christening names specific to other regions started to emerge because of the influence of mass media, the freedom to travel, the freedom to marry foreign citizens, but also because of the influence of new inhabitants of Cenad who originated elsewhere. While Biblical names used to be dominant, they now entered the minority sphere.

Christological Accents in "The Lives of Saints" and Their Impact in the Social and Religious Formation of Believers
Author(s): Iacob Coman

Abstract:
In the history of literature, hagiography is taken as a literary rudimentary-religious dowry through which the foundations of later literature are set. Usually, these writings are given a mythological-historical value which is why they are not considered clear segments of literature, while from the perspective of literary historians, they are not acknowledged as sacred writings either.
The present research provides a meeting point between the Protestant dogmatic theology and the lives of saints. That is, a general observation on how the lives of saints (and not only) contain the traits of the holy man and the characteristics of holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Given the importance that Jesus Christ gives to holiness, this article will show how the Holy Spirit has maintained in the saints the existential character of our Lord Jesus Christ and the basic paradigms of the life He desired.
In the conclusions of this study we will report the perspective of Jesus Christ on holiness and the life of repentance, and the way in which the Tradition preserved them. Details on how the life of St. Gerard of Cenad preserved and gave new insights to holiness and to the social life preached by Jesus Christ will also be presented.

The Metropolitan Bishop and Academy Member Nicolae Corneanu (1923-2014)
Patristic Scholar and Tireless Promoter of the Inter-Religious Dialogue
Author(s): Ionel Popescu

Abstract:
The Metropolitan Bishop Nicolae Corneanu served the Church for 52 years, from 1943 until his death in 2014, as the archbishop of Timisoara and metropolitan bishop of Banat. Nicolae Corneanu had a particular interest in studying The Holy Fathers, the patristic spirituality, a field which was very difficult to research in the atheistic communist years. In addition to being a patristic scholar, he was also a very well known and appreciated ecumenist. His authority and competence in this area were confirmed by his participation in numerous theological and ecumenical meetings in Romania and abroad.