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The position of the Vatican regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war, its influence on international politics, and internal processes in Ukraine are being studied. The research examines the Vatican's diplomatic approach, which seeks to maintain neutrality and promote dialogue between the conflicting parties. An analysis of Vatican statements regarding the war in Ukraine, reactions to them from other countries and Ukrainian society has been conducted. The study investigates the reasons behind the Vatican's position, such as the Catholic Church's pacifist doctrine, the desire to avoid unequivocal assessments, and the influence of Pope Francis's personal background and ideological views. The research also aims to clarify Pope Francis's influence on the internal political situation in Ukraine. Research period: 2014-2024, with a focus on two stages: 2014-2022 (hybrid war and local conflict); 2022-2024 (full-scale war). Main research results: The Vatican avoids calling RF as an aggressor and does not condemn its actions. Pope Francis seeks reconciliation and proposes that the conflicting parties sit down for negotiations. The Vatican's position on the Russian-Ukrainian war is based on Catholic dogma, where evil does not have a substantive nature; the general tendency in the Catholic Church towards forgiveness, laid down by John Paul II, and pacifism. The research reveals that the Vatican's stance has faced criticism from both Western countries and Ukrainian society, as it is perceived as equating the aggressor with the victim. The Vatican does not have a significant influence on the decisions of world states. The position of the Bishop of Rome may influence public opinion in countries with a high level of religiosity. In Ukraine, the Vatican's position does not have considerable support from the Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic communities, and generally from Ukrainian citizens. The Vatican's position on the Russian-Ukrainian war is amorphous because it does not contain a clear moral assessment and equates the aggressor with the victim; therefore, criminal actions are condemned, but not their cause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A characteristic feature of the contribution made by the Dominican theologian Yves Congar to the Catholic thought of the 20th century is the distinct ecumenical openness of the researcher, his theological inclusiveness, his concern for the life of the Church in the modern world, and his prophetic reformist pathos, which were quite naturally combined together with Congar's deep knowledge and appreciation of the most profound and most valuable layers of the ancient Christian tradition of the undivided Church's era. The article is based on a detailed review of three basic treatises by Yves Congar in which the author elaborates his ecumenically oriented program of implementing effective and at the same time safe reforms in the Church: (1) Chrétiens désunis: Principes d'un "oecuménisme" catholique, (2) Vraie et fausse réforme dans l'Église, and (3) a two-volume study La Tradition et les traditions (Vol. 1: La Tradition et les traditions: essai historique; Vol. 2: La Tradition et les traditions: essai théologique). The relevance and topicality of this research for the sphere of Ukrainian religious life is determined by numerous crisis phenomena in the life of contemporary traditional Christian denominations, their vague forms of self-understanding and self-presentation, unconvincing rhetoric in communication with a deeply secular world, as well as not always successful and effective horizontal network interaction with the newly emerging full-fledged civil society of Ukraine. Therefore, this study can become an important and appropriate attempt to popularize and emphasize one of the most ambitious, comprehensive, and ultimately quite successful attempts of the 20th century Church renovation projects, which can be laid as a basis for the process of forming a renewed theological mentality of contemporary Ukrainian Christian communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of a reaffirmation of St. Thomas Aquinas's synthesis as the only non-alternative form of authentic Catholic philosophizing in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the light of the papal encyclicals Aeterni Patris and Studiorum Ducem, the author has carried out an overview of the basic motives for the canonization of Aquinas' conceptual system which initially had been vied upon by Popes as an intellectual antidote against the intoxicating mistakes of Modernity for protecting the Church's official teaching. However, it is also shown in the paper that the neo-scholastic project contained not only an oppositional mentality and negative self-identification based on the critical repulsion from the age of Modernity, but it also had a powerful previously undisclosed heuristic potential as well. This claim is substantiated by the revealed thematic diversity, ideological plurality, and teleological goal-setting of neo-Thomism's various forms and subdivided branches. The diversiform neo-Thomist intellectual project proves the existence of its rather elastic doctrinal boundaries which enable the movement's capability of preserving relevance and openness to the contemporary intellectual challenges without removing its core historical doctrinal frame. It is also noted that the multiplicity of forms of neo-Thomism primarily emerged due to the posting of various epistemological issues as a primary basis. As a result, this methodological approach artificially increased the number of starting points for further philosophical explorations within the neo-Thomist project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the main elements of the modern theoretical concept of post-secularity in the context of comparative analysis with the main provisions of the theory of secularity, compares and analyzes different interpretations and different theoretical and methodological approaches to defining post-secular society. A retrospective analysis of the causes and process of formation of the postsecular paradigm in the conditions of observation of the inability to fully implement the principles of secularism is carried out. The correlation between post-secular reality and convergent processes as a reaction to socio-cultural transformations of society is revealed. The role of the ecumenical concept as one of the main elements of the convergent processes of society as a response to the spread of secular ideology and socio-cultural transformations of society is clarified. The complex comparative analysis and reflexive, critical views on sekulyarnist and plurality of interpretations outlined the use of the term "postsekulyarnist" in modern philosophical and religious studies plane. The concept of post-secularism does not aim to deny the existence of modern secular societies, or that they all totally move towards desecularization, but to demonstrate that the main directions of the secular paradigm remain often unrealized. Instead, religion is not seen as a relic of the past, but in the public sphere it is given a legitimate role, which can still remain the subject of debate. However, such tolerance should exclude the slightest suspicion of its possible repressive nature, when adherents of both religiosity and secularism recognize one after another the right to their own beliefs, the practice or non-practice of rituals. Evidence of post-secular ideological disposition is open Christian communities to adopt and implement in reality ecumenical concepts as well as their focus on directives post-secular philosophy and theology, intended to overcome destrukturyzatsiyu caused by secular processes in the political and cultural spheres of secular society and inner life of the Christian denominations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]