Slavia Catholica. Kongres katolíckych slovanských akademikov v Bratislave v roku 1931.

The study deals with the activities of Slavia Catholica, a platform that operated within the international Catholic student organization Pax Romana between 1929 and 1938. It focuses on the preparation and conduct of the Slavia Catholica congress in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, in 1931. This international event of Slavic Catholic students dealt with the question of the Cyril and Methodius idea, its importance of dissemination in society. At the same time, the Slovak organizers from the Central Office of Slovak Catholic Students used it to promote Slovak Catholicism. It was the best organised congress among the seven Slavia Catholica congresses. The development of cooperation on the basis of Slavia Catholica was disabled by the political situation in Europe in 1938. The issue of the Slavic-oriented student societies is still a little explored area. The students were involved in several societies. One of the principles of their organisation was confessional affiliation. In 1921, the Catholic students in Slovakia created their own organisation, the Central Office of Slovak Catholic Students, which in 1924 became part of the international Catholic organisation of the student societies, Pax Romana. The aim of this organization was to spread Catholic solidarity and peace efforts after the end of the First World War. Within Pax Romana, an initiative was taken to create a special platform that would bring together the Slavic members of this organization with the aim of closer cooperation between Slavic Catholic students and to promote union with the Slavic Orthodox Churches. An important impetus for the rapprochement of Slavic Catholic students was the Congress of Catholic Students and Intellectuals held in Prague in 1926. Here the idea was presented that the Czechs and Slovaks were destined to play a mediating role between East and West because of their friendly attitude towards all Slavic peoples. The first activity of the Slavic platform within the Pax Romana was the First Congress of Catholic Slavic Academics, held in 1929 in Kraków. The platform was later given the name Slavia Catholica. Its congresses were successively held in Ljubljana, Bratislava, Zagreb, Poznan, Velehrad and Ljubljana. Further activities of Slavia Catholica were stifled by the hectic political events of 1938 and finally by the Second World War. The study discusses in detail the congress of Slavia Catholica in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, in 1931. It was the best prepared Slavia Catholica congress due to its excellent organization and the papers presented. The papers of the congress focused on the need to cultivate the Cyril and Methodius idea, on its pedagogical significance, but also on the Pope's social encyclicals and their importance in the life of the Slavic people. The congress was used to familiarize the participants with the history of the Catholic Church in Slovakia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]