- Tytuł:
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Posługa duszpasterska na frontach I wojny światowej
PASTORAL CARE ON THE FRONT LINES OF WORLD WAR I - Autorzy:
- Nabywaniec, Stanisław
- Powiązania:
- https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/490008.pdf
- Data publikacji:
- 2016
- Wydawca:
- Instytut Teologiczno-Pastoralny im. św. bpa Józefa Sebastiana Pelczara
- Tematy:
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I wojna światowa
wielka wojna
opieka duszpasterska
kapelani katoliccy
World War I
Great War
pastoral care
Catholic chaplains - Opis:
- The premise of this article is to remind and raise awareness of the great role that chaplains played on the fronts of the „Great War“. They served their pastoral ministry in difficult times, not only because of the threat of warfare, but also because of ideological obstacles. In C. K. Austro-Hungarian ministry, religious chaplains had a very high value. Religious elements were included in the text of the soldier’s oath. Chaplains in their sermons encouraged the soldiers to remain faithful to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Each regiment of the Habsburg army had its own chaplain. Overall, there were more than 4,000 military chaplains of all religions and faiths - among them 3500 Catholic chaplains.With the outbreak of war in imperial Germany, the German army invoked not only the young clergy, but also many elderly. In the Prussian army, which represented by far the largest part of the German army, it had 125 protestant chaplains. Their number increased in April 1915, to 372 people and by 1916 it reached 744 chaplains. They were supported by the voluntary parish ministers.In the anticlerical Third Republic of France chaplains were nominally assigned to each squadron, but in August 1914, there were only a hundred. In this situation, at the beginning of August 1914, the Ministry of War approved the nominations for chaplains "volunteers" who were employed in pastoral work on the front. In June of 1918, there was one chaplain for an average of 4000-5000 soldiers, which was insufficient to provide spiritual help. In addition to the Catholic chaplains on the front there were 19,000 priest soldiers, 4,000 seminarians and 7,000 religious novices. An unknown number of nuns, served in the hospitals. The effects of the French chaplains were excellent. Soldiers not close to the Church and religion started to approach God. In 1915 the number of soldiers taking communion and attending Masses increased.At the commencement of hostilities, there were 89 Anglican, 17 Catholic and 11 Presbyterian chaplains in the British Army. Only 12 of them were sent to France. The others were only able to serve in the country or overseas garrisons. Chief Chaplain of all the main Christian denominations was Dr. John Simms, an Irish Presbyterian. In 1915, about 45 000 Irish Catholics joined the British Army. They needed Catholic priests. They were finding such a service in the garrison towns, but they did not have it on the front. Irish hierarchy had no influence, as the military ministry was controlled by the Archbishop of Westminster. Irish soldiers used the ministry of Irish or non-Irish chaplains whoever were serving in a particular place. Austro-Hungary was during the war, the enemy of the British. This proved to be a problem for the Irish Catholics, because the Habsburg Empire was seen as an important European Catholic power. The presence of chaplains clearly affected the morale of the Irish soldiers. Unfortunately, the bishops did not always send their military service volunteers who were eligible for this task. Irish Chaplains were overworked. Some of the Irish chaplains were captured. They undertook activities in exchange for the release of their compatriots from POW camps. The Irish Catholic Church did not support the war effort in Britain, in the same way as the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and even the Catholic Church in the rest of the UK. For various reasons, some Irish priests actively worked against the efforts of the war, which had a negative impact on the number of priests who volunteered as a chaplain in the British Army. Although Catholicism was the religion of the minority in the British Isles, War I reinforced their belief. In historiography, a lot of myths and misconceptions were accumulated relating to the British during World War I.The most damaging of these messages were that military chaplains lurked at the rear, while the soldiers fought and died in the trenches on the front.Many historians of the Great War emphasized the religiosity of the Italian soldiers. The army of the Kingdom of Sardinia functioned military chaplains, called "elemosinieri", but after 1866, due to the antagonism between the Church and the State, they were expelled from the army. In the face of Italy joining the Great War, the catholic Chief of Staff, General Luigi Cadorna restored religious service in the army. High Command facilitated the activities of chaplains in the belief that they would raise the soldiers’ spirts and discipline. Followers of the Waldensian Evangelical Church, Baptist Church and the Jewish had their own chaplains. Many chaplains served by the motives of sincere love were guided by the desire to proclaim the Gospel. Some of them remained in contact with the soldiers who fought, not wanting to remain in the comfort of hospitals. They often switched between the soldiers and their families. Chaplains were men of the Church, but they were also soldiers, who in moments of extreme danger during the fight went to the trenches to comfort the dying, and even in the event of the death of an officer to replace him in command. Many chaplains earned great respect and admiration from the ranks of combatants.
- Źródło:
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Resovia Sacra : Studia Teologiczno-Filozoficzne Diecezji Rzeszowskiej; 2016, 23; 213-228
1234-8880 - Pojawia się w:
- Resovia Sacra : Studia Teologiczno-Filozoficzne Diecezji Rzeszowskiej
- Dostawca treści:
- Biblioteka Nauki
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