In the course of his pontifi cate John Paul II delivered over 200 speeches to research workers, students, senates and chancellors of universities on various forums. As the research worker he always cared about the good of the university which he regarded as the masterpiece of culture for the sake of research efforts undertaken by it which include particular aspects of the reality and the didactic and educational activity which serves the entire mankind and the future of the young generation.
Indeed John Paul II addressed his speeches, letters and proclamations to Catholic universities but the subjects touched by him have an universal character, that is to say they relate to all universities. In the present study it has been treated of the most important aspects of the activity of the university. First of all the university ought to serve the truth. The pope considers the truth to be the greatest value from which all other values originate and to which they aim; every truth comes from God who is the Highest Truth.
John Paul II insists strongly on the ethical dimension of scientific research, especially in the subject of biogenetics and bioethics, since all scientific researches have to serve the good of the man and his development and also the respect of dignity of the human. As according to John Paul II modern universities become more and more dehumanised, therefore he insists on the restitution of their humanistic visage since the man and his good have to be the fundamentals of all knowledge. Two further arguments exposed by the pope refer to the neccessity of interdisciplinary research for the sake of fragmentation of particular scientific areas and their results, as well as the need of their synthesis and high qualifications of the professor’s staff who on the one hand have to deepen their specialistic knowledge and have to be the real authority for the young people. The university not only teaches but also educates.
Author defines catechetics as a research on catechesis and points, that the definition of catechetics as a science is conditional upon the comprehension of catechesis in the Church, which was altering through the centuries. Therefore, catechetics was beeing defined either as a pedagogical or a theological science. In the secondcase, catechetics is implied either as a subdiscipline of the pastoral theology orautonomous and interdisciplinary theological science. Pronouncing for this last answer, the author indicates the relation between catechetics and its supporting scientific disciplines: pedagogics, sociology and psychology, elucidates the pecularity ofcatechetical deduction and itemises models of catechetical research.
The Theological Faculty of The Opole University has existed since 1994. The full academic rights were obtained in 2001. The Faculty encompasses 17 departments and 2 academic units. Two major courses are taught: theology and family science. The Faculty issues 5 journals and 8 book series. About 30 books are published every year. An important area of academic research is the history of the Church and liturgy in Silesia. The Faculty cooperates with Polish and overseas academic institutions. One of the most important events was the conferring of an Honorary Doctorate on John Paul II by the Opole University as the initiative of the Theological Faculty.
The Theology Department was opened in January 1918. It came into existence as one of the first four departments of the Catholic University of Lublin. Its activity became part of the university’s mission which is conducting research in harmony with science and faith, educating the catholic intelligentsia and contributing to christian culture.
The identity of the Department manifests itself in the high standard of scientific research and academic education as well as in deepening and promoting the christian concept of the world and man in the context of challenges of the present time.
This article presents an outline history, organization and the main trends in scientific research carried out in the Theology Department of John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
Praktyka badawcza w biomedycynie ma fundamentalne znaczenie dla rozwoju bardziej bezpiecznych i skutecznych metod leczniczych. Praktyka ta ma więc ogromną wartość społeczną, jest jednak działalnością moralnie problematyczną, ponieważ jej realizacja wymaga narażania ludzi na ryzyko dla dobra innych – nauki, przyszłych pacjentów i społeczeństwa jako całości. Problem ten jest szczególnie widoczny w przypadku badań niemających potencjału dostarczenia uczestnikom bezpośrednich korzyści zdrowotnych – tzw. badaniach „nieterapeutycznych”. Istnieje międzynarodowy konsensus co do tego, że prowadzenie badań „nieterapeutycznych” na osobach niezdolnych do wyrażenia zgody jest dopuszczalne tylko wtedy, gdy ryzyko związane z udziałem w takich badaniach nie przekracza pewnego minimalnego progu. Brak jednak zgody co do tego, czy powinien istnieć nieprzekraczalny próg ryzyka badawczego, na jakie mogą narażać się osoby kompetentne za swoją zgodą. Celem pracy jest przedstawienie argumentów etycznych przemawiających za wyznaczeniem maksymalnego dopuszczalnego poziomu ryzyka w badaniach „nieterapeutycznych” z udziałem ochotników. Przeanalizowane zostają także sposoby wyznaczenia takiego maksymalnego progu ryzyka, zawarte w dokumentach regulacyjnych oraz sformułowane w literaturze bioetycznej.