377 Iz virni znans tv eni članek/ Article (1.01) Bogoslovni vestnik/Theological Quarterly 84 (2024) 2, 377—389 Besedilo pr eje t o/R eceiv ed:01/2024; spr eje t o/ Accep t ed:10/2024 UDK/UDC: 27-46 DOI: 10.34291/B V2024/02/V r anjes © 2024 V r anješ, CC B Y 4.0 Nikola Vranješ Some Elements of the Relationship to the Holy as a Challenge for Contemporary Pastoral Activity Nekateri elementi v odnosu do Svetega kot izziv za sodobno pastoralno dejavnost Abstract : The pas t or al activity of the Chur ch r epr esen ts a c ons t an t e ff ort t o actu- al i z e as mu ch as p ossi b l e of the d e t ermi n an ts of the Ch ri s tian c o ncep t of th e Holy , which c oncerns the t ot ality of the r ela tionship t o God. The Holy in the Chris tian milieu is under s t ood pr ecisely as the t ot ality of the de t erminan ts of the Chri s tian r e la tionship t o the divine. Tha t is wh y the activity of the Chur ch is essen tially de t ermined b y the specific elemen ts of the r ela tionship t o the Holy. These elements and determinants in today’s pastoral and socio-cultural circumstances are marked by some special emphases that represent conside- r able challeng es and some time s serious pr oblems f or c oncr e t e pas t or al activi- ty. This work is determined by the theological-pastoral discernment of some ch al l en gi n g c o mp o n en ts o f c o n t emp o r ar y C h ri s tian f r ame w o rk s o f th e r el a ti- o nsh i p t o th e Ho l y . Based o n th i s, the i n flu en ce o f the men tio n ed el emen ts o n pas t or al activity is s tudied. The in t en tion with which the paper w as writt en is r e flect ed in the e ff ort of theologic al-pas t or al discernmen t of elemen ts tha t ar e i mp o rt an t f o r th e i mp r o v emen t o f p as t o r al activi ty t o d a y . Th a t i s wh y p art o f the main goal of the research is to point out some distorted concepts and expe- riences of the Holy in contemporary cultural and pastoral contexts. At the same time, the paper tries t o pr omot e a c orr ect a ttitude t o w ar ds the Holy and f ol- lowing the more mature living of faith. Keywords : Holy , pas t or al activity , individualism, s yncr e tism, cultur e, modernity Povzetek: P as t or alna deja vnos t Cerkv e pr eds t a vlja njeno nenehno priz ade v anje, da bi čim bolj udejanjila določi la kr šč ansk eg a pojma S v e t eg a, ki z ade v a celo vi- t os t odnosa do Bog a. S v e t o v k r šč ansk e m ok olju r az ume mo pr a v k ot ce lot o de- t erminan t kr šč ansk eg a odnosa do Bo žjeg a. Deja vnos t Cerkv e z a t o bis tv eno do- loč ajo posebne pr vine odnosa do S v e t eg a. T e pr vine in de t erminan t e v dana- šnjih pas t or alnih in družbeno-k ulturnih ok oliščinah z aznamujejo nek a t eri po- sebni poudarki, ki za konkretno pastoralno dejavnost predstavljajo precejšnje i zzi v e i n v č asi h tu d i r esn e t e ž a v e. T o d el o d o l o č a t eo l o šk o -p as t o r al n o r azl o če- 378 Bogoslovni vestnik 84 (2024) • 2 v anje nek a t erih z ah t e vnih ses t a vin sodobnih kr šč anskih okvir o v odnosa do S v e- t eg a. Na podlagi t eg a je pr oučen vpliv omenjenih elemen t ov na pas t or alno deja vnos t. Prispe v ek je nas t al iz priz ade v anja z a t eološk o-pas t or alno r azloče- v an je el emen t o v , ki so p o memb n i z a i zb o l j šan je p as t o r al n e d eja vn o s ti d an es. Z a t o je eden t emeljnih cilje v r azisk a v e opo z oriti na nek a t er e izkrivljene k oncep- t e in izk ušnje S v e t eg a v sodobnih k ulturnih in pas t or alnih k on t ek s tih. Hkr a ti sk uša prispe v ek spodbuja ti k pr a vilnemu odnosu do S v e t eg a in z v es t ejšemu do življanju v er e. Ključne besede : S v e t o , pas t or alna deja vnos t, individualiz em, sinkr e tiz em 1. Introduction Although the Holy is one of the basic t erms f or under s t anding man’ s r ela tionship with the divine, its understanding in today’s contexts is very challenging. In this paper , w e limit our selv es t o the s tudy of those deriv a tiv es of the under s t anding of the Holy tha t r epr esen t a challeng e f or c oncr e t e pas t or al pr actice. The c oncep ts discussed here are not explored in detail in themselves, but the emphasis is pla- ced on e xplorin g their echoes on pas t or al activity . Based on this, special empha- sis is pla ced on the elemen ts of possible impr o v emen t of pas t or al activity . In this r eg ar d, w e main ly in v es tig a t e those elemen ts of the t opic tha t ar e mor e noticea- b l e an d i n flu en tial i n c on cr e t e actio n , wh i l e tr yi n g t o r ec ogn i z e th ei r o ri gi n s an d place them in the context in which they arise and from which they develop. The r ele v an t c ompo nen ts ar e primarily the pr oblem of the individualis tic under s t an- ding of the Holy in c on t empor ar y cultur e, then the pr oblem of s yncr e tism c on- cerning the Hol y , seculariz a tion of tha t r ela tion with a pr agma tic sign, and some ob s t acles tha t, fr om the same c on t e x t, s t and in the w a y of the moderniz a tion of pas t or al activity t oda y , e t c. 2. Terminological Definitions To be able to start discerning the meaning of some elements of the Holy in con- t empor ar y pas t or al activity , it is fir s t necessar y t o brie fly deal with its seman tic meaning. The term ‘Holy’ is very close to the term ‘Sacred’ and the term ‘Saint’, and some other s ar e also r ela t ed t o it such as the t erm ‘Numinous’ (St ausber g 2017, 549). The meaning of these c oncepts, and especially the c oncept of the Holy , w as de alt w ith in par tic ular b y phe nom e nolog y , e spe cially s t ar ting fr om the fir s t half of the tw en tie th cen tur y . E v en then, the emphasis in the in t erpr e t a tion o f th e Ho l y (i n th e c o n t e x t o f th e u n d er s t an d i n g o f r el i gi o n ) w as essen tial l y p l a- ced on the r ela tionship with the divine r eality (Jukić 1997, 54–55). Tha t ’ s ho w it bec omes clear tha t the Holy pr edominan tly denot es the dimension of r ela tion. The second fact, which is important here, especially from a theological perspec- tiv e, is the one tha t poin ts out tha t the Holy is a designa tion of media tion whi- 379 379 Nikola Vranješ - Some Elements of the Relationship to the Holy ... ch, fr om the do main of cr ea tion, signifies a r ela tionship with a divine r eality tha t tr ansc e nds the e n tir e c r e a t e d r e alit y , e v e n the Holy as suc h (Eliade 2 0 0 2 , 1 0 –1 1 ). Among some r epr esen t a tiv es of philosophic al and theologic al though t who deal with this topic, there is no complete agreement about the exact meaning of the indic a t ed e xpr essions and their deriv a tiv es; mor eo v er , ther e ar e en tir e deba t es about it . N e v e r the le ss, v ie w e d as a w hole , the abo v e initial in t e r pr e t a tions of the t erm c an be r eg ar ded as r ele v an t (Shah 2011, 279–298). A lt houg h t he y ar e r e la t e d in m e a ning and oft e n use d in t e r c hang e ably , t he r e is a sub tle diff er ence be tw een the t erms ‘Holy ’ and ‘Sacr ed’ . The meaning of these terms echoes some old expressions. Without going into the roots of meaning from other ancient languages, it should be pointed out that they are primarily etymo- logically related to some old words. The origins of the meaning of the expression c an be f ound in the en tir e gr oup of old w or ds such as Old En glish halig, German hailig, etc. However, the echoes of the meaning are also related to ancient Roman expressions sacer and sanctus which come from the expression sancire. This term ultima t ely designa t es the activity of cr ea ting a f a v our able and c orr ect en vir onmen t f or a r ela tionship with the divi ne (Jukić 1997, 31). The echoes of the meaning of the men tioned t erms ar e t o some e x t en t r ela t ed t o the g ener al meaning of the t e r m Holy since the y indic a t e the char act e r is tics of the r e la tionship with the div i- ne. Holy is thus mor e of a label f or a r ela tionship with the divine tha t also includes a personal dimension. It is a more used and somehow more general term. The t erm ‘Sacr ed’ indic a t es some de t ails, some times pr edominan tly (but not e x clusi- v el y) i n th e sen se o f so me o b jectified an d o b jectif yi n g el emen ts i n t erms o f th e realm of the divine or connected with the divine. Holy represents one of the key mark er s o f u n d er s t an d i n g o f th e d i vi n e, b u t al so r el a tio n s wi th i n th e sp ectru m o f r eligious r eality . It c ould be described as the t ot ality of link s and r ela tionship s tha t include human, specific ally cul tur al designa tions which mark and indic a t e man’ s c onnection with tr anscenden t r eality . In a cert ain sense, these t erms poin t t o tha t r eality itself which alw a y s r emains un til the end una tt ainable, i.e. tr anscending f or man (Ubbiali 2005, 1187–1188). Holy and the same c an be said f or Sacr ed, is oft en pr esen t ed as the an tithesis of the ‘pr of ane’ , i.e. as a f orm of under s t anding and beha viour tha t r equir es v er y specific f orms of pr actice (1187–1189). Concerning its most complete under st anding and definition, it should be emphasized that the Holy is understood and experienced as a reality on which man depends, i.e. in which his salv a tion and fulfilmen t ar e hidden (V or grimler 2013, 642–643). Ther e f or e, the e xperience of the di mensi on of the Hol y i ncl udes man y el emen ts tha t r e flect th e c omp l e xi ty , ri ch n ess, an d d yn ami cs o f th e h u man being. This ma y imply f eelings of w or ship and holy f ear , cultic r ela tionship and penit en tial action, sacr ed places and objects, e t c, which, once ag ain, en t er the r e alm of the Sacr e d t oo. The r e f or e , it is unde r s t andable tha t the Holy is oft e n un- derstood as a kind of event of a ‘numinous’ character that draws a person into t he sphe r e of t he div ine . I n pa r tic ular , it should be m e n tione d t ha t Holy as suc h enables c on t act with de finitiv e r eality , f or which sacr ed ritual is the k e y s ymbolic f orm (Zu esse 2021, 295). In thi s w a y , the poin ts of c on t act of the meaning of the 380 Bogoslovni vestnik 84 (2024) • 2 t e r m s Holy and Sacr e d ar e r e ac he d ag ain. Tha t ’ s wh y in this pape r , the r e spe c tiv e t opic is primarily discussed in c onnection with the meaning of the t erm Holy , whi- le in some segments the meaning of the term Sacred is also implied. 3. The Specificity of Christian Term Labels The t erm Holy in the Chris tian milieu is essen tially char act eriz ed b y the c ompo- nen ts of the r ela tionship with the hea v enly F a ther , which w as manif es t ed b y his Son Jesus Christ, and which the Church through the centuries recognized, deeply under s t ood, and shaped in diff er en t w a y s in t erms of the permanen t r ela tionship of man with God. Thus, the Holy in the Chris tian a tmospher e t ook on v er y spe- cific c on t our s c oncerning those in other r eligious tr aditions. In this r eg ar d, it is im por t an t t o e m phasiz e the spe c ific ity of the Chr is tian r e la tionship t o w ar ds the Holy . He r e , the r e f or e , the Chr is tianly unde r s t ood Holy is dis ting uishe d in the w a y of the t ot al ity of mark er s of tha t Chris tian r el a tionshi p wi th divi ne r eali ty under the specific aspect of Ca tholic-mark ed living and action. T o under s t and this, it should be emphasiz ed tha t the diff er ence in t erms highligh t ed abo v e indic a t es the fact that Holy, obviously as a slightly more abstract concept, primarily deno- t es a per sonal and c ommunal r ela tionship with the divine, in the c on t e x t of which th e t erm i s p l aced . T h e t erm S acr ed i s so me times mo r e r el a t ed t o so me c o n cr e t e objectif ying elemen ts s trictly separ a t ed fr om the w orldly , although this t erm is also an import an t sign of r ela tion and action, i.e. holy acts. Holy means a gift ed r ela tionship tha t implies a per sonal t es timon y (Zucc ar o 2002, 1463). In this sense, the m e aning of the t e r m ‘ Sain t ’ is close t o it. The g ift e d r e la tionship indic a t e s the New Testament truth about the source of holiness, which is God himself, and the possibility tha t he off er s people t o participa t e in it in Chris t, thr ough the action of the Holy Spirit (Auneau 2005, 1206). In this se nse , it is unde r s t andable tha t the unde r s t anding of the Holy is ultim a- t ely insepar able fr om the w a y of living , i.e. fr om the w a y of r e alizing the pr actice of f aith, which necessarily inclu des the dynamism of the Chu r ch’ s pas t or al activi- ty. These dynamisms are numerous and quite complex, especially concerning the actualiz a tion of the r ela tionship t o God and the c ommunity as the primary themes of the actualiz a tion of the r ela tionship t o the Holy . Ther e f or e, it is import an t t o emphasize that this paper certainly does not exhaust the discernment of all mo- dalities of pas t or al action in t er ms of under s t anding and actualizing the r eality of the Holy, or that of the Sacred, but only some key elements. Of these elements, those concerning folk piety as one of the most eminent and important expressi- ons of f aith and with it indic a t or s of the under s t anding and li ving of the r ela tion- ship t o the Holy , ar e especially discerned (Mas t an tuono 2014, 34–42; Šimić 2019, 19–32). Some import an t c omponen ts of r egular pas t or al activity in the parish community and some other forms of pastoral engagement whose dynamism is particularly in t er es ting in t erms of the r espectiv e t opic ar e also discussed her e. F or it t o be possible t o tr ea t this kind of theologic al-pr actic al t opic as c ompr ehen- 381 381 Nikola Vranješ - Some Elements of the Relationship to the Holy ... sively as possible, it is necessary to treat it in the light of certain major challenges tha t ar e noticeable in v arious pas t or al dynamics and t o dis tinguish pr ecisely the- se challeng es under the prism of the r ela tionship t o the Holy . Challenging elemen ts of the c on t empor ar y r ela tionship t o the Holy in the en vir onmen t of Ca tholic pr ac- tice oft en r epr e sen t a bur den on tha t same pr actice and o v er all pas t or al activity . This is precisely the special reason for the research undertaken. 4. Holy Under the Prism of Individualism A m ong t he fir s t r e la t e d c halle ng e s t ha t pa r tia lly c har ac t e r iz e t he t ot ality of t he li- vi n g b y th e f ai th th e p r ob l em o f an i n d i vi d u al i s tic ap p r o ach t o th e Hol y (an d th en t o f aith as such) is cert ainly highligh t ed, which is especially emphasiz ed in c on- temporary culture. This problem is certainly not the only one regarding the true living of faith, but it should be discerned theologically and pastorally at this point since all other pastoral problems highlighted here in some way either arise from it or ar e essen tially c onnect ed with it. The individualis tic t endency about the Holy in the Chr is tian milie u is nothing ne w . In the Ca tholic w or ld, such outg r o w ths of the r ela tionship t o w ar ds the Holy t oda y ar e mor e the r esult of mor e r ecen t pr agma- tic in clina tions in the r ealiz a tion of the lif e of f aith, while in some other Chris tian c ommunities, the y ar e mor e tied t o belie f s based on a diff er en t r ela tionship t o God as such. In this regard, it should be pointed out that in the protestant tradi- tion, this issue is link ed t o the v er y origins of the original R e f orma tion criticism of the Ca tholic pr actice, which will v er y quickly lead t o the pr edominance of an i n t el l ectu al i s t and sub jectivi s t w a y of u nd er s t an di ng and acting i n th e r el i gi ous fi- eld (K o v ače vić 2021, 176). Ho w e v er , mos t under s t andings of the Holy la t er c ame under a s tr ong in fluence of enligh t ened and modern v er sions of the philosophic al criticism of r eligion, and espec ially some off shoots of the pr ocess of seculariz a ti- on, desacr aliz a tion, and an thr opocen tric criticism within which the criticism of the Holy as the an tithesis of fr eedom, righ ts, and pr osperity of the subject r esona t es s tr ongly . All this is in some w a y c onnect ed with cert ain a tt emp ts t o r e v alue the Holy but in an individualis tic sense (177–178). But wha t e x actly is mean t b y an individualis tic appr oach t o the Holy in this c on- text and what are the pastoral consequences of that? In this context, an individu- alis tic appr oach t o the Holy primarily r e f er s t o such a r ela tion t ow ar ds cert ain c omp o nen ts of r el i gi ou s l i f e tha t, i n i ts p r actic al i mp l emen t a tio n , n arr o w s al mo s t the en tir e horiz on of c oncr e t e eng ag emen t t o a single per son and the ques tion of her sanctific a tion and salv a tion. In other w or ds, r eligious pr actice, including w a y s and models of r ela tionship t o the Chris tianly under s t ood Holy , s triv es t o be actu- aliz ed in the essen tials under the prism of the subject ’ s per sonal r ela tionship with God, i.e. pr edominan tly in the f orm of per sonal salv a tion. T o some e xt en t, this f act c ould ob viously be c onnect ed with the e ff ort t o act in the w a y of adjus ting 382 Bogoslovni vestnik 84 (2024) • 2 the divine spher e t o the per sonal inclina tions of the subject. 1 Such understandin- gs are recognized in so many other challenges, especially in those discussed below. 4.1 Some echoes of the individualistic approach in practice It is logic al tha t among the fir s t dime nsions v iola t e d in such the ologic al and pr ac- tic al c o n s t el l a tio n s i s c o mmu n i o n . T h i s d i men si o n , wi th i n wh i ch o n e c o mp l e t es, fully designs, and ultima t ely r ealiz es the fulfilmen t of lif e, is under a tt ack fr om fla w ed and wr ong a ttitudes and pr actices r eg ar ding the r ealiz a tion of the lif e of f aith and the un der s t anding and r ela tionship t o w ar ds the Holy . Although it mus t be admitt ed tha t the cr y f or a true and sincer e in t er actional r ela tionship within a r eligious c ommunity should oft en be r ec ogniz ed as a jus tified r eaction t o the pr edominance of the f ormalis tic-bur eaucr a tic men t ality , it is import an t t o not e tha t the off shoots of such a cr y ar e also fr equen tly actualiz ed fr om undisguised indiv idualis tic and use ful motiv e s, which a t fir s t g lance ma y appe ar r e lig iously ju- s tifie d (Mas t an tuono 2014, 38–39). Such an a ttitude t o w ar ds Holy and r e ligious pr actices as such ar e v er y easily placed under the almos t e x clusiv e dominance of the r ealiz a tion of the subject ’ s simple and curr en t needs in t erms of solving emotional, health, f amily , pr of essional, or other pr oblems and needs. In this w a y , the r ela tionship with the divine is almos t c omple t ely placed under the prism of immediacy and concreteness, with the least possible use of abstract concepts or with the leas t signific an t media tion of an y immedia t e authorities (39). If therefore the reality of the Holy is understood predominantly in an individu- alis tic w a y , the c ommunity as such will not pla y an y special r ole in r eligious lif e. Its r ole will mos t oft en be seen as r eligiously bene ficial, i.e. her pas t or al elemen ts will be t ak en and actualiz ed b y a subject, but without his activ e and c onscious in v olv emen t in the dynamism of a true c ommunion of f aith. Mor eov er , some times the off shoots of individualis tic t endencies in the under s t anding of the Holy will be pr ese n t ed in other , mor e des tructiv e w a y s f or the c ommunity . Namely , partly connected with some aspects of experiencing and realizing folk piety, and partly with some other aspects of acting fr om f aith, ther e is an e ff ort some times t o di- s tinguish the so-c alled ‘Chur ch of the people’ which is born ‘fr om belo w ’ and tha t one which is led b y the hier ar ch y . This e ff ort is mos t oft en c onnect ed with the inclina tion t o r e duce the r e la tionship t o the Holy t o the ne e ds and possibilitie s of understanding the largest part of the faithful, while, allegedly, more theologically sophi s tic a t ed w a y s of under s t andi ng the Hol y w oul d s till be l e ft t o the so-c al l ed mor e elit e gr ou p s of belie v er s (Mas t an tuono 2014, 37). Although it mus t be ad- 1 In this c on t e xt, the meaning of the answ er t o an import an t r eligious ques tion c an be men tioned as an il- lus tr a tiv e e x ample. This is the da t a fr om the las t w a v e of the European Values Studies fr om 2017–2018 in Cr oa tia, which, with r eg ar d t o the ques tion about one of the fundamen t al r eligious belie f s r eg ar ding the e xis t ence of a per sonal God, show ed tha t ther e is s till a f airly high per cen t ag e of r esponden ts who believ e in this truth (44%), but it show ed also tha t the belie f about the e xis t ence of “ some kind of spirit ” or “lif e f or ce” is also signific an tly pr esen t (38 %). If w e t ak e in t o acc oun t the f act tha t ther e is a c onsider able c ognitiv e and then pr actic al unde finedness of “ some kind of spirit ” or “lif e f or ce” in people in g ener al, and the truth tha t a per sonally under s t ood God r equir es a fundamen t ally diff er en t r ela tionship and pr actice of a belie ving subject, the possible le v el of individualis tic t endencies in t erms of under s t anding and e xpe- riencing the divine in g ener al bec omes mor e c ompr ehensible (Baloban, Črpić and Je ž ovit a 2019, 92). 383 383 Nikola Vranješ - Some Elements of the Relationship to the Holy ... mitt ed tha t the need f or permanen t educ a tion and c a t echesis c oncerning an e v er more complete and mature understanding and living of faith is felt today as never be f or e as an imper a tiv e of r eligious lif e, it mus t ne v ertheless be assert ed tha t the abo v e in clina tions essen tially r epr esen t a dang er in the sense of in tr oducing un- necessary and damaging split in the religious community. This community will alw a y s need a cert ain legitima t e div er sity in t erms of the modalities and in t ensity of understanding and experiencing religious life, but this should not be an incen- tiv e f or s tructur al division of the c ommunity as such. 4.2 Regarding the Relationship to Suffering The subject of suff ering is v er y br oad. It is link ed her e t o the theme of r eligious individualism f or one specific r eason. Namely , t oda y is v er y noticeable the e ff ort t o actualiz e the r ela tionship with the Holy only or mainly as an a tt emp t t o solv e the pr ob lem of suff ering. Tha t ’ s wh y under s t anding the Holy in an individualis tic sense especially c oncerns the r ela tion of a r eligious subject t o the r eality of su- ff ering. Although w e do not g o in t o the diff er en t dimensions of the theologic al discernmen t of the r espectiv e phenomenon her e, it should be poin t ed out tha t, in the c on t e x t of the individualis tic r ela tionship t o the Holy , r eligious pr actice is oft en enc our ag ed under the guise of per sonal c on fr on t a tion with suff ering only , i.e. in those situ a tions in which , due t o a motle y spectrum of r easons, the belie- v ing subje ct f ace s suff e r ing in one w a y or anothe r . The se r e asons ar e mainly c on- nect ed t o the ques tion of sickness and dea th, but ther e c ould be other r easons f or suff ering as w ell. But wh y is the ques tion of suff ering such a s tr ong motiv e f or indiv idualis tic inclina tions r eg ar ding the r ela tionship of a per son t o the Holy? Fir s t of all, suff ering is some thing tha t pr actic ally c annot be a v oided b y an y per- son. E v er y per son, in one w a y or another , is f or ced t o f ace her suff ering r eg ar dless of its c auses. Although c oping in less fr equen t c ases implies the denial of suff ering , this too can be taken as a way of coping with it. The elements of religious life, and with it the under s t anding and e xperience of the Holy , mor e oft en c ome in t o pla y under the prism of a s tr ong t endency t o f ace suff ering. In other w or ds, r eligious elemen ts ar e mos t oft en e x cluded fr om their primar y c on t e x t of r ela tionship with God and turned in t o only one of the w a y s of dealing with suff ering , i.e. solving the pr oblem of suff ering on a per sonal le v el. Thus, in a w a y , a cert ain type of r eligious pr agma tism is actualiz ed, which t ak es fr om the r espectiv e ar ea only wha t someo- ne needs a t a giv en momen t. In the pas t or al sense, this usually means neglecting the theology of the cr oss and looking f or ‘Chris tianity acc or ding t o the subject ’ . In other words, that way the atmosphere and mentality of religious illusionism is cre- ated. This kind of utopian reality leaves very harmful consequences for both the per son and the c ommunity (V r anješ and Sele tk o vić 2021, 90). In addition t o this, one should add her e another r a ther challenging elemen t of tr ying t o actualiz e r eligious pr actice b y people who ha v e not been actualizing it f or a long time or who ha v e ne v er seriously actualiz ed it, and tha t ’ s only bec ause of f acing suff ering. In this w a y , a r eligious pr actice almos t dir ectly bec omes jus t one of the elemen ts of f acing suff ering , but mos t oft en almos t c omple t ely outside the 384 Bogoslovni vestnik 84 (2024) • 2 c on t e x t of deepening a true r ela tionship with God. This v er y oft en hidden r eligio- u s p r agma tism, al b ei t i n th e c o n t e x t o f th e p ai n f u l i ssu e o f su ff eri n g , v er y easi l y leads t o gr ea t r eligious disillusionmen t and oft en t o the abandonmen t of r eligious pr actice as an out c ome. F ortuna t ely , f or man y people, an enc oun t er with the divi- ne enables pr ogr ess on the pa th of f aith and lif e ma turity . But, f or man y other pe- ople tendencies like these lead to a kind of spiritualism which is supported by the belief that all life’s problems can be solved by spiritual means. This is especially dangerous in the face of illness since many people have this mentality to abandon medic al tr ea tmen t (V r anješ and Sele tk ović 2021, 91). The harm fulness of such appr oaches in the pr actice of the sacr amen ts should be emphasiz ed her e. Name- ly , in man y c ases, it is noticeable tha t the sacr amen ts ar e sough t only f or the chal- leng e of dealing with suff ering and this c an harm the true r eligious enc oun t er with God in the r espectiv e celebr a tions. W r ong appr oaches t o sacr amen t al pr actice as w ell as unr ealis tic e xpect a tions lead t o disappoin tmen t f or man y . 5. Holy in the Shadow of Syncretism T h e ech o es o f i n d i vi d u al i s tic i n cl i n a tio n s r eg ar d i n g th e u n d er s t an d i n g an d r eal i- z a tion of the r e la tionship with the Holy ar e close ly r e la t e d t o anothe r challe ng e tha t is enc oun t er ed mor e and mor e oft en in pr actice, which is the pr oblem of r e- ligious s yncr e tism. This phenomenon in itself is multi-la y er ed and is pr esen t ed in diff er en t w a y s. In principle, it means an a tt emp t t o uncritic ally c onnect c oncr e t e el emen ts an d ch ar act eri s ti cs o f d i ff er en t r el i gi o u s ( an d so me ti mes p h i l o so p h i c al ) tr aditions, ag ain mos t oft en fr om individualis tic and utilit arian motiv es. These tendencies are related precisely to the area of the understanding of the Holy and the pr actice of r ela ting t o it (V or grimler 2004, 680). F or a deeper under s t anding of c on t empor ar y r eligious s yncr e tism, it is neces- sar y t o highligh t the f act tha t it is r oot ed not only in the c omple x e ff orts of indi- vidual religious subjects but also in some philosophical-sociological signs of recent currents of thought regarding the understanding of religion and the Holy as such (De v čić 2023, 110–111). Namely , fr om a philosophic al and sociologic al poin t of vie w , especially fr om the eigh t een th t o the tw en tie th cen tur y , the Holy beg an t o be s tr ongly ob ser v ed in typic ally immanen t fr ame w ork s as an essen tial c ompo- nent of human culture, without special supernatural markers. This is one of the r easons f or the actualiz a tion of s yncr e tis tic t endencies in cert ain r eligions, and then also in Chris tianity , which, both theor e tic ally and especially a t the le v el of pr actice, bec omes a suit able ar ena f or s yncr e tis tic beha viour (K ov ače vić 2021, 178). The y ar e mos t oft en char act eriz ed b y an e ff ort t o c onnect elemen ts of Chri- s tian r eligious pr actices with those of other r eligions or w orldvie w s, which leads t o cert ain lif e s yn theses, mos t oft en ag ain on an essen tially individual le v el. F or the church community, this can represent a special pastoral challenge when pe- ople tr y t o achie v e the so-c alled double a ffilia tion, i.e. belonging t o both the Chri- s tian c ommunity and other c ommunities or e v en sects (De v čić 2023, 110). 385 385 Nikola Vranješ - Some Elements of the Relationship to the Holy ... The pr oblem of s yncr e tis tic in fluences in pas t or al r eality is v er y c omplic a t ed. These in fluences ar e mos tly r ec ogniz able on a per sonal le v el of lif e. How e v er , so- me times the y ar e also r ela t ed t o the activities of cert ain c ommunities. Such in flu- ences ar e mos t oft en associa t ed with diff er en t s yncr e tis tic f orms of e xperiencing and e xpr essing spirituality . Their off shoots usually br anch out thr ough diff er en t emotional s t a t es and inclina tions thr ough which man y people try t o e xperience the encounter with the divine more strongly. This is exactly how many people fall into the tr ap of r educing their r eligious lif e almos t e x clusiv ely t o emotional s t a t es (V r a- nješ and Seletk ović 2021, 89–90). Such e ff orts lea v e man y painful tr aces on the liv es of individual people. Although challenges of this type of concern are predominantly in the typic ally spiritual r ealm, their pas t or al c onsequences ar e signific an t. Since the pastoral area is inextricably linked with the typically spiritual one, their mutual in- fluences ar e alw a y s noticeable. Tha t is wh y it is possible and necessary t o poin t out the in fluences of s yncr e tis tic t endencies in pas t or al activity as such. 6. Holy under the Prism of Superstition Although r eligious s yncr e tism and super s tition ar e essen tially r ela t ed, her e the la tt er pr oblem is c onsider ed some wha t separ a t ely . Some of its s yncr e tis tic origins ar e self -e viden t, but super s tition as such is a v er y specific and c omple x pr oblem. It is, on the one hand, c onnect ed with r eligious s yncr e tism, and on the othe r , it is its off shoot. Ho w e v er , it should be emphasiz ed tha t super s tition is not primarily a positiv e theologic al c oncep t, but r a ther an indic a tion of the under s t anding of wr ong r eligious belie f s and pr actices. In this sense, it is essen tially c onnect ed t o the ar ea of under s t anding the Holy in a br oader sense (V or grimler 2004, 715). This phenomenon in itself is r ela t ed t o diff er en t periods of his t or y , as w ell as t o diff e- r en t belie f s and pr actices. It should be men tioned the c onnection of this pheno- menon with a series of other phenomena tha t de t ermine it, s t arting fr om esot eri- cism, as tr ology , and occultism up t o some deriv a tiv es of illuminis t under s t andings. Ne v ertheless, the pr esence of the phenomenon in Chris tian cir cles is not insi- gnific an t. Although in the medie v al period the c on flict be tw een Chris tianity and the off shoots of phenomena char act eriz ed as super s tition w as signific an tly empha- sized, even today it is possible to recognize expressions of similar phenomena diff er en tly . Their r ec ognition in pas t or al pr actice is usually some wha t blurr ed. But t he y a ff e c t t he liv e s of so m an y pe ople . A m ong t he e xpr e ssions of t his phe nom e- non, the authors thus emphasize some dangers associated with a wrong interpre- t a tion of the Holy in the Chris tian milieu, such as the under s t anding and use of blessed things as talismans, misunderstandings related to the relics of saints and their in t er cessions, e t c. (715). Among other s, ther e is cert ainly the e ff ort t o un- der s t and and actualiz e the r ela tion t o the Sacr ed and Holy fr om the motiv e of a kind of super s titious e xploit a tion. The sup er s titiou s under s t andin g of the Holy is t o some e x t en t alw a y s imbued with an o v ert one of magic. This means tha t super s titious motiv es f or appr oaching 386 Bogoslovni vestnik 84 (2024) • 2 the Holy mos t oft en bor der on the under s t anding of magic al and ins trumen t alis t beha viour in the sense of human a tt emp ts t o c on tr ol the ar ea of the Holy and use v arious elemen ts fr om tha t ar ea f or curr en t r eligious or other needs (Mas t an tu- ono 2014, 39). Although w e do not w an t t o en t er in t o a br oader in t erpr e t a tion of the phenomenology of super s tition as such, f or this w ork it is import an t t o empha- siz e tha t e v en in r ecen t times the Chur ch has e xpr essed itself about the in fluence of sim ilar t e nde nc ie s on som e of t he m os t pr ac tic al ar e a s of r e lig ious lif e , suc h as popular pie ty . The highes t Chur ch authority has long since noticed pr oblems of this kind in r eligious pr actice and w arned about them. This w as done, f or e x ample, b y P ope P aul VI r eg ar ding dis t ortions of r eligiosity in the f orm of super s tition in the c on t e x t of speaking about the import ance of f olk pie ty (P aul VI 1975, n. 48). The olog ic al wr it e r s and author s w ar n of similar phe nome na t oda y (Mas t an tuono 2014, 3–41; Šimić 2019, 196). T oda y ’ s pas t or al c on t e x t in some c ases c on firms some other elemen ts and cha- r act eris tics of a pr agma tic magic al and super s titious r ela tionship t o the r ealm of the Holy . A lthoug h the ir char ac t e r is tic s ar e alw a y s the or e tic al, the ir pr actic al m e- aning is mor e than noticeable. Fir s t of all, it should be emphasiz ed tha t super s ti- tious beha viour as such is alw a y s t o some e x t en t an e xpr ession of cert ain r eligio- us an thr opocen trism, oft en motiv a t ed by emotional e x ag g er a tions and some times b y p s y c holog ic al de v ia tions t oo (Mas t an tuono 2 0 1 4 , 4 1 –4 2 ). Ho w e v e r , e spe c ially r e la t e d t o mag ic al inclina tions, one mor e im por t an t e le me n t should be e mphasi- z ed. It is about the w a y of under s t anding and r ela ting t o cr ea t ed r eality and its positioning about the Holy . Thus, in some c ases, it is possible t o r ec ogniz e the beha viour motiv a t ed pr ecisely b y an inappr opria t e a ttitude t o w ar ds cr ea t ed r ea- lity, and especially towards natural elements that become the scene of religious manipula tion (44). In this w a y , it bec omes under s t andable tha t some magic al in- clina tions r e pr e se n t motiv e s f or man y pe ople t o e xpe r ie nce and actualiz e some elemen ts of Chris tian f aith and pr actice. This in some c ases bec omes a serious pas t or al and spiritual, and some times a p s y chologic al pr oblem as w ell. 7. Secular Exploitation of the Holy Secular under s t andings of the Holy , as w ell as its e xploit a tion in a secular sense, in the beginnings and during the pr ocess of seculariz a tion, bec ame a sign of diff er en t philosophic al, and especially sociologic al pa tt erns of r ela tionship t o this r eality (K ov ače vić 2021, 179–182). Tha t ’ s wh y it c an be ar gued tha t c on t empor ary secular e xploit a tion of the Holy is nothing ne w . Philosophic al and sociologic al in fluences of this type on the concept of the Holy are numerous and complex. It should be emphasiz ed tha t t og e ther the y c on tribut ed t o the cr ea tion of a social clima t e of the mod ern an d pos tmod ern secul ar basi s of und er s t andi ng an d e xpl oi t a tion of the Holy . The in fluence of Durkheim’ s sociologic al though t and under s t anding c an only be men tioned her e. Acc or ding t o him, the Holy is r educed t o a c omple t ely logic al f act or of social c ohesion, which is r ela t ed t o man and socie ty as such (Jukić 387 387 Nikola Vranješ - Some Elements of the Relationship to the Holy ... 1997, 37–38). Based on th i s and a wh ol e seri es of other soci ol ogi c al i n flu en ces, the Holy f ound itself under the a tt ack of v arious f orms of secular e xploit a tion, of which we are warning here about those that more closely characterized the rela- tionship with pas t or al pr actice. The challeng e of secular e xploit a tion of the Holy t oda y is mos t oft en r ela t ed t o the r ela tionship with the politic al c ommunity and its in fluence. Tha t is wh y the sear ch f or the c orr ect w a y of the r ela tionship betw een r epr esen t a tiv es of the chur ch c ommunity and s t a t e s tructur es, but also the politic al c ommunity in a br o- ader sense, should be seen as an import an t pas t or al issue. Cert ain r epr esen t a tiv es of politic al and social lif e tr y , some times openly , t o e xploit man y elemen ts of the Chris tianly under s t ood Holy f or politic al purposes. This pr oblem is multif ace t ed and has diff e r e n t r amific a tions. One of the k e y one s is ce rt ainly the e ff ort t o r e- s t or e, or else cr ea t e a ne w f orm of secular po w er of the or g aniz ed r eligion (Mar- dešić 2007, 99). It should cert ainly be added her e tha t diff er en t politic al cir cles oft en tr y t o dr ag belie v er s and the Chur ch itself , or a t leas t some of its r epr esen- t a tiv e s, in t o the ir acc usa tions of c ompe tition and po w e r acquisition, m ar k e d m a- inly by populis t t endencies, which is particularly noticeable in some Eur opean socie ties t oda y (Lob-Hüdepohl 2015–2017, 53–54). This type of in fluence leads not only t o the disruption of the spiritual and pas t or al purpose fulness of the Chur ch’ s activities but c an also lea v e numer ous neg a tiv e c ons equences on a br o- ader social le v el. One of the mos t difficult c onsequences of neg a tiv e secular appr o- aches t o the Holy is cert ainly the modern a tt emp t t o dr ag it in t o the clash of cul- tur es (Gmainer -Pr anzl 2015–2017, 66). T oda y , it is primarily manif es t ed in t erms of the a ttitude t o w ar d the migr an t issue in Eur ope and t o w ar d some other issues. P olitic al and mos t oft en populis t e xploit a tion of the Holy ar ea of the public space of socie ty is v er y oft en c onnect ed t o cert ain inclina tions within r eligious c ommunities. It is mos tly (although by no means e x clusiv ely) about righ t -wing populis t t endencies tha t manif es t themselv es diff er en tly in the public space. The- se i n cl i n a tio n s ar e mo s t o ft en h i d d en u n d er th e e ff o rt t o p r o t ect tru e v al u es, o f which only some are regularly proclaimed, while some others, also true values, ar e r egularly writt en out. Emotional rhe t oric and s tr ong socio-his t oric al c onnec- tion with elemen ts of na tional cultur e mos t oft en ser v e as pow erful means of pr omoting such under s t ood elemen ts of the Holy . Men tionable e ff orts c an be o b ser v ed i n d i ff er en t segmen ts o f th e activi ty o f r el i gi ou s c ommu n i ties, s t artin g fr om p u bl i c d i sc o ur se t o el emen ts of c o n cr e t e en g ag emen t i n d i ff er en t ar eas of activity (Gmainer -Pr anzl 2015–2017, 66). 8. In Line with the Need for Constant Modernization of Pastoral Activity As al r eady n ot ed , mi si n t erpr e t a tions of the Hol y ha v e qu i t e c oncr e t e c onseq uen- ces f or the Chur ch’ s pas t or al pr actice. In principle, the under s t anding of cert ain monolithic f orms of pr actic al action, and some r a ther rigid e ff orts t o ‘ ossify ’ cert ain 388 Bogoslovni vestnik 84 (2024) • 2 changing forms of engagement, which, supposedly, should prevent ‘unnecessary’ and e v en ‘harm ful inno v a tions’ in pas t or al activity , c ould initially be c onnect ed with a cert ain misin t erpr e t a tion of the theologic al f ounda tions of the pr actice of f aith. Some of these in t erpr e t a tions ar e r ela t ed t o the belie f tha t f aith should be lived exclusively by a constant mental-spiritual return to the past, which in itself e x cludes a true c ommitmen t t o changing r eality f or the be tt er in the curr en t mo- men t, and abo v e all, a true c ommitmen t t o r ec ognizing the v alue of ne w r ealities. This is about nostalgia for the return to the so-called ‘perfect experience of the beginnings of time’ or nos t algi a f or the original Holy , which t ak es on v er y special char act eris tics in Chris tianity (Mar dešić 2007, 99–100). Such, oft en unc onscious and non-thema tiz ed se ttings ar e in man y c ases an ob- s t acle t o the moderniz a tion of the changing elemen ts of pas t or al activity as one of its k e y assump tions. In this sense, w e should especially w arn about cert ain tr a- ditionalis t t endencies t oda y , which should be dis tinguished fr om tr adition as such. Such t endencies ar e mos t oft en f ound in a tt emp ts jus t t o r epea t the old models of pas t or al activity , which in ne w cir cums t ances ha v e almos t no e ff ect (V r anješ 2011, 38–40). When y ou add t o this the pr oblem of languag e and the de ficien t f orma tion (especially permane n t) of so man y pas t or al w ork er s, the e x t en t of the pr oblem bec omes mor e than noticeable. These t endencies ar e mos t oft en an e xpr e ssion of cle r ic alism and pas t or al c on f or mism, but c ognitiv e and spir itual r o- ots can always to some extent be linked to distorted understandings of the Holy. 9. Conclusion This article is dedic a t ed t o the theologic al-pas t or al discernmen t of the r ela tion- ship between certain elements of the understanding of the Holy and the concrete pas t or al activity of the Chur ch. The author ’ s in t en tion is r e flect ed in the a tt emp t to recognize and research those elements of the understanding of the Holy that r epr esen t a challeng e f or c on t empor ar y pas t or al pr actice. The s tudy of these ele- men ts is based on cert ain t erminologic al clarific a tions, primarily of the diff er en- ce in the meaning of expressions Holy and Sacred. The indicated elements that ar e specific ally s tudied her e ar e the pr oblem of the individualis tic appr oach t o th e Hol y , th en th e pr ob l em of r el i gi ou s s yn cr e tism, th e magi c al app r o ach t o th e Holy , and the mundane e xploit a tion of the Holy . These challe ng es ar e c onnect ed with se v er al other s, of which the issue of viola ting the c ommunal dimension of r el i gi ous l i f e, the wr ong under s t andi ng of the subject of suff eri ng , and the i ssue of permanen t moderniz a tion of pas t or al activity about some under s t andings of the Holy are highlighted in this paper. 389 389 Nikola Vranješ - Some Elements of the Relationship to the Holy ... References Auneau, Joseph. 20 0 5. S a n ti t à : A) T e o l o g i a b i b l i c a . I n : J ea n - Y v e s L a c o s t e , e d . 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