Suchergebnisse

Issue 27.5 of the Review for Religious, 1968. ; EDITOR R. F. Smith, S.J. ASSOCIATE EDITORS Everett A. Diederich, S.J. Augustine G. Ellard, S.J. ASSISTANT EDITORS Ralph F. Taylor, S.J. John C. Treloar, S.J. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS EDITOR Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. C~orrespondence with the editor, the associate editors, and the assistant editor, as well as books for review, should be sent to KEVIEW FOR RELI~3IOUS; 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; Saint Louis, Missouri 63io3. Questions for answering should be sent to Joseph F. Gallen, S.J.; St. Joseph's Church; 32~ Willings Alley; Philadelphia, pennsylvania ~91o6. + + + REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Edited with ecclesiastical approval by faculty members of the School of Divinity of Saint Louis University, the editorial offices being located at 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; Saint Louis, Missouri 63103. Owned by the Missouri Province Edu-cational Institute. Published bimonthly and copyright ~) 1968 by REvmw FOR RELm~Ot3S at 428 East Preston Street; Baltimore, Mary-land 21202. Printed in U.S.A. Second class pos!age paid at Baltimore, Maryland. Single copies: $1.00. Subscription U.S.A. and Canada: $5.00 a year, $9.00 for two years; other countries: $5.50 a year, $10.00 for two years. Orders should indicate whether they are for new or renewal subscriptions and should be accompanied by check or money order paya-ble to Rzvmw Fort R~LIGIOUS in U.S.A. currency only. Pay no money to persons claiming to represent REVIEW FOR. RELIGIOUS. Change of address requests should include former address. Renewals and new subscriptions, wher~ accom-panied by a remittance, should be sent to REvIEw ~Oa RELIGIOtJS; P. O. BOX 671; Baltimore. Maryland 21203. Changes of address, business correspondence, and orders not accompanied by a remittanct should be sent to REvmw FOR RELIGIOUS ; 4~8 East Preston Street; Baltimore, MaD, land 21202. Manuscripts, editorial cor-respondence, and books for review should be sent to R~vmw ~oa RELIGIOUS; 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; Saint Louis, Missouri 63103. Questions for answering should be sent to the address of the Questions and Answers editor. SEPTEMBER1968 VOLUME 27 NUMBER 5 JOSEPH FICHTNER, O.S.C. Signs Charisms, Apostolates "Signs of the times" is a phrase that has been bandied about for so long in ecclesiastical circles that it has be-come part of our Christian vocabulary and has helped to define the relationship between the Church and the world.1 It is a category which sums up and expresses the Christian interpretation.of human, history---of the events which give evidence of and vindicate God's pres-ence and activity in the world through human agency. It has been empl'oyed in papal and conciliar documents not as a pious exhortation but in order to draw attention to the Christian duty of recognizing, analyzing, and assessing the events and movements of !aistory as so ma.ny opportunities for evangelisation. The Church will have a dynamic and effective apostolate in the world only if she discerns and assesses the values to be found in the world today. The charisms or gifts with which the Spirit of Christ endows the Church enable her not only to interpret contemporary history but to meet the needs of peoples. Pope John XXIII first used the expression "signs of the times" in the apostolic constitution Humanae salutis, proclaiming the Second Vatican Council3 "Indeed," he said, "we make ours the recommendation of Jesus that one should know how to distinguish the 'signs of the times' (Mr 16:4), and we seem to see now, in the midst of so much darkness, a few indications which augur well for the fate of the Church and of humanity." After 1 See M.-D. Chenu, O.P., "Les signes des temps," Nouvelle revue thdologique, v. 87 (1965), pp. 20-$9; "The Church and the World," Documentatie Centrum Concilie, n. 52; "The Christian Value of Earthly Realities," ibid., n. 157; "A Pastoral Constitution on the Church," ibid., n. 205. = Walter M. Abbott, S.J., and Joseph Gallagher (eds.), The Docu-ments o[ Vatican H (New York: America Press, Guild Press, Associa-tion Press, 1966), p. 704. All translations of Vatican II documents throughout the article are taken from this edition. Joseph Fichtner, O~S.C., is a faculty member of the Cro-sier House of Stud-ies; 2620 East Wal-len Road, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805. VOLUME 27, 1968 + + ÷ $oseph Fichtner, 0.$.C. listing several indications he himself had noticed, he added: "And this facilitates, no doubt, the apostolate of the Church . " The phrase was given a little more precise applica-tion by the same pontiff in his encyclical Peace on Earth,~ most significant for addressing itself not only to members of the Church but to "all men of good will." Here John XX!II observed how our age is distinguished by three characteristics: (1) the promotion o[ the working classes; (2) the entry of women into public life; and (3) the emancipation of colonized peoples. All three together signi[y that sweeping socialization whose Christian value the Church embraces with the arms of her catholicity. The recourse she may have to such signs of the times is not. a matter of opportunism but the result of understanding the spirit of the times and how the Spirit o[ Christ is at work in them. In his first encyclical Ecclesiam Suam,4 Pope Paul VI retained the term aggiornamento coined by John XXIII and associated it with the "signs of the times" as a pro-gram of action: "We want to recall it to mind as a stim-ulus to preserve the perennial vitality of the Church, her continuous awareness and ability to study the signs of the times and her constantly youthful agility in 'scrutiniz-ing it all carefully and retaining only what is good' (I Thes 5:21) always and everywhere." As John XXIII made the signs of the times the nerve center of his en-cyclical and the reason [or his optimistic outlook upon the health of the world, so did Paul VI comment upon them favorably after his return from Jerusalem on J.anuary 8, 1964, asking the faithful to understand, reflect upon, and learn how to go about deciphering them. Finally, despite some hesitation about accepting the phrase because of its biblical derivation, it was taken up into the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World:5 "To carry out such a task [of service], the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting-them in the light o[ the gospel . We must therefore recognize and understand the world in which we live, its expec-tations, its longings, and its often dramatic characteris-tics." The same article sketches by way of contrasts some of the contemporary characteristics: social, economic, and cultural transformation versus the uncertainty about the direction man is giving it; abundant wealth, natural resources, economic power, and the accompanying hun- 3 William J. Gibbons, S.J. (ed.), Pacera in terris (New York: Paul-ist Press, 1963), nn. 39-45. ~ The Pope Speaks, v. 10 (1965), p. 271, n. 20. The translation given above differs somewhat from the reference. 3 Article 4. ger and poverty; the unity and solidarity of the world versus the threat of total war; exchange of. ideas and diverse ideologies; a better world movement without equal zeal for spiritual betterment;'hope and anxiety. Its use in Matthew 16:4 has rendered the ph~rase sus-pect, for in the Matthean context the term "signs" refers to the miracles Jesus Worked, which is far from the meaning attached to it by either the popes or the recent council. What the latter had in mind were the events, not necessarily miraculous or extraordinary, taking place in the course of human history having spiritual and symbolic significance. The events, what-ever they may be, have both historical and theological significance. This means that beyond their immediate, brute, historical content, they have a value because they are an expression of an other reality. One can, for exam-ple, envision the forms of civilization---industrialization, socialization, urbanization, decolonialism--simply as historical trends, and then again, as the Pastoral Con-stitution on the Church in the Modern World would have us do, .as pointers to a higher reality. They open to man "spiritual vistas long unsuspected." 6 ,Perhaps their spiritual and symbolic significance can be seen more clearly when we recognize them to be signs of the times.7 The Church's duty, if her mission is to be accredited by God,. is to see that the question of God be not left out of any understanding ~ of contemporary history. The Church is dealing here with a "theophany" that has been termed "theonetics," the study of God in change. She is living in a messianic age with an escha-tological thrust--toward the end of time. Christ appeared in the one unique kairos, in the "fullness of time," and the Church is to. appear in His stead, as His' Body, con-tinuously and permanently in the process of time. Her mission in the course of human history is to interpret events and phenomena in such a way as never to let the world lose sight of its creative and redemptive reality, the transcendent and immanent in it. The Church bears witness to the economy of salvation as she sees it unfold-ing itself in history. The times furnish her with the Signs whereby she can be both sensitive to the movement of history and docile to the Holy Spirit helping her inter-pret the signs. She is in the same situation as Israel was when Yahweh was dealing with her in the concrete history Of her people. Failing this task to read the signs. of the times and to recognize their theological implica-tions, the Church abandons the world to its blind his-torical events. Chenu, "Les signes,'; p. 32. See E. Jenni, "Time," The Interpreter's Dictionary o! the Bible, ,1.4. sig,~, Chaa.~, Apostolates VOLUME ~7, ~.968 4, $oseph Fichtner, O$.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOU~ Part of the difficulty of such a task is that though the Church is distinct from the world, she is linked up with it. The emphasis throughout her history has fallen upon either of the two, the distinction or the link. Whenever the Church felt the distinction from the world most keenly, she shied away from her duty of evaluating earthly realities or else failed to understand them entirely or too glowly.8 It is far easier to insist upon the current categories of the temporal-spiritual, profane-sacred, civilization-evangelization, creation-redemption, history-salvation, Church-world, nature-grace, than to grasp their interrelationship. If the dualisms emerge too sharply, the Church may treat them too much apart, pass abstract judgment upon them, so that "never the twain shall meet." ¯ Granted, evangelization is not of the same order as civilization. To promote culture is not to convert to the faith. To feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty is a duty of Christian charity, but it is not equivalent to preaching the word of God, teaching catechetics, or administering the sacraments. And yet the many earthly values are the common capital of all men, believers and unbelievers alike. Wherever they may be found, they afford the good ground for evangelical growth. Without such positive values as order, justice, right, freedom, and so forth, the work of God would have to operate in a vacuum. All human enterprise, personal as well as social, so long as it promotes the good, the true, the just, and the beautiful, is the fulfillment of that hidden potential man has in himself as an image of his Maker. Humanity itself served an incarnational purpose for the Son of God; all the good works of humanity subserve.the further goal of evangelization. All such works and the values attaching to them, because they signal the gradual development of man, his humanisation, are to be considered the prevenient signs and predispositions for the diffusion of the gospel. Man, confronted by the immense resources of nature, including his own almost infinite capacities, becomes more human through the advance of science, technology, culture, and socialization. At the same time he is left open to spiritual values, his personal and social life as it develops presents positive dispositions for the incar-nation of. divine life. For example, the closer he comes to fulfilling his aspiration for peace, the more likely he is to receive "a peace the world cannot give." 9 Major improve- 8 S~e Heinrich Tenhumberg, "The Role of Church Authority in Investigating the Signs of the Times," Third Session Council Speeches of Vatican H, ed. William K. Leahy and Anthony T. Massimini (New York: Paulist Press, 1966), pp. 172-3. See also Paul Gouyon, "Reading the.Signs of the Times," ibid., pp. 154-7. 8 Jn 14:27. ments upon mass communications help the Christian to spread the message of the gospel universally. So in every instance where he is an agent of truly human progress he renders himself fit for or subject to .grace. What scholastic theology calls the "obediential potency" of men is nothing else than man radically-good but now more than ever open and receptive to grace because of .the development of his capacities.10 Popes John and Paul and the Vatican Council have called our attention to the social dimensions of this obediential.potency. A fair illustration and parallel to our times can be taken from early Christianity when the fathers of the Church observed a major and universal phenomenon of their own stage of human evolution, the civilization of the Roman Empire. The socialization in .our day is comparable to the" civilization in theirs. They were ready to describe the civilization of the Roman Empire as an evangelical preparation. The cultural value of language alone, such as the Greek and the Latin, helped them to proclaim the gospel far and wide, though they could have been tradition-bound by the language of their Founder. The worldwide extension of social and political values, moreover, provided them the good ma-terial for the construction of the kingdom of God. They found the Roman Empire to be a meeting, place for Christianity; its cobblestones were the stepping-stones for "the feet of one who brings good news." 11. Earthly realities, however,, do not always and every-where contain pure or undiluted values; their values oftentimes are ambiguous, contaminated by error or sin. The fathers of the Church realized this fact too, but it did not prevent them from sifting the important values from an admixture of good and evil. In the grandeur of nature, though occasionally troubled in land, sky, and sea, they discovered the vestigia Dei, and in the grandeur of a tainted human nature an imago Dei. Mined ore has its measure of slag before its refinement in a smelting furnace. The same is true of labor organization, agrarian reform, social charity, and so forth. The ultimate per-spective of human projects, faulty as they may be in their hesitant beginnings, may go far beyond their im-mediate realization. This is why it is so ne.cessary to read the signs of the times correctly and not let ourselves be confused over realities.which onesidely seem to be stumbling blocks or idols for mankind. In rendering service to the world we cannot help but expose our own weaknesses and limitations. This exposure is unavoidable, and the a0St. Thomas Aquinas, De virtutibus incommuni, a.10, ad 13; 1-2, ci.ll3, a.10. n Is 52:7. Signs~ Chhrisms, Apostolates VOLUME 27~ 1968 77i Church herself admits it in her Pastoral Constitution On the Church in the Modern World: ". the mission of the Church will show its religious, and by that very fact its supremely human character." x2 There will certainly be risks to assume while drawing the good out of all possible resources for building the kingdom of God. But the risks will be diminished to the extent that we recognize and receive the values of the world in the light of the gospel and instinct with faith" and charity. Faith fed by an intensive prayer life will. have to be on the alert to follow God's designs in .the progress of nations. If the risk is great on the one hand, there is no less risk, for lack of faith and discernment, in failing to see the divine interventions in the events of today. Vatican CounCil II was mindful of this risk when it exemplified a discernment of the signs of the times by way of con-trasts, Such a discernment inspired by the Holy Spirit reveals the Spirit working within the signs: "The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons." in Re.ligious institutes cannot rest content with the papal and conciliar exhortation to discern the signs of the times, nor are they generally qualified to do so without the charisms or gifts of the Holy Spirit. What the Church i~s able to analyze and assess universally, the various religious groups should do locally and periodically, always ready to seek out new solutions for new problems, How else is adaptation to circumstances possible? They might ask themselves questions such as these: What are ¯ the needs of the local community, civic and religious? Do signs of the times show themselves locally, pointing the way for a religious community to promote and take action? Housing projects, job opportunities, educational facilities, cultural programs, ecumenical activities, social charities, and a host of other situations--do they not cry out for that cooperation without which God will not intervene in human events excepting miraculously? As fast as science and technology are moving ahead into the future, can the religious apostolate afford not to re-examine itself periodically? One of the characteristics of the new-style religious life would seem to be presence in an ever changing society. Members are determined to share in the suffering, sacrifice, and conflict affecting society today. ,~÷ But is there not a subtle temptation in thinking'one ,.4. .has to leave his milieu behind in order t.o go "where the ¯÷ action is" ? The local apostolate, along with the charisms befitting it, may well be the first obligation of a religious group. Heinrich Tenhumberg, Auxiliary Bishop of Mfinster, Joseph Fichtner, 0.$.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS !772 Article 11. Rom 8:19. Germany, in a speech to the Council Fathers on October 26, 1964, commenting upon the schema of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, raised the question why in her past the Church too rarely acknowledged the free action of her members who aptly recognized the signs of the times. Fie laid down what he thought were the four conditions for rightly investigating and interpreting the signs of the times, one of which was that "room must be given to a new evaluation of the charisms and gifts of the Holy Spirit among the People of God." 14 Without aspiring to such a mature and correct understanding of the signs of the times, he felt the Church would not be able to "fulfill the will.of God in time." The question Bishop Tenhum-berg raises does not touch upon the fidelity of God to His Church in the modern world, as if He might forsake her in an hour of need; he simply asks whether the Church always utilizes the prophetic gifts which keep her au courant. Of course, the same question can be directed to religious institutes as belonging to the char-ismatic character of the people of God. "Charism" is the near transliteration of a Greek term typically Pauline. It is to be found in the Pauline Epistles and once in the First Epistle of Peter. The latter more or less encapsulates the Pauline idea of a charism: "Each of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others." 15 Paul, too, regards the charisms as given to members of the Christian com-munity in trust for the common good of that community. The four lists of charisms he provides indicate how diversified these gifts are, yet none of the lists nor all of them together are ~xhaustive.16 In this enumeration there is no hint of Paul prognosticating about the future needs of the Church and how his lists of charisms are sufficient for them. To envisage the function of each charism for the bene-fit of the whole community, Paul ~onjures up the image of the human body with all of its members contributing to its welfare.~7 The multiplicity of the charisms, rather than manifesting conflict with one another within the totality of the body or tearing it apart, tend toward its 14 Tenhumberg, "The Role," p. 174. The first, second, and fourth conditions are: a renewed theology of the Holy Spirit and of His life and activity within the Church; a renewal of biblical and patris-tic theology; a new style of Church authority and a new method for it to act, watch, and judge. ~ 1 Pt 4:10. See a preconciliar explanation of the charismatic element in the Church by Karl Rahner, The Dynamic Element in the Church (New York: Herder and Herder, 1964), pp. 42-83. an I Cor 12:8-10, 28-30; Rom 12:6-8; Eph 4:11. a~ See Rom 12:4-6. + + + Signs, ~harisms, Apostolates VOLUME 27, 1968 77~ ÷ ÷ ÷ Joseph Fichtner, O.S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS unity. In this connection it is interesting to compare the Pauline idea of this totalizing effect of the charisms with the opinion expressed by St. Hippolytus of Rome in his introduction to the Apostolic Tradition, a third-century document. He asserts that "all charisms which from the beginning God gave to man in accordance with his will, restore to man the image which was lost." The early Church thought of the apostolate as the first of the spiritual gifts entrusted to her by Christ. It was itself a charism. Scripture, particularly the Pauline writings, witness to the fact that the Twelve did not lay exclusive claim to the title of "apostle." Probably because they felt the need of the assistance of others, they invested the rest with some of their own power and called them "apostles." The apostolate and the prophetic spirit was, for Paul, the foundation of the Church, with Christ as its cornerstone,is The apostolate was a spiritual gift he treasured much, and that is why he so frequently re-ferred to it. A closer investigation into the charisms of the early Church and their meaning and use bears out the fact that the early Church was so convinced o~ her charismatic role under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit that it has led some scholars, peering back into that time, to be-lieve the Church to have been entirely charismatic and not at all hierarchical and institutional. Relating the role of the Holy Spirit to the mystery of the Church, the Dog-matic Constitution on the Church takes issue with such a stand, stating: "He [the Holy Spirit] furnishes and directs her [the Church] with various gifts, both hierar-chical and charismatic, and adorns her with the fruits of His grace (cf. £ph 4:11-12; 1 Cor 12:4; Gal 5:22)." 19 Part and parcel of her charismatic structure is the re-ligious life, and only within this structure does it find its authentic ecclesial dimension. Paul esteemed the apostolate to be a gift and a de-manding task at one and the same time. It would be foolish of us to think the early Christians were buoyed up by a host of fancy, even magical, spiritual gifts and had to exert no effort of their own. We do them an in-justice in imagining their life was surrounded with the miraculous. A good glance at some of their charisms will tell how much need there was for personal and communal effort. Works of mercy--nursing, almsgiving, adminis-tration, fraternal help of every kind--cost effort on their part. So did the preaching, teaching, and discernment of spirits. All such charisms had to be met halfway by men of good will .and selflessness; they demanded that same See Eph 2:20. Article 4. human enterprise and exertion which we ~aw had to be put into a periodic reappraisal of thh signs of the times. For some time before Vatican II theology was reluc-tant to teach that charisms belong to the contemporary Church. Theology was wont to confine the charisms to the primitive Church and to limit them characteristically to the miraculous or extraordinar~y. Vatican II changed all that theological opinion. Little and great charisms have existed throughout the history of the Church. As we read in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the Holy Spirit "distributes special graces among the faith-ful of every rank . These charismatic gifts, whether they be the most outstanding or the more ,simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation, for they are exceedingly suitable and useful for the needs of the Church." 20 There seems to be no reason then to hold the early Church to have been more richly endowed with charisms than the Church today. In the Church then as now charisms are spiritual gifts bestowed freely especially for the benefit of others. Wherever one discovers the incon-spicuous service of the Church, no matter how small the ecclesial operation, there, in such gifts, one will likely detect some sort of divine intervention. However slight a manifestation of loving service, it may conceal a gift of the Spirit of Christ. Charisms may be found together wherever one sees the accumulated effect of a sign. Charismatic gifts are not only rare and extraordinary but common and ordinary. Anyone who is willing to expend himself for Christ in heroic fidelity to common-place, everyday things is gifted with a charism. Under the common thing the hidden grace. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are deeper, more hidden and widespread or pervasive than we know. Who is to set limits upon His gifts in our life? Are we too inclined to look for gifts only in the spectacular, the colossal, the newsworthy, like finding a solution to wars, social problems, ecclesias-tical enigmas? Many are the gifts wrapped in the small packages of fidelity to duty, kindness, sincerity, purity, courage, truthfulness, trust, love. At this point it may be time to push Bishop Tenhumberg's argument one notch further by asking if there is any possibility at all of interpreting the signs of the times unless charisms are better employed? How closely interconnected, in fact, intermingled are charisms with the signs of the times? Do we have to speak of them as "values" to observe how they overlap? St. Paul never meant to enumerate all the Charisms of Article 12. ÷ ÷ ÷ Signs, Chazisms~ Apostolates VOLUME 27, 1968 + + ÷ .loseph Fichtner, O .S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS the Spirit at work in his day, possibly because he did not discern them all; nor is it possible for us to list them in our own day, excepting to mention, as he did, that there are varieties of gifts, all of which are intended for the good of the Church. Gifts of nature, talent, skill, com-petence, which often are the substratum of grace and are not easily told apart from it, are not to be hoarded or stingily communicated. Were it possible to paraphrase I Corinthians 12, we would have to say that the variety of gifts discloses itself somewhat differently now than in early Christianity. Perhaps this variety shows up in in-telligence or scholarship or scientific research, social reforms, artistic talent, catechetical skill, pediatrics, ger-ontology, the schooling of exceptional children, liturgical zeal, youth programming, public relations, apostolic en-deavor, mystical bent, and so forth. Gifts of all kinds, specializations, are useful and necessary in the Church in the modern world and are not to be bottled up or hidden. Nor will they function properly if restricted to a loner or a clique. They will dictate the abandoning of some apos-tolates and the assuming of others. Various gifts of the Spirit should enable Christians to work together harmoniously in the Church, for though the gifts are many they are one in the Spirit. In the Decree on the Apostolate of ~he Laity the unity of the apostolate is accentuated, however variously it may ex-press itself: "From the reception of these charisms or gifts, including those which are less dramatic, there arise for each believer the right and duty to use them in the Church and in the world for the good of mankind and for the upbuilding of the Church." ~ Since no one can claim all the gifts, their very diversity can do service in many apostolates and fit together into a fine pattern of apostolic activity. St. Paul wrote about this unity because he himself was faced with the Corinthian quarreling over gifts as though they were held in contention or competition: "There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit, there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is work-ing in all of them." ~z Whereas Paul had in mind char-isms belonging to individuals, it seems more appropriate to think that nowadays the charisms are diffused among groups of men and women who are willing to pool their capabilities and resort to consultation and con-certed action. The Spirit confers communal charisms as well as individual. Charity, according to Paul, is their unifying factor, and therefore he stresses the fact that charity outranks ~XArticle 3. =1Cor 12:4-6. them all. Charity motivates the recipients of the gifts to employ them for the common good of mankind. Charity too allows us who live in a community to appreciate the variety of gifts distributed among the members, so that each person can be different because of them even when we do not comprehend why he is so gifted or how he is so effective with his gifts. We must leaim to be patient, tolerant, and sensitive to one another, letting another employ his gift(s) as he sees fit as long as he is not misguided in his zeal and effort (how can a so-called charism square with" an otherwise questionable life?).- The function of gifts cannot be legislated in complete detail, nor can everybody in every circumstance abide by such detail. Practical matters simply cannot be regula.ted unanimously. But it may take charismatic courage to say "No" to a trend or policy or spirit which proves to be wrong and damaging to the Church. Egotism sometimes blinds us to the divine goodness in the many splendid achievements, the human values, round about us. Humility, contrariwise, prompts us to behold the marvels of God's grace. Charismatic goodness is to 'be found abundantly in the Church' and society if we would only peel from our eyes the scales of our selfish-ness. We are tempted to look only for the things which suit our fancy. ,At times, no doubt, the charismatic may frighten us or appear threatening because it is novel and catches us by surprise. It may be shocking, and yet upon investigation it may reveal a hidden or unknown contlnmty with something of the past. Liturgical change, for example, may startle today but in itself be a revival of a tradition dating back to the early Church. Charismatic leaders ¯ may be criticized for their bumptiousness or impetuosity; -they may obe called untraditional or subversive; their spirit may be attributed to a yen for change. They and their gifts may meet with contradiction, apathy, sloth, delay, distrust, because not all others discern their true value or the Spirit introducing them into the Church and society. Difficult as it is to sense the Spirit at work among charismatic leaders, it is no less difficult for the charis-matic leaders themselves to be sure of their own inspira-tions and enthusiasms. The uncertainty within themselves is compounded by the opposition they inevitably meet from without. Men like Gandhi, John XXIII, and Martin Luther King, Jr. exemplify the point at hand. We who are caught up .in the crosscurrents sweeping through the Church at the present time easily recognize the signs of opposition. They are like the churning waters left behind by a ship, the wake of its effort to plow ahead through the rampaging sea. + + Signs, Charinm, Apostolates ~OI.UME 27, 1968 777 + ÷ ÷ ]o, seph Fichtner, . . 0.$.~,. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 7.78 This opposition is mild in comparison with the re-jection the true apostle has to contend with while follow-ing Christ in the modern world: rejection by his enemies because what he upholds or promotes is hostile to them, and rejection by his own who fail to understand him or his gift(s). The cost of apostleship and discipleship is sul~ering-- the sacrifice of earthly ties, possessions, life itself. What uncompromising zeal is necessary for the disciple as he assumes the cost of his charism. Christ expected His followers to encounter suffering, at least the pain of carrying out the burden or responsibility of a charism.23 It is painful to realize charismatic limitations, painful to be humbled by other charismatic activities which clash with ours. Not all gifts are operative in the Church at the same time, so they will have to bide their time. The important thing to remember is that the charisms meant for the apostolate place their recipients in the service of Christ who was a suffering Servant for His people. Since Vatican Council II considered the religious way of life to be charismatic and apostolic, it is only to be expected that this life should suffer through its current attempts at self-renewal. The charism of the religious founder was the germ of "the original inspiration of a given community," 24 which has to undergo the pain of growth. The retention or modification of that charism which he injected in his community can cause suffering especially when the personal charisms of members are in conflict with it. The Spirit communicates a "spirit" determinative of "the particular character of each com-munity," which can put the community at odds with ecclesiastical authority and occasion large-scale dissatis-faction. 25 Thus the vital principle of a religious com-munity can be at one and the same time the source of its sanctity and the cause for the purification of its orig-inal gift. The most agonizing encounters with ecclesias-tical authority occur in the field of the apostolate, a fact confirmed by contemporary examples. Yet Vatican II admitted it was "by divine plan that a wonderful variety of religious communities' grew up" with "the diversity of their spiritual endowments." 2n This is an admission that the Spirit of Christ communi-cates directly and not necessarily or always through "~ See Lk 14:25-35. ~ Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of the Religious Lile, Article 2. See M. Olphe-Galliard, s.J., "Le charisme des [ondateurs religieux," Vie consacrge, v. 39 (1967), pp. 338-52. ~Decree on the Bishops' Pastoral O0~ce in the Church, Article 35.2." 28Decree on the Appropriate Renewal oI the Religious Lile, Ar-ticle 1. hierarchical channels. By their initiative and creativity, in accordance with their special gifts, religious com-munities initiate movements which only later may be taken up by authority. Their apostolates lie at the fron-tiers of the Church, supported by the gifts, small and great, of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate norm of the religious life is "a following of Christ as proposed by the gospel." z7 The gospel pic-tures Jesus addressing himself to the J.ews who were accusing Him of blasphemy, speaking of Himself as "someone the Father consecrated and sent into the world." 28 Christ in turn called others to this same ~onsecration and same mission, that is, ap6stolate. They had to give up all things to follow Him. Religious have appropriated to themselves the word spoken by Peter the Apostle: "We have left everything and fol-lowed you." 29 Christ called fishermen and a tax collector to the apostolate: "Follow me.''30 This call to obedience meant adherence to the Person of Jesus Christ and fellowship with Him. Before Christ entrusted any offices to His followers, He established a community among them with Himself at the center; He shaped them into a Christocentric community. The early apostolic life was not motivated by some form of hero worship but by obedience to the Son of God. The Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of the Re-ligious Life devotes an entire article to a discussion of the apostolate.31 After explaining in Article 5 that the life of religious is "an act of special consecration [to Christ] which is deeply rooted in their baptismal con-secration and which provides an ampler manifestation of it," the decree shows how its basic unity is diversified in two vocations, corttemplative and apostolic. The special consecration can be lived in two ways because of its twofold orientation. Vatican Council II was look-ing at the religious life phenomenologically: it saw therein two principal orientations, one toward con-templation, the other toward the apostolate. The religious apostolate then must stem from the special consecration to Christ; it is an apostolic con-secration. The religious apostolate is not simply a gesture, a sort of outward and incidental manifestation of the love consecrated men and women have for Christ. It is ~ Ibid., Article 2. 's Jn 10:36. =~ Mt 19:27. ~ Mk 2:14. ~ Article 8. See £. Pin, S.J., "Les instituts religieux apostoliques et le changement so¢io-culturel," Nouvelle revue thdologique, v. 87 (1965), pp. 395-411. ÷ ÷ ÷ Signs, ~Tharisms, Apostolates VOLU~E ~7; i~3 779 ÷ Joseph Fich0t~n.e(~r,. REV[EW FOR RELIGIOUS rather a concrete and unmistakable love expressed in a life '!committed to apostolic works." 32 In Article 8 we read about the "various aspects of the apostolate," how religious groups make diversified con-tributions to the common good of the Church. These contributions, the decree points out, derive from the varieties of gifts given to the groups by the Holy Spirit. The varieties of gifts determine to a large extent, though not fully, the specific apostolic orientation a religious group takes--teaching, nursing, social work, home and foreign missions, and so forth. Although the decree does not refer to it explicitly, it implicitly wants religious to consider the interrelationship of signs of the times, charisms, and apostolates: "Communitie.~ should promote among their members a suitable awareness of contem-porary human conditions and of th~ needs of the Church. For if their members can combine the burn-ing zeal of an apostle with wise judgments, made in the light of faith, concerning the circumstances of the modern world, they will be able to come to the aid of men more elfectively."3a Such studies as psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, can be the humanistic basis for the charisms to be more under-standing of and productive in the world. In a second paragraph within Article 8 the council links closely two spirits that should dominate each other in the religious life, the religious and the apostolic. Without such interlinking the religious life would suffer and die. The key statement to this effect is the following: "Flence the entire religious life of the rdembers of these communities should be penetrated by an apostolic spirit, as their entire apostolic activity should be ani-mated by a religious spirit." Here we touch upon a delicate point of the spiritual renewal asked "for by Vatican II--the possibility of failure to renew a spirit while changes are made "on behalf of contemporary needs." "Indeed such an interior renewal must always be accorded the leading role even in the promotion of exterior works." a4 Of course it is impossible to set any determinate, calculable hours apart for each, prayer and apostolate, but it is essential to realize that the two go hand in hand. In order to avoid the idea that perhaps apostolic works will lead to the danger of activism, to a self-seeking in the apostolate, to immoderate desire for action, to some sentimental involvement in the lives of others, the council asserted that "apostolic activity should ~ See the first reference in footnote $1. ~ Article 2. ~ Decre~ on th~ ,4ppropriate Renewal o/th~ Religious Life, Arti-cle 2. result from intimate union with" Christ.35 It would not have a Christlike spirit and would be torn from an apos-tolic witness, a body of Christianity without a Heart. The prayer itself of religious should be apostolic. Normally they will make their own the petition in Christ's prayer: "Thy kingdom come"--all the spiritual interests confided to the community. Daily community prayer will embrace all the persons who are in the in-timate care of the community: personnel, students, patients, fellow religious, all who depend upon the community for their spiritual sustenance. Instead of being an evasion of apostolic duty, wrongly inspired by the idea that the community can cure every evil and help everyone with prayer alone, its apostolic prayer will be a catharsis and a strength .for apostolic activity. Its members will not dilute their prayer life with all the worry and anxiety they experience throughout their daily apostolate. Apostolic prayer will be for them a humble and confident conversation with Christ who may find them worthy of His own fiery love for the people His Father committed to Him to redeem. A community closely bound together is prone to feel that its communitarian link conditions its form of presence and activity in the world. Community life of itself is not necessarily opposed to an effective presence and activity in the world. But its members obligate them-selves to live this tension between presence in the world and presence in a community till the' eschatological day when the Church and world will be entirely one. No matter how well they try to regulate their life, there will inevitably be some tension between religious observance and apostolic works, between the structural and the ~harismatic. It would be an easy solution to turn the time for observances into an apostolically disordered life. The regular community observance has apostolic meaning and purpose. Perhaps this tension can be eased by better budgeting and managing of time and service. Better management will help to avoid the two extremes of a rigid formalism on the one hand and a disordered and frantic life on the other. The former is harmful to the apostolate, the latter arouses anxiety or qualms of conscience. All the discussion nowadays against structure and the institutional Church can do harm to what is good and useful of structure and the institutional Church. Some sort of structure and a prudently regulated observance is an indispensable aid to religious life and to the apostolate. To take an example from family life--how much family life remains if members come and go as they Ibid., Article 8. 4- 4- 4- Signs, Charisms, Apostolates VOLUME 27, 1968 781 ÷ ÷ ÷ $oseph Fichtner, O.S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS please without any recourse to a schedule for meals, sleep, work, recreation, and especially to a steady inter-communication? The same holds true for religious life:. a moderate observance is a precious boon to it. On the other hand, observance for its own sake is obnoxious. It is bound to incite a harmful restlessness, to sap energy, paralyze effort, or invite either pharisaical regu-larity or intentional neglect. Vatican II was rather in-sistent that this point of observance be looked into and brought up to date. The decree carefully notes that a high-spirited and level-headed apostolate will itself nurture rather than ruin the love for God and neighbor. The question is, how will it nurture this love? First of all, by putting to rest that old fear of an apostolate, genuine and sincere, somehow detracting from the love of God. The council will go down in history, particularly for its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, in seeing signs of the times which hold promise of much good for the human community. While speaking of the religious apostolate, it remarks about this same good as the field for religious to harvest. The religious apos-tolate, therefore, will nurture love in two ways: first by peace, secondly by stimulus. Peace will accrue from it because the religious will learn that his effort and fatigue are the sincere and au-thentic expression of his love for God. There is much comfort in knowing, deep down in his heart, that he is doing the will of God in the apostolic task assigned to him and for which his charism suits him. Obedience to an assignment with all the hardship and suffering it entails, is a participation in the obedience of Christ. Christ felt real contentment in the fulfillment of His duty toward His Father. "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work." 86 At the same time the apostolic religious will be stim-ulated to love more, for the apostolate will impress him with need for fidelity to prayer and to a rule of life. He will recognize at once that any lack of zeal on his part amounts to a lack of love, zeal being the fruit of love. Insufficient love springs from an insufficient union with God. Christ turned to prayer in the midst of a busy apostolate and denied Himself sleep in order to pray often and for long spells. Such prayer instilled in His heart a greater love for souls, greater patience, and more courage. This has been an endeavor to weave together the complementary aspects of the signs of the times, charisms, and apostolates especially as they pertain to religious ~ Jn 4:34. institutes. Religious institutes too, inasmuch as they have a charismatic role in the Church and society, have to examine the signs of the times locally and periodically in order to see what apostolates are open~to them and whether they have the charisms most suited to contem-porary needs. All three--signs of the times, charisms, and apostolates--mesh into a single program of life and work under the guidance o[ the Holy Spirit and in the light o[ faith and charity. Signs, Charisrns, Apostolates VOLUME 27, 1968 KEVIN F. O'SHEA, C.Ss.R. The "Security Void" + ÷ Kevin F. O'Shea, C.Ss.P., writes from St. Mary's Monas-tery; Wendouree; Ballarat, Victoria; Australia. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Two years ago Dan Herr wrote in The Critic of a "piety void": the deep loss felt by many people since older "devotions" have been downgraded and have lost their force, and the new "liturgy" is not yet meaning-fully established. The "piety void" is only one aspect of the "security void": a deep unhappiness experienced by many, since older "securities" have been challenged and nothing seems to have replaced them. This diagnosis contends that two basic types of security are in conflict: a security of absolute norms, and a security of committed love. It analyses them only in the area of external au-thority and obedience (though it might well take in areas of moral conscience, faith and doctrine, and voca-tional role and ideal). Each of the two "approaches" to security to be out-lined here could claim (and has claimed) roots in St. Thomas. It is necessary to distinguish between theory, translation of theory into experience, translation of experience into inspirational-motif, translation ol in-spirational- moti[ into formula, translation o[ [ormula into a workable living pattern. Any fully developed "ap-proach" to a profoundly human value (like security) includes all five: theory, experience, inspirational-motif, formula, and workable living pattern. Of the two ap-proaches to security to be developed here, the first (the "older") can be considered initially as "fully developed" in this sense; the second ("the modern") cannot. Both could agree at root in the theory of St. Thomas; each then develops a different experience and inspirational-motif; the "older" possesses its clear formulas and work-able living patterns, which are now challenged by the "modern"; the "modern" is not yet equipped with these elements, and for that reason is deprecated by the "older." Here lies the problem of analysis: here lies finally the root of the "security void" itself. A security of absolute norms is the fruit of a rational-ized approach to society. Accepting the common aim and the need for organized action to attain it, the members of a society accept also a human authority that will give it firmness, sureness, stability, and "security" in the I'face of conflicting human attitudes within it. When a superior, in whom such authority is vested, make~ an authoritative precept, it becomes normative for the society; only in obedience to that norm can that society continue with security. Security is conceived as unified and efficiently ordered action; it stems from "managerial authority." When the subjects obey, they conform their practical thought and action to the authoritative precept given them, out of respect for authority and out of love for the well-ordered existence of the society and its "security." Their obedience is intelligent, even rational: it is logical for them to obey, given their commitment to such values. When in fact their theoretical assessment of a situation differs from the dictate of authority, they will then sacrifice the advantage they believe they might bring to the common interest, to the greater good of the unchallenged reign of authority and for the noble end it serves, the societyrs "security." This is no infantile submission to the "will" of a master: it is the manly conformity of those who see greater value in their sacrifice than in their independent achievement. Their con-science is honored; and they have the personal, ful-fillment of being rightly ordered to the values they cherish, rather than the less esteemed fulfillment of mastery through their own pattern of action. At .times, recourse might duly be had to higher authority; but always in the interests of greater security for the com-mon interest. This is the theory; it has been lived in a way that subtly turns authority into something more absolute. It is assumed in'practice that the order ~1: the society to its common aim, its security, and its continued existence, depend on absolute obedience to its authority at all times. Despite the theory (which would allow for the balance of one human law with another, and with natural and divine law, andfor the use of epikeia as a x;irtue and not simply as a legal loophole), visible division from authority in any matter commanded is considered a supreme, scandal and an absolute evil. We suspect here a practical transition from general policies (the principle of respect for authority) to particu-lar details (the absoluteness of this dictate, in which the whole meaning of authority is seen to be at stake); we sus.pe~t a practical equation of what is authorized for the society with what is objectively good (and best) for the society--of the practical .and the theoretical advantages of the society; we suspect even that authority is almost conceived as the end of the society itself. In this way the basic theory has been hardened through experience towards a stress on absolute loyalty to authority at all VOLUME 27, 1768 785 + ÷ ÷ Kevin O'Shea, C.Ss.R. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS costs, as the~ esprit de corps and inspirational-motif of society. The formulas of the basic theory are read in this sense, and the workable living patterns enshrine it. In practice, then, it is in the "absolute norms" of authority that man finds his security in society. For an "older" generation such unchallenged security alone was possible. This same approach underlies even a mystical view of the Church as the Body of Christ growing to its fullness under the guidance of the Spirit. It is through the charisms that the Spirit rules the Church; and to some He gives the charism of discerning the direction that might be taken with profit; to others He gives the charism of expressing .this conviction publicly; while to the apostolic hierarchy alone He gives the charism of placing God's definitive seal of approval on any plan. It . is through the hierarchy alone that salvation history can finally and authoritatively be formed: the word of the hierarchy is the word of the Lord. When a member of the Church obeys the hierarchy, he acts out of deep reverence for their office and for the divine plan of history in the Church. He thinks it is better for Christ to be revered in His bishops than for Christ to be helped by independent action but dishonored by an apparent. schism between His members. He gives up .what he hitherto thought to be the desire of the Spirit, for the word of the hierarchy, which He authentically knows to be the desire of the Spirit. This is the theory, and it is not hard to see how it has absolutized the practice of obedience in the church. An episcopal command has been regarded as a divinely absolute norm in which alone the Church can continue to live and grow in Christ. The apostolic placer is the will of God and is the security of the Church. It is the absolute norm for a Christian who wants to live in the Church and follow God's plan. We suspect here the root of the attitude of simple acceptance in many of the faithful who look on all pronouncements of ecclesiastical authority as though they were of the same univocal value; we suspect here a certain voluntarism by which God's ideal plan for man in the Church is identified with God's here and now (permissive?) will expressed through the hierarchy. A mystique of security in the Church stems from this lived attitude. A personal approach to community today suggests another kind of security--the "security of committed love." It begins with the axiom that man is a living and loving person. He is called to give himself to others in generosity, sacrifice, and service. In this "self-spending" he really "becomes" a person. There is in man, then, a native instinct (blunted by sin but given new point by grace) to yield, in love, to others whom he serves. It could be called "obedience," but it is not what is strictly and technically described as social obedience. It is prior to the existence or recognition of any social au-thority; it is an intrinsic function of love. It goes far beyond the demands of organization; it is directed to persons not to abstract values. Man then has to live his life in situations in which he experiences in his conscience the call to such love and serf-giving to others. In this call he hears the voice o[ love itself, which is God. In it he recognises the eter-nal law of absolute Love. He needs these situations if he is going to meet this Love and experience its challenge; they channel it to him as "mediations" of Love. He also needs these situations if he is going to respond to this Love and live up to its demands; they are the ambient, the milieu in which he can grow in it. Such human situations, which are. not of man's mak-ing, are in no way opposed to man's love. His love acts, not against them, but within them. As human, his love needs them. The basic situation thus needed is the situation of "personal community." We do not refer, to a community of traditions and practices, or to a community of meth~ ods and pooled skills, but to a community of persons who strive to live together in a. truly personal and serf-giving way. They are a "people" together, a true "comm.unity," blending together their instinctive desire for love and self-giving. Within such a community, the call to Love is heard and answered; the community is the "mediation" and the "milieu" of the eternal law of Love. Love can find itself only within such a community; it is an intrinsically demanded "structure" of love, a permanent, developed, and basic situation of human love. Considerably more is meant here, of course, than what is usually read into the concept of a society, effi-ciently organized to achieve a common aim. In com-munity, persons experience a sense of belon~,tng, of. "being together," of loving together. The integration_ of person with person, of personal attitude and ideal with personal attitude and ideal, as they yield to one another and serve one another and together serve others, is the basic horizon needed for all human life. In this sense, community "serves" man. Within such a community, there is need for celebra-tioh; such real love and togetherness need to be sym-bohzed and feted. Within such a community, there is also need for leadership; such love needs to be given open and significant expression within the community Security Void VOLUME 27, 1968 Kevin O'Shea~ REVIEW FOR RELI~IOUS 788 and radiated outward to those who do not yet know it. Such celebrations and leading-actions are the high-points of community life. Without them, the community does not live, symbolically, in the hearts of the persons who form it, and does not supply them with action-situa-tions for ever deeper personal love. The community needs such events, and therefore it needs within it an oOice responsible for assuring their presence. Those who bear this office are rightly considered to have special eminence in the community, and to them the open-ness of all members of the community is especially directed. Those who bear this office are in a real sense the pivots and sttpports of the community-structure which serves personal love. The acceptance, the reverence, and the "obedience" they are given is fundamental to the commitment of community love and transcends the limits of merely social obedience. At the same time, the office we describe is not strictly social authority but something prior to it. If in fact in a given community there is also social authority (and thus also social obedience), they/viii be fully integrated, on their lower level, into these primary values. Authority must spring spontaneously from the community-office of celebration and leadership; obedience must spring spon-taneously from integration into community, availability to the action of the community, and reverent acceptance of those who hold office in the community. It is clear that when in fact such true social obedience is called for, it will possess a unique a~ective tone. It wi!l be an obedience within community love. It will simply pinpoint the readiness to yield which is there in the community prior to any legal precept. It is more a privilege than a duty. There are two major differences between this and the pattern of obedience previously described in the "older" approach. First, it claims the right to integrate the external com-mand into the claims of Love as heeded in conscience and lived in the community. The subject to whom the external authority speaks "hears" the dictate externally and then asks himself what it "means,' to him in his community-conscience, as a moral imperative of Love. He does not assume, absolutely and universally, that every external command will always automatically mean such a demand of Love. He does not assume, absolutely and universally, that always and in every ~case personal sacrifice must be made to the higher role of this authority. He will not grant, beforehand, that' authority is the main thing in a given situation but will assess the claims of authority in relation to the claims Of community love itself. He will'make this assessment as a person, in open-ness with the persons who form his community and hold office and authority in it. He will grant that normally and in many cases authority-claim (legal imperative) will mean community-claim and love-claim (moral imperative): but he will not a priori equate the two. He will grant that he must make his decision in this matter in deep responsibility of conscience, but he will think that such responsibility is part of his duty in a community of this kind. This first point is claiming more than the simple state-ment that a true imperative (legal and therefore moral) can objectively be in point but may or may not be grasped subjectively by a given person in invincible ignorance because of environmental circumstances. It is an expres-sion o[ an attitude to obedience that springs from the inspiration of the community-love theme. In theory it may not be saying more than is said in classic positions concerning epikeia and the balance of laws and incon-veniences, but it is said in the spirit of an experience different from the experience that has concretely inter-preted and presented the classic positions. Whatever our final judgment of it, a new point of view is expressed here. Secondly, by way of balance, in this obedience there is always a willingness to go beyond legal demands and to go beyond the hard and fast line of what is obligatory by authority. It does not like to stop at what must be done; it looks for what can be done. The final criterion of action is not what legal authority says (or does not say); it is what the situation really demands of the conscience of those involved. The external authority and its statement are respected as part of the total situa-tion in which the imperative of conscience is seen and in which it must act, but it is recognized that the total situation may at times and even often require more than the external authority has stated. Such obedience must be recognized as magnanimous: it acts, not in con-straint, but in love. Once again, it is an expression of attitude that is in point here, flowing from the basic inspiration of the meaning of community. In theory, it is saying no more than the classic position says of the primacy of charity over social obedience, the unity of all the virtues in love, and the rights of personal conscience. But it is expressed in a new enthusiasm arising from a new ex-perience. It is a different point of view from the "old." In the concrete the obedience morally recognized by the person in a given situation will be a determination of the tension between the first and second point: be-tween the right of personal integration into his respon-sible community love, and the duty of personal tran-÷ ÷ ÷ Security Void VOLUME 27, 1968 789 ÷ ÷ Kevin O '.SShs.eRa.~ REWEW FOR RELIGIOUS 790 scendence of the limits of an external command. If this resolution were consistently in the direction of ignoring the external command, it would not be authentic to its own inspiration; for it would not be recognizing the genuinely "normative" character of authority in the community.It is not the "norm" that is refused; it is the assumption that the norm is "absolute." When this obedience is given, it is not lacking in the formal motiva-tion of social obedience, for it does yield to authority as such, but within a community context. The real ques-tion is: When this obedience is not given (in the usual form of conformity to the external command), is it objectively defective in the essential moral value of obedience? But the question is not one of theory, as we have repeatedly shown; it is one of interpretation of the "formula" used as a guideline, as a workable living pattern. It is less a question of what is externally done (or not done) on a particular occasion; it is more a ques-tion of what is the psychology behind it and how it could stand with, and not destroy, the genuine psychol-ogy of social obedience. For a person who forms his mind on these personalist lines cannot have a psychological security of absolute norms. He must find a new type of security elsewhere: in the absoluteness of his commitment to Love and to self-giving and to community in the sincerity of his own conscience; in the relative service that he finds for this in the structures of community, with its members, and their offices, and their common acdon. His is the security of committed love and appreciated structures. The "absoluteness" here is genuine but new: it includes the impredictability of human love, and the incalculable progress of providence. This same personalist approach underlies a sense of the Church as the "people" of God, impelled by the Holy Spirit of Love. The Church is a divinely created, supernaturally indefectible home-situation of truly per-sonal love and sacrifice. It is through and in the Church as a community that the voice of eternal Love in Christ comes to the conscience of her members. It is through and in the Church as a community that her members respond to this voice and live their self-gift to others and to Love itself. Ttie Church is being rediscovered as a community; the Constitution on the Church of Vatican II places its chapter on the "people of God" prior to its discussion of the place of the hierarchy within the people of God. The community of the Church is the natural horizon of our love as it is divinized in Christ; the Church in this sense is indeed the pillar and the very "ground" of Love. In this sense she serves the mystery of human love by creating the conditions for it to. be real. In the Church, the hierarchy, vested with the office of liturgical celebration and of missionary ex-pansion of the Church's mystery of love, and vested also with true social authority to rule the people of God, be-comes the pivot and the support of this "ground" of love. This is why the members of the Church, .as they carry each other's burdens and so fulfill the law of love, look on the Church with reverence as their "mother," even when they see her humble limitations. It is not initially a sense of duty and of obedience that binds them to the Church and to the hierhrchy; it is a sense of vocation and of belonging, since they are meant for her and cannot truly love outside of her. "Outside of m~, you can do nothing." This is why the same nuance of obedience enters here within the Church as we noticed on the gen-eral level: the entire problematic of authority-obedience itself serves the deeper problematic of community-love. At pre~ent there is a conflict, within and without the Church, between those who maintain a long established modus vivendi based on and leading to security of ab-solute norms, and those who demand the creation of a new modus vivendi based on and leading to security of committed love. It is certain that the "older" pattern is well established. It is only recently that it has been challenged; and the challenge has been resented, with shock, by the "older" generation. They have experienced a unique insecurity on seeing the very principles of their security openly questioned, on finding the present age disenchanted with the absoluteness of the old ways and seemingly submerged in the pure relativism of love. They have been asked, implicitly at least, to approve patterns of action in others that are completely at variance with their own inner orientation to norm-security and even to accommodate their own mentality and pattern of action to them. They cannot believe that their own generous sacrifice and 'heroic loyalty over a lifetime have been unnecessary and that their conscious foundation of security is chimerical. They tend to harden the "essential" theory of authority-obedience- security, in the language they have always known it, into the one and only workable living pattern they have known and to admit no other. They feel now that the essential props of their security are under attack. It is certain too that the "new" pattern is noble in its inspiration. Because it is noble and even more because it is new, it tends to remain as yet in the order of ideals and even of inspirational "slogans" (for example, "personal fulfillment," the need for "dialogue") and has not yet formed for itself a realistic working pattern. Its ÷ ÷ ÷ Security Void VOLUME 27, 1968 791 + + Kevi~t O'Shea, C.Ss.R. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS idealism is tender to attack and resents the fact that others cannot understand it but reject it and even regard it as harmful. The "new" generation cannot believe that they ought honestly regard their ideals as unreal and settle for the pseudo-satisfaction of security through absolute norms and legal authority. They tend to stiffen their allegiance to their principles and to be insecure precisely because they know they are not yet accepted or put into practice at community level. It is Strange that precisely here the "new" generation may be rather unfaithful to its own principles. Instead of placing their real security in committed love and self-giving, they seem to insist---immediately---on the security of acceptance in the "older" community; they want their values upheld and identified as legitimate and valid, they want to be understood by others and not thought rebels, they want to be integrated, as they are, into their community's way of life and tradition which they feel that they do not violate but practice in a new way. Would that they have all this; but is it primary to their own principles? At all events, a certain paralysis is taking hold of protagonists of both points of view, which is deepening their insecurity. It happens especially where there has been little attempt at renewal of commonity living structures; where a tradition of legalistic obedience has set up a quasi-divine right of the establishment; where a system of bureaucracy or a veil of anonymity or a pro-tection of prestige has been used to give firmness to the status quo without facing the issues; where a policy of "via media" or of "prudence" is used merely to cover a refusal to do anything; where there is a visible split into parties "for" and "against" the new idealism; where in such mental alienation of one group from another, action comes mainly from party politics, dominant personalities, or emotional enthusiasms created by prop-aganda; where unkind name-slinging is used to make real dialogue and acceptance impossible. Here a critical impasse is soon reached; only the external signs of true community remain. Even those who try to remain tran-quil are misjudged; they are thought insincere in the face of a common anxiety. Men go through the motions of what they have always done, or would wish to do, without the fulfillment that ought to come from it. They live in a "security void." It is made acute when they refuse the obvious dilemma of the situation: rebel or accept. The malaise can be cured by neither; neither by open irreverence, public agitation, mental alienation from the whole situation, refusal to cooperate, invocation of one's rights (from legal authority or from conscience), retreat into one's , I work; nor by timidly coveting up and finding a false refuge in permission (of authority or of conscience), or by the cowardice of giving away all serious attempt at idealism (of whatever form) and settling for no security at all. Those who rightly refuse these false avenues know that they have no anchorage left; they are nonplused and beaten. There is a "credibility gap" between themselves and any founded security, a wavering of trust in asking completely serious questions at all. In this fundamental disillusionment they cease to live in the presence of a liberating truth (since they refuse the falsehood of double truth, one of idealism and another of reality). Their life becomes shallow and superficial, and. their work is not reliable. This is the "security void." This study is a diagnosis, not a solution. It can con, dude with a simple suggestion of seven thoughts, to .be pondered in the present crisis. (1) The theory behind the "new" personalist position is m reality no different from the theory behind the "older" essentialist position. On the general level, it is simply expressing the primacy of the person over society and the primacy of charity over the social virtues. On the particular level, the cases where it might admit a refusal of conformity to the authoritative dictate of a superior can well be reduced to cases already well known in traditional moral theology: epikeia, balance of laws, inconveniences, rights of conscience, and so forth. It is true that the expression given to these cases is new; it is emotive and enthusiastic and thereby tending to more difformity than has been allowed in the older working pattern. But this does not prove the theory is incorrect; it proves only that it is ambiguous in its expression as reduced to a working pattern. It is therefore on the level of that working pattern, in practice, that any incor-rectness should be removed. At least, there is room for real "dialogue" in a theoretical agreement on founda-tions. (2) The spirit of the personalist position, as it is typi-cally expressed at present, does not appear to allow suffi-ciently for the role of social authority within a personal communityi and this defect comes from its idealism. Let us grant thi~ idealism absolutely, but let us remember that we are asking it of men who live in a sin,situation and who carry within themselves profound inclinations contrary to gene.rous and sacrificial self-giving in love. The first evidence of these inclinations is the tendency for groups to isolate within a community and to consider the expressions of love that-correspond to their .own idealism without due consideration of the interests and peculiar form of love of other groups. On the very prin-ciples of total lov~ within the total personal community, .!- ÷ ÷ Security Void VOLUME 27, 1968 793 + ÷ ÷ Kevin O'Shea, .Ss.R. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS granting the intrinsic weakness of man, there must be some human authority to determine the forms of authen-tic love for all when need arises; and this authority must be conceded a per se place in the community. The typ-ical personalist expositions at present stress the idealism of what man is called to do somewhat at the expense of the necessary regime for its human realization, a vital part of which is authority. It is possible to rethink the meaning of authority as an inner demand of the personal community. In this way, the tendency to conceive an opposition between the expressions of a responsible authority and the inherent claims 9f love and conscience will weaken; at least, a better balance between the two will be achieved in practice, and in due time the formnlas and the working patterns will be rightly adjusted. (3) But if sin has abounded, grace has abounded even more. In assessing the present situation, we may reason-ably judge that mankind is on the threshold of a sig-nificant evolution in its living experience o[ community and of the meaning of personal love. We must not poison the wells of this inspiration. We must therefore admit, in theory and in practice, that the older static unchal-lenged working pattern of community must also evolve to be more in accord with the new inspiration. Any at-tempt to pin one's security finally in the unchanged positions of old is doomed to failure. To back down before the challenge of the present in the name of the weakness of human nature, which needs a lower stand-ard, is a practical denial of the triumph of grace. (4) This evolution in the living of community-love must of its nature be slow: "i(ll great matters must come to ripening slowly" (Congar). Those who live through the present transition and cause it must have a peculiar patience: a deep-rooted existential conviction that history is slowly changing through the measured pace of their lifetime. To the extent that their love and self-giving is really great, it will have the patience of the times, seconding and not subverting the dynamism by which God is bringing His gracious design to com-pletion in His own manner. It is perhaps in this fidelity to what is perceived as the bvolving character of provi-dence, that a genuine security can be found. Paradox-ically, it is~ patience that engenders hope, and not the reverse! (5) If social authority can and must be given a place de se in the personal community, it can and must also be found a special place de facto in the currently evolving form of personal community. Our original frailty is showing itself in a new facet: our inability to assure the tranquil passage from the older order to the new, evi-denced in the intransigence of some and the impetuosity of others, and the imprudence of all. There is need of a new awareness of humility if we are to engage correctly this exciting and dangerous transition of history. And there is need for,,social authority to recognize a new responsibility: that of assisting, with its own power of juridic firmness, the pattern of change and of progress from one order to the other. In the exercise of this office, social authority will slowly commend itself more truly to the humility our times must learn. (6) St. Thomas once described .the effects of human law as disciplina et pax. No doubt, he envisaged these mightly mysteries in the static culture of his day; but they remain valid, and needed, in the day of dynamic evolution of human living forms that is ours. Our current emergence to greater times must not be turbulent but tranquil; and the tranquility we need we must learn. We can only learn it if all those who make up the human community at present, "old" as well as "new," play their proper roles together. An "o]-der" point of view is neces-sary today to show the new inspiration, which it accepts at root, the realistic way to find its own survival. A "new" point of view is the soul of the upsurge, and its cry is for a love and a self-gift to all; it is necessary that it learn the peace of the future by establishing its own peace in the present, by accepting "togetherness" with those who do not yet appreciate its value and teaching them by deeds what it has not succeeded in communi-cating to them in words. The most unusual trait of the "new order" of love is that it can be created by real love in ariy conditions; it does not depend on special structures or circumstances but relies on its own dyna-mism. If it is to have more desirable conditi6ns in .the future, it must learn to give its own peace to those of the present. (7) Finally, those involved in this development, which means all of us, should be big enough to overlook mis-takes in detail for the greatness of the cause. We must become conscious of who we are in our times and in history; we must live with a sense of our call to the greatness of love together. In this sense, we must know not a "security void" but a "security fulfillment." + ÷ ÷ Security Void VOLUNE.27, 1968 PAUL MOLINARI, S.]. Renewal of Religious Life according to the Founder's Spirit Paul Molinari, s.J., writes from Borgo Santo Spirito, 5; Rome 00100, Italy. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 796 In presenting these few thoughts, I should like to clarify some theological points which have not, I believe, been sutticiently understood when we speak of a return to the origins of each religious institute. The conciliar decree Perfectae caritatis insists on a life of union with Christ, leading us to consider Him not only as the exemplar of the life of a religious but as the very form of this life.I think that this aspect has not been sufficiently stressed, because the wealth of mean-ing of certain rich but very concise expressions of the decree has not been adequately understood. The decree deliberately avoids detail in order not to bind religious life to concrete forms, identical for all, which would pre-vent it from developing freely in Christ. Rather, it sought above all to emphasize that we must make an ef-fort to conceive and live our religious life as one of donation to Christ, in which we must share His way of livin~g, His spirit. Hence the insistence on a supernatural principle. W~ must always keep in mind that the mis-sion of the Church is a continuation of the mission of Christ and that the mission of Christ is specifically su-pernatural. We must realize, therefore, that in order to participate in the mission of Christ, in order to continue it, we must of necessity adopt His criteria. It is pre-cisely a question of a gift of life--the Word made flesh in or,der to give supernatural life, divine life, to man. Participation in the life of Christ is what gives vitality to the Church. Participation in the redeeming sacrifice is what gives life to man. It is the sacrifice of Christ giving His life for the Church that ought to lead re-ligious to give their life for the Church, that is, for the supernatural good of all of the People of God, for a more abundant communication of divine life to the entire fam-ily of man. I insist on this point precisely because today there is, at times, a tendency to stress almost exclusively the necessity of adapting the exterior apostolate and of bringing it into line with the possibilities offered by modern technological society or to concentrate almost exclusively on the social apostolate of the Church. We must not forget, however, that Christ's apostolate is not only, nor even principally, a social apostolate but a supernatural apostolate: the communication of divine life. This presupposes that we can and often ought to see to the material needs of man and interest ourselves in serious and pressing questions of social justice, but our apostolate does not stop there. We must above all consider the supernatural value of religious life as such, the value of this self-donation which, even though it may remain unperceived, attains something very precious for others on a supernatural level precisely because it is a donation, a sacrifice of self, In this context, I would like to point out that we tend too easily to overestimate the criterion of exterior effi-cacy and of visible success. Is it not true that, when Christ died on the cross, the efficacy of this sacrifice of His entire life could not be seen? It is important to emphasize this at a time when the profound value of self-donation is being called into question precisely be-cause so little is said about the guiding principle of the Lord in His apostolate. Moved by the Spirit, He spent Himself, He delivered Himself on the cross. That is the force of the Spirit. We find ourselves here in the realm of faith. In the light of faith we begin to understand the value of a life hidden in Christ, of a life of im-molation, a life of love, a life which gives up its life for others--and nothing is more beautiful than to lay down our life for others. The ultimate solution to the crisis in contemporary religious life can be found in the realization of religious life as a life of self-donation. Not that religious life should lead merely to the interior life. On the contrary, it will lead us to a great activity; it must express itself exteriorly but in such a way that it is supernatural in character. It is along these lines that we can find a solution to today's problems, particularly those concerning the social apostolate. At this point, I quote those beautiful phrases contained in the decree Per[ectae caritatis: Fired by the love which the Holy Spirit pours out in their hearts, they live their lives ever increasingly for Christ and for his Body which is the Church. Consequently, the more fervent their union with Christ through this giving of themselves, which includes the whole of their lives, the richer the life of ÷ ÷ ÷ Founder"s Spirit VOLUME 27, 1968 797 REVIEW FOR RELIG~OU5 798 the Church becomes and the more fruitful her apostolate (n. 1). The gospel brings out that the characteristic note of Christ's mission was His docility to the Holy Spirit. I think that this is why the decree insists so much~ on the Holy Spirit, His action in the Church and in the soul of founders. If Christ, the head of the Church, began His mission led by the Spirit, the Incarnation itself being the work of the Spirit, the Church, which is the Mysti-cal Body of Christ, likewise ought to be docile to the Spirit. The Church, as such, tries to be so, and she has the permanent assistance of the Holy Spirit, her soul: Christ, having been lifted up from the earth, is drawing all men to himself. Rising from the dead, he sent his life-giving Spirit upon his disciples and through this Spirit has established his body, the Church, as the universal sacrament of salvation. Sitting at the right hand of the Father, he is continually .active in the world, leading men to the Church and through her joining them more closely to himself and making them par-takers of his glorious life by nourishing them with his own body and blood. Therefore, the promised restoration which we are awaiting has already begun in Christ, is carried forward in the mission of the Holy Spirit, and through him continues in the Church (Lumen gentium n. 48). In virtue of the same principle, each member of the Church should likewise follow the motions of the life-giving Spirit. We are touching here on one of the most fundamental principles of the religious life and of the Church. As the conciliar document Perfectae caritatis says, the Holy Spirit has raised up in the Church men and women who founded religious families. These souls were called to a providential mission in the Church and were particularly docile to the action of the Holy Spirit: Indeed from the very beginning of the Church men and women have set about following Christ with greater freedom and imitating him more closely through the practice of the evangelical counsels, each in his own way leading a life dedi-cated to God. Many of them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, lived as hermits or founded religiou~families, which the Church gladly welcomed and approved by her authority. So it is that in accordance with the Divine Plan a wonderful variety of religious communities has grown up which has made it easier for the Church not only to be e~u!pped for every good work and ready for the work of the mlnxstry--the build-ing up of the Body of Christ--but also to appear adorned with the various gifts of her children like a spouse adorned for her husband and for the manifold Wisdom of God to be revealed through her (Perfectae caritatis, n. I). The Spirit who led Christ is the same Spirit who leads those who are united to Christ and in whom, as with docile instruments, He can more freely carry on the salvific mission of communicating divine life to His Church and to all mankind. With these theological principles in mind, it is easier to understand that while the. cardinal point of renewal is the Gospel and total, unconditional surrender and consecration to the redeem-ing Christ, another is precisely the docility and fidelity of members of a religious institute to the spirit of their founder. Actually, the mission of Christ is not yet completed; it continues in the Church which must remain faithful to His inspiration. This is why charismatic graces, that is divine inspirations given in view of certain apostolic necessities, continue to be given to the Church. These graces are evident in a special way in all those who have truly given their heart to the Lord and who, without setting any conditions or limits, allow themselves to be guided by God, that is to say the saints and those great charismatic leaders, the founders and foundresses of re-ligious families. But while this action of the Holy Spirit is particularly visible in the soul of founders, it does not stop with them. The same Spirit, wishing to continue the mission that He has entrusted to the founders ~for the sake of the Church, acts in the soul of each member of the People of God and calls some of them to follow our Lord and dedicate their lives to the institutes established by these holy men and women. It is as i£ the Holy Spirit sent a ray of light which filled the soul of: the founder. This ray continues on, through the founder, until it reaches the soul of those who are called to a certain religious family. It is a ray of light which has its own particular characteristics and limitations. It is thus that institutes receive a specific mission from the Holy Spirit. For this reason there is a variety of institutes in the Church, which are all necessary. And the Holy Spirit inspires and continues to inspire the members of all religious families but in different ways, according to their specific task in the Church. It is in this sense that St. Paul, while dealing with the Mystical Body, speaks of the di-versity of functions within the Church; and there is no doubt that this variety is very good for the Church. It is extremely important, therefore, that religious know what the authentic spirit of their founder or foundress is and that they share it consciously. This is what the Council intended when it invited religious, especially in view of the renewal of their life, to discover anew the riches of this spirit and to find life-giving in-spiration in it. For that reason, the motu proprio Ec-clesiae sanctae says it is essential for each religious family to study the sources and to go down to the real roots of their institute. It is, therefore, indispensable in 4- VOLUME 27, 1968 ÷ ÷ Paul Molinari~ $.J. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 8OO the preparation for special chapters charged with putting into practice the Council's teachings and directives, to engage in serious and searching study concerning the charism of the founder or foundress and to discover new depths concerning the authentic inspiration which gave birth to any given institute. It is obvious that in many cases a good number of studies have already been made on this precise point, and these studies can and ought to be judiciously used. It would be an error, nevertheless, to limit such research to an analysis of these studies, because each generation has its own sensitivity, its own special g~ace for discovering certain accents, and is struck by elements which previous generations prob-ably knew of but did not make use of with the same de-gree of explicit understanding. What happens in biblical exegesis and in the authentic evolution of dogma and theology is likewise true of the progressive understanding of what the Holy Spirit wished to start with founders and continues, through their mediation, throughout the ages in the institutes which He raised up in the Church. Precisely because we are dealing here with an interven-tion of God Himself in the history of the Church and of an initiative that He wishes to prolong and renew, not only today but also in the future, it is imperative that this search for the true spirit of a founder or foundress be done with complete objectivity. In no way is it permis-sible to base such a study on feelings or on interpreta-tions and intuitions which are more or less subjective. Reverence for the work of God in the soul of the founder as well as reverence for the divine vocation by which we were called to become a member of our religious in-stitutes requires that we remain humbly open to God's light. In no way should we try to make the divine grace given to the founder coincide violently or arbitrarily with our limited personal ideas. On the contrary, the action of the Holy Spirit in the soul of the founder ought to be our point of reference ]n examining our own way of thinking and acting. Much is being said today about the discernment of spirits. But this is exactly what the Church has been concerned with in regard to founders. We have the as-surance that they were acting under a charismatic im-pulse. We, in turn, participate in this same impulse to the degree that we are faithful to the grace which called us to our religious family, and that we let it de-velop and grow in us. It must be noted in this context that while the Church invites us to recognize loyally the spirit of our origins, she does not at all exclude the possibility that this spirit may find different expressions throughout the .ages. There is a tendency, at times, to identify the spirit of the founders with their works. But the spirit gave life to a work; it determined its beginning. It can happen that, as time passes, a work, begun with an intention largely determined by the needs and circumstances of the age and place in which the founder lived, has changed. In present day conditions, it may no longer b~ possible to continue these same works or, due to exterior circum-stances, to carry them on in the same way as when they were begun. Fidelity to the letter can thus become in-fidelity to the spirit of the founder. In other words, it is not sufficient simply to make an historical catalog of our works. We must try to see them, spiritually and integ-rally,~ from the inside, in order to seize the inspiration which animated the founder when he acted. It is only if we succeed in grasping this profound inspiration that we shall find, at the same time, that true fidelity to the founder which the Church is asking usa to preserve in deciding what adaptations are to be made. If the spirit of the founder is a living reality to us, we shall likewise be able to formulate it adequately in modern language, fully in accord with the contemporary situation. To be truly faithful, we must go to the very heart of the mat-ter, that is, go to the very root of the reasons why the founder acted and discover the ultimate criteria of the choices he made. We must not be content with discover-ing what the founder did; we have to discover why, whether we have grasped the inner inspiration. While reflecting so openly and clearly on this essen-tial principle, I want to make a brief point dictated by charity, justice, wisdom. It is well known that on the occasion of special chapters in all religious institutes, there is an atmosphere of unrest among truly generous religious who are loyal both to the Church and to their institute. This uneasiness is ultimately caused by an in-adequate understanding of the principles which have just been stated. On the one hand, there are religious who do not understand clearly enough that the concrete expression of the identical spirit of the founder c/m, and even ought to change according to the circumstances and mentality of succeeding generations. Every innovation, consequently, seems' to them to be a departure from the authentic spirit of the founder and, as such;' inadmissi-ble. On the other hand, there are also religious who, with a certain naivet~ which is no less serious, proclaim loudly that only the present generation has discovered the true spirit of the founder and that former genera-tions did not understand it at all. The mutual error of these two tendencies is simply that they both think that one, and only one, generation can discover once and for all what the authentic spirit of the founder is, exhaust the wealth of its possibilities, and determine defi'nitively 4, 4, Fou~w~$ ,Sp~r~g " VOLUME 27, 1968 4" 4" 4" Paul Molinari, S.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 8O2 all possible authentic expressions of this spirit. But, as we have already said, such a conception errs by not taking into account human limitations and historical sense. Each generation of religious has its own strong points and its own deficiencies, it own profound intui-tions as well as its own task. It is precisely along these lines, with the greatest reverence and objectivity, that each generation of rel.igious should look towards the authentic origins of their institute and delve into the heritage of its founder's authentic inspiration. In this process of humble and reverent seeking, which is at the same time both painful and liberating, each generation should make the charism of the founder and the in-stitute their own. Each generation, through prayer, med-itation, and study, should seek to find out, according to the spirit of the founder, what ought to be kept or abandoned in the present day. As can be seen, this work is both very necessary and very delicate, requiring hum-ble and utter abnegation. But if we understand that the true patrimony of the Church and the task of renewal are at stake, we shall not be afraid to renounce personal points of view or preferences in order to go wherever the Holy Spirit may lead us. Experience teaches us, moreover, that such a return to the authentic origins of an institute is not only possible but also extraordinarily fruitful. There is immediately a very keen and positive reaction when anyone speaks with competence to religious men and women about the documents left by their founder or about his life. I am sure that we have all already experienced this. Can it be explained in any other way except by the fact that men-tion was made of something that the Holy Spirit had already put in the heart of these religious? If they are put into direct contact with the sources of their institute, they explicitly find in them what they were formerly more or less conscious of and which had led them to one particular religious family and not another. The Spirit of God gives a certain sort of interior spiritual sensitivity and a spontaneous inclination towards the spirit of the founder and its authentic manifestations. If religious are brought into direct contact with the spirit of the founder, they are moved to ever greater generosity and immediately pass to a higher plane. Many people can thus be helped to overcome their difficulties, precisely because the very root of their life has been touched. It goes without saying, moreover, that this life-giving con-tact with the authentic inspiration of the founder greatly facilitates responsible adaptation to conditions and cir-cumstances of time and place. This is obviously the reason why the conciliar decree Per[ectae caritatis de- clares that any adaptation ought to come forth as a pre-cious fruit of interior renewal, that is of a return to the gospel and to the authentic spirit Of. the founder. Let us now say a word about the concrete manner of proceeding in this extremely delicate and important matter. Experience seems to bear out the following: Af-ter the religious have been informed of work done on the sources and after they have been invited to meditate on the different aspects of renewal and even to give their opinions in writing, it is a good practice to gather to-gether those who have showed special interest in the subject, especially those who likewise have a good scien-tific preparation. Ask them to study the documents and everything that has been done previously in the way of research and analysis in order to bring to light the outstanding elements, that is, those which recur con-stantly in the thought of the founder. The outcome will not all be the same because each one has his own per-sonality and way of looking at things; but by comparing the results, a sufficiently objective view will be obtained which will permit the characteristic elements of the life and thought of the founder to be isolated. These in turn will help orient the work of renewal. When it is time to rewrite the constitutions, they can be based on the discoveries made, without fear of changing or modi-fying illegitimately the thought of the founder which these objective studies will have brought out more clearly. The next step is to compare these results with the life, constitutions, and works of today. This will be rela-tively easy if the fundamental points have already been clarified. The various editions of the constitutions, pro-mulgated at different stages in the history of the in-stitute, should be examined to see what elements have been forgotten or not sufficiently emphasized. This type of research can contribute notably to a greater direct knowledge of the sources and will bring to light again the true thought of the founder. If this research is car-ried on according to these objective criteria and is al-ways inspired by theologically and spiritually sound principles, a naive desire of change for the sake of change will be avoided. On the contrary, if changes are necessary or opportune, they will be made without great interior difficulty because all will see more clearly what Gods wants of us and how. He is asking us to mani-fest our fidelity to the authentic spirit of the founder. It is equally obvious that, in the same way, we can more easily avoid those distressing internal divisions among members of the same institute since all will have the conviction that the changes proposed are based on a ÷ ÷ ÷ Founder's Spirit VOLUME 27 19e,8 80,~ , 4. .4. Paul Molinari~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 8O4 common desire to correspond fully to what is under-stood to be the true spirit which gave rise to the in-stitute and its authentic charism. In the same way,-it will likewise be easier to decide What changes must be made in the exterior life and even in the works of the institute. We say that it will be easier, because when it comes to works, there are naturally other problems which are generally very seri-ous and which cannot be naively ignored. But I am con-vinced that if, first of all, everyone is in agreement on the essential lines of renewal according to the spirit of the founder, courage will more easily be found when all are working together in the solidarity of a chapter. If, for example, the members of a chapter 'clearly see that today certain works no longer correspond to what the founder wanted in his day, it should be easier /or the chapter to take clear and decided decisions, without causing profound dissensions, without sidestepping the solution and without leaving all the most serious deci-sions to the sole authority of the superior general and. his council. Would it not be better for the chapter, which truly represents the institute, to take essential decisions, basing them on a greater knowledge of the spirit and charism of the founder and his work, and thus tracing the way for times to come? In answer to Christ's call, religious left all things to ,follow Him, that is, to go with Christ wherever He wishes to go. It seems evident that Christ wishes to go where the needs are the most urgent. One of the things that we would do well to consider when we speak of union with Christ in the religious life is that it is not simply a question of going out to the poor but of leaving all things, and following Christ in a spirit of donation and complete availability. This can sometimes mean leaving well established works that are running well but which, having reached the point where they do run well, no longer need us. In such cases, led by the spirit of the founder, we should go where social condi-tions are more or less similar to those that prompted the founder to act in his day. It is then that we have truly vital contact with the authentic spirit of the founder. In a certain sense, it can be said that where this spirit adaptatioh is' found, religious live in closer union with the spirit of the founder. Indeed, when, as it were, the very soul of the founder has been refound, there is no crisis in religious life and vocations are not lacking. It is clear that those souls who have followed their founder .most closely have found, under the motion of the Holy Spirit, what they were seeking. Naturally, it would be absurd to maintain that all present-day works of religious should be abandoned or that all need to be adapted or again that all changes should be made instantly. We must, however, have the courage to face these questions honestly and to solve them with the same courage that characterized the action of founders, the courage of the saints. It is worthwhile meditating, in this light, on the fol-lowing words of His Eminence, Cardinal Agagianian, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith: Evolution has considerably modified the physiognomy of Christianity and the sign value of this type of Institution. Where formerly there were charitable works to answer press-ing social needs there is now state socialization or the national-ization of an entire sector. If this has not been done yet, it is at least the intention of young governments and is being planned by large official international organizations. Are not our institutions, which were begun with such generosity and which answered such authentic social needs, now anachronistic, technically .surpassed, not viable financially, lacking true Christian witness value since other official organisms which are better equipped have taken charge of this sector? We must therefore avoid duplication, useless waste, unequal competi-tion, and rethink our activity, which must be missionary to the greatest possibl~, degree and carried on in the light of an apostolic vision which is more freshly evangelical. It is a ques-tion of discovering the true exigencies of the hour, of estab-lishing priorities, and of effectuating our own "reconversion" by turning to work which is doubtlessly socially less spectacula~ but which is more specifically a work of the Church, a work which is directly missionary in scope and character. At the present time, religious must be very open to the grace of the Spirit in order to follow Christ effectively and continue His mission. We should all clearly un-derstand that the charismatic grace given to the founder and his institute is a call from God, a talent which has been confided to us. God asks that the talents He gives be well used. We must not be afraid to make them fructify. Such a fear should never paralyze our generosity and our donation to Christ. It is therefore not enough, necessarily, to keep works just as they are. They must be made to bear the greatest amount of fruit possible. How can this be done? That is where the difficulty lies. It is certainly not permissible simply to keep the capital. If the apostolic return amounts only to 2% or 3%, we must ask ourselves if this capital could not be used in a better way. If we consider the exigencies of the Lord, we can more calmly envisage the fact that the decisions to be taken will sometimes lead to very serious changes, but we must accept them in a spirit of love and fidelity to the true charism of the founder and his work. But we must consider more specifically and more ex-plicitly the ecclesial dimension of our personal vocation as well as the vocation of our institute. The institute is part of the Church and it has a specific function within ÷ ÷ ÷ the Church. It is a living part of the Church and it will have life insofar as it accepts its function for the sake of the Church. This will help us to penetrate more and more into our vocation of being available for the service of Christ and His Church. We will experience the joy of giving life, the consciousness of being the grain of wheat which falls to the ground and dies, and to bear fruit a hundredfold. Problems will find their solution in this deeper vision of religious life as a life of union with Christ in order to continue, in Him and with Him, His mission of communicating divine life to man. 4, ÷ Paul Molinad~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 80fi SISTER M. DENIS, S.O.S New Trends in Community Living Something which has existed since the beginning, that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands: the Word who is life-- this is our subject. That life was made visible; we saw it and we are giving our testimony, telling you of the eternal life which was with the Father and has been made visible to us; we are telling you so that you too may be in union with us, as we are in union with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. --1 John 1: I-3 In* these opening lines of John's First Epistle, he is trying to translate into a multiplicity of feeble human concepts and words, Life itself which is not many but one, not a thing but a person--the triune Person of the Godhead. When discussing the "new trends in commu-nity living" with you, I shall attempt to follow the exam-ple of John. Words are a very necessary component of human communication, but nevertheless annoying. As soon as we describe a reality we break it into parts and tend to give the impression that if every part described is present, we have the reality itself. Rather, the reality of community that I hope to translate into practical and concrete terms, is not composite but one--permeated with the dynamism of that divine incarnated union John spoke of. Unfortunately, that dynamism cannot be put into Words; it must be lived and experienced. Therefore, the approach in this paper will be experi- * This is the text of an address given in May, 1968, to a meeting of Canadian major superiors. ÷ ÷ ÷ Sister M. Denis, S.O.S., writes from 62 Hargrave St.; Winnipeg 1, Mani-toba; Canada. VOLUME 27, 1968 80~ ÷ ÷ Sister M. Denis~ $.0.5. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 808 ential and practical and not a rephrasing of the excellent literature on community with which you are familiar. First, we shall examine the bases or principles upon which community is created, investigate the trends evi-dent in community living today, attempt to describe the type of community life that is unfolding from these trends, and propose some practical ways of effecting the transition from the present structures of community life to that form toward which we are evolving. Rather than burden you with another definition of community, I would prefer a descriptive approach. We are well aware of the different kinds of communities that exist among men. There is the natural community of the family and the artificial or contrived community of the organization, society, or state. All too often, we have described the religious com-munity solely in terms of one ot~ these two societies: our terminology of mother, father, brother, sister, reflects the familial concept; and our highly structured religious corporations betray the organizational concept. Al-though religious community can benefit from aspects of these two basic human groupings, we must with deep faith live the essence of religious community as an en- Spirited or Spirit-filled community: "Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me" (Jn 17:21). To the individual person who has embraced the re-ligious life, what then is community? I enter community so that I may begin to gift myself to others, to give the life I have to another, and to re-ceive from them in the same way; and this transmitting, this sharing of life, of wholeness is carried over into my apostolate. This life is given and received in faith be-cause the life or dynamism of community that permeates it is not my own--it is the life of the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ who shows us the Father; my gift to God-~a gift which has come from Him in the first pIace--is to give life to others by the life that is in me. True community, therefore, is created, not structured or legislated. PRINCIPLES The principles or bases upon which an en-Spirited community is created must be grasped, not only intel-lectually, but also experientially by every member in the community, although not necessarily to the same extent or depth. None of these principles stand alone; rather they are interdependent and interrelated. Trinitarian The ultimate model of en-Spirited community is the trinitarian life as it is lived by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have heard this so often that we tend to dis-miss it as another cliche. What does it mean in actual practice? It means that each person in community must be and do what God Himself through Christ and in the Spirit is and does: namely, He gathers, unites, establishes communion. How? By communication. Supportive words, other means of communicating love give life to another, as the Father begets His Son, the Word. This gift to one another and the response from one another engenders love--the Spirit. It is at this point where Trinity and en-Spirited community merge. ~lgape. If this trinitarian love-life is incarnated and experi-enced, the cohesive bond in community is the living agape of Christ, not the force of rule or custom. We must have the courage to examine and question the place of rule in religious life. In actual fact, which has frequently taken precedence---our holy rule or the gospel? The experience of agape is an entirely new human ex-perience. It is this gift of God--the Spirit. Pagans could only look at the early Christian community and exclaim: "See how these Christians love one another." But the words "love" or "charity" are, at best, a weak transla-tion. Agape is the knowledge and love of God--that very dynamism of the Trinity itself--which, through a free gift of God, has been incarnated, embodied in human community--a Spirit-filled community. Peace and joy, in which are contained all the other fruits of the Spirit, characterize such a religious community. The ultimate expression of agape is the love feast itself--the Eucharist. The en-Spirited or agape community is effected by the liturgy--when members are conscious of communicating or uniting themselves together in Christ. In turn, their liturgical expression is intensified by their community life. Incarnational Spirituality In order that community reflect trinitarian life or agape--which are different expressions of the same real-ity- the spirituality upon which it is based must be truly incarnational. Again we are back to the importance of faith. If the Son of God, the Word, became flesh, be-came incarnate, then the world, the whole world is "shot through with the grandeur of God," as Hopkins wrote. We cannot arbitrarily determine which particular ma-terial signs signify the presence of Christ; this is an in-sidious form of idolatry. Worse still, we cannot attempt first to establish a relationship with the transcendent God and then go out to other people. Because of the Incarnation, the transcendent God has been revealed to + ÷ Community Living VOLUME 27, 1968 809, ÷ ÷ Sisger M. Denis, $.0.S. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 810 us precisely as immanent. This immanence is continued in the world through the gift of the Spirit. The experi-ence of agape, the witness of a Spirit-filled community, is the experiential embodiment of this transcendence. In community agape we realize the fullness of the In-carnation. Respect for the Integrity of the Individual Person Community is not achieved through uniformity; but in practice our preoccupation with uniformity often militates against that respect for tl~e integrity of the individual person so necessary for the developme.nt of an en-Spirited community. This respect involves accept-ance first of ourselves as we are--not as we would like to be. We must risk taking off our masks, not only to others, but also to ourselves, and be truly authentic. I never realized what a mask the traditional habit could be until a few summers ago at the Superior's Conference in Portland, Oregon. During the day we walked around very conscious of religious decorum and dignity. When the magic hour of 2:00 p.m. struck, we converged on the swimming pool. As each layer of clothing came off, the person emerged. This respect [or the integrity of the person involves acceptance ot another in the same way---as they are and not as we would like them to be. If we love only those who share our ideas, our thoughts and aspirations, then we are merely loving an extension of ourselves. We must love what is truly the other--in which there is nothing of oneself. This acceptance is a respect based not on toleration or on charity or even because we see Christ in another; rather this respect is based on the unique dignity created in that person by God Him-self. Often we bypass this unique dignity for "good and noble reasons." Our acceptance and love should always be based on the person, not dependent on their actions. This is a great danger in community life, where we do 'not have the natural ties of blood as in the family and where much stress is placed on uniformity. Community, as we have been describing it, is not necessarily the common life. This communal acceptance involves a sharing, an openness with one another dictated not on my terms but by the other person's real needs for growth. In listening to the conversation of some religious I get the impression that self-fulfillment is selfishness, not selflessness. We only"receive when we give. And very often giving hurts. Serf-fulfillment is the very mystery of the death-resurrection of Christ incarnated and re-peated in the lives of men and women. Originality, Creativity The external structures of the en-Spirited community --structures which may take many and varied forms according to times and places--should always leave room for the development of originality and creativity among its members. I am merely stating in concrete terms the theological problem of institution versus charism. Spontaneous .4 ction Closely related to the need for originality and crea-tivity is the need for spontaneous action in community. A few years ago I read an examination of conscience in which was the question: "Have I organized myself so intensely that I have no time for spontaneous generos-ity?" We might well ask the question on the com-munal level. Is our day so laid out, charges so spelled out, that members function as automatons--cheerfully perhaps, but not spontaneously? Responsibility Finally, true community fosters responsibility, the ability to respond. Men and women can come to good-ness only through a knowing and free choice. The other side of the coin is a sharing in the authority on which responsibility depends; and this authority, in turn, is derived, from the community. Members are responsible to one another personally and to the group collectively. The religious or Spirit-filled community, therefore, is based on the agape-life of the Trinity as incarnated among men. Its growth and development depends upon the respect for the integrity of the individual person with the necessary correlatives of personal authenticity and acceptance. Desirable structures permit and foster originality, creativity, responsibility, and spontaneous action both individually and collectively. CURRENT TRENDS With these principles in mind we shall now attempt to describe the current trends among religious in Can-ada, trends which will affect community living. These trends were gleaned from the recent reports of the eight round-table discussion teams which were organized across Canada by the Canadian Religious Congress to contribute to a survey of religious life. In this era of post-Vatican II, we are coutinually reminded to be alert to the signs of the times, to significant indications or movements in a parti.cular direction. Whether the trend be evaluated as good or bad, as desirable or un-desirable, it remains, nevertheless, the voice of the Spirit speaking to us. Discernment of the message is not as easy as discernment of the trend. 4. ÷ Community Living VOLUME 27, 1968 811 Sister M. Den~s, $.0~. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ,4 ttitudes Very evident is the evolution of new and more posi-tive attitudes among religious. In relation to the in-stitution, there is a greater respect for the person and the charisms of the individual. Religious place a priority of being over seeming, of the person over the actions. The false dichotomy between body and soul is diminished. A new appreciation for the "world" which has lost many of its former negative connotations is evidenced in an understanding of eschatology as be-ginning here below in the form of earthly happiness. Therefore, there is less stress on the'negative aspect of sacrifice and a grea~er emphasis on a joyful, more positive asceticism. Resurrection, not death is predomi-nant. There is a tendency to diminish the artificial distinction between the natural and the supernatural. Thus, the religious sees his or her dedication to Christ and to mankind as one. This unifying trend involves a rejection of the logical distinction between the transcend.- ent God and the immanent God, where the existential is concerned. Spirituality The incarnational spirituality that has evolved from these attitudes integrates human values and identifies "human experience" and the "experience of God." God is encountered .at work in the world present in and through human realities. Throughout the entire study there was evidence of a strong trend toward assuming a more personal responsi-bility for one's life of faith involving a renewed self-commitment. Thins desire for personal responsibility and the previously mentioned attitudes have strongly in-fluenced the trends in the prayer life of Canadian re, ligious today. In the search for new and authentic forms of prayer, none of the traditional forms have escaped honest scrutiny. Although religious believe in the necessity of prayer, the form or expression of this prayer is radically changing, primarily due to a new understanding of prayer in which there is no separation between prayer and action. Looking upon everything as prayer, especially encounter with others, was a very pronounced trend. Therefore, religious desire more freedom in their prayer life--with a structural minimum that gives more consideration to personal needs, that encourages authenticity, and that is adapted to the rhythm suited to the life each one is leading. The daily obligation for Mass is. questioned because of the need for' respecting the personal spiritual rhythm of the religious. In the celebration of the Eucharist, the re- ligious insist less on the idea of sacrifice and more on the notions of communion and gathering. There is an increased trend toward community encounter in the Eucharist within the parish community. Because of their strong faith in the value of interpersonal relationships and group accomplishment, the trends indicate the de-sire of religious for group reflection in prayer. Prayer is no longer a private matter but is becoming a means fulfilling the need for an expression of friendship and human support. The place of God in prayer is not thereby lessened, because of the identity of "human experience" and "the experience of God." The starting point of prayer--personal or communal --is likewise incarnational--an event, something con-nected with themselves, the needs of the world as re-vealed in continuing salvation history--more than the speculative knowledge of a transcendent God. Institution Religious from coast to coast are questioning--not theoretically but existentially--the meaning and purpose of religious life itself. The reports indicate, however, that this scrutiny is not negative, but positive--in spite of the front page articles in the NCR. Structures are not disregarded but desired if they help real personal commitment. Community of life, however, takes prece-dence over institution which is understood as something to help community of life, to make and keep its mem-bers more fully human persons. The institution is re-jected under certain aspects because of unfortunate ex-periences resulting from harshness, impersonalism, legal-ism, and paternalism. Rule Regarding the rule, the trend is toward getting away from the traditional rule because it no longer measures up to the needs of the time. Also evident is a lack of regard for unnecessary canonical legislation. Religious women, in particular, are resentful of the paternalism manifested toward them by the Sacred Congregation of Religious and in canon law. External Signs Also strong is the trend to reject archaic signs of identification as religious. These externals, such as the habit, the canonical cloister, the rule, community con-trols, are seen as objectionable to the extent that they separate the religious from the secular world. These religious wish to remove the barriers imposed by monastic influences of another age. ÷ ÷ ÷ Community Living VOLUME 27, 1968 813 Silence Closely connected to their notions on spirituality, prayer, and religious structures are the views of religious on silence. They admit the value of silence but not according to traditional concepts. Personal silence is valuable as a means to encountering the other; it is closely related to charity. Rather than an absence of words, silence is an inner attitude. Thus, they refuse to keep a conformist silence or silence of rule considered for its own sake. Size oI Community Especially strong are the desire and the realization of riving in small homogeneous groups because of the need for human interpersonal relationships, for authenticity, for the development of the person. In this way, religious desire to bear effective witness both to poverty and to service. Thus there is a trend toward experimen-tation in this more fraternal way of life: some are living in smaller groups; others are living in apartments. Secular World Today's religious desire to socialize more naturally wid~ other people. In fact, there is evidence of a trend toward seeking fraternity outside the usual religious community group. On the one hand, some see this trend as a reaction against an incorrectly understood type of ¯ community life; on the other hand, some see this as an overflow of the love that is established in true com-munity. Whatever be the case, we must attempt to read the signs of the times; if a person does not find accept-ance and human fellowship within the community, he will seek it elsewhere. Increased activity in the secular world is practically a fait accompli for most religious who are now reading contemporary books, going to movies, taking part in politics, and maintaining contact with the world of art and artists. 4- 4- 4- Sister M. Denis~ S.0.5. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS .4 uthority Religious admit that they will readily sh~re personal experiences with their fellow religious but less willingly with one who is in authority--a spiritual director or a superior. The authority figure in practice is not yet seen as a friend. Strongly rejecting paternalism, religious do not wish to be dependent upon a superior. Authority itself is not rejected; religious still see the necessity of someone in charge of the group. But this person--the superior--should be an available and approachable moderator--one among brothers. Authority is seen as service and coresponsibility. There is a trend, but not yet clearly defined, toward a concept of shared authority with joint responsibility in view of the good of the group. Because of the dignit

This study provides an overview of Arab official development assistance (ODA) over the past four decades. Trends in volume, composition, and direction are discussed in chapter two and the institutional framework is discussed in chapter three. Over 90 percent of Arab development assistance is provided by three countries: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to UNESCO, roughly 120 countries provide some form of technical or vocational secondary education, as distinct from a purely generalist curriculum. An overview of each administration's secondary vocational education provision is given below under sub-headings suggested by the Terms of Reference (ToR) for this study. The information was gathered through a review of available literature. This varied from administration to administration both in terms of its coverage and of its quality. As a result, the information on each administration is somewhat diverse. This is particularly the case for objective evaluations of administrations' systems. The report ends by posing nine questions for the Government of India to consider when planning the introduction of vocational education to secondary schools: (i) what is the place of school-based vocational education within India's National Skills Qualification Framework? (ii) how much choice should be left to school students to decide on the balance of general and vocational education in their learning programme? (iii) what proportion of the vocational education curriculum should be devoted to general education? (iv) how can sufficient numbers of teachers of good quality be found to teach growing number of vocational students? (v) how beneficial is objective careers guidance for school pupils? (vi) what is the role or purpose of work experience for school pupils? (vii) what contribution to vocational education can be expected from employers if the labour market is largely informal with a small manufacturing sector? (viii) what form should assessment take, how would it be carried out and is there a relationship between it and general education? (ix) how can responsibility for vocational secondary education be allocated within a federal system of government? Finally, what should be clear from this study is that administrations develop policies and practices based on their history, their economic and geographic context and their vision, and that these policies will therefore vary between administrations.

This systematic country diagnosis (SCD) for Chad aims to identify how to achieve the twin goals of ending poverty and improving shared prosperity. It acknowledges both: (i) the need for selectivity in pro-poor interventions, and (ii) the inherent difficulty to do so given the many competing binding reasons for poverty. Selectivity means the identification of principal opportunities for sustainable poverty reduction in the next 15 years, as well as the identification of binding constraints to reaping such opportunities. Selectivity also implies making trade-offs between immediate and longer term objectives, with priority given to the identification of poverty reduction opportunities which will: (i) deliver the highest possible results before 2030, and (ii) not undermine prospects for poverty reduction and shared prosperity beyond 2030. The analysis presented in the SCD draws on a variety of information sources. These include domestic statistics and reports, evaluations by the country's development partners, original research conducted by the World Bank team, and consultations held in N'Djamena with nongovernmental organizations and the private sector. Reaping poverty reduction opportunities will require addressing a selected number of binding constraints.

The Republic of Congo (Congo) boasts numerous assets that can be harnessed to build a strong and robust economy. These assets are oil, ore such as iron and potash, arable lands, and a young population. Congo is the fourth largest oil producer among West and Central African countries, both in total production (260,000 barrels per day) and production per capita terms. In addition, the country is endowed with substantial iron and potash that are yet to be exploited; it has a vast arable lands that could be useful for agricultural development; and the country boasts a young population, which, if well-educated, could be a dynamic labor force helping to spur economic growth.

Since the last Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) meeting, the PA has continued to strengthen its institutions, delivering public services and promoting reforms that many existing states struggle with. The quality of its public financial management (PFM) has further improved. Education and health in the West Bank and Gaza (WB&G) are highly developed, comparing favorably to the performance of countries in the region as well as globally. Ultimately, sustainable economic growth in WB&G can only be underpinned by a vibrant private sector. The latter will not rebound significantly while Israeli restrictions on access to natural resources and markets remain in place, and as long as investors are deterred by the increased cost of business associated with the closure regime. Education and health indicators for WB&G are impressive and reflect extensive coverage of the population, but a focus on improving the quality of these services remains warranted. Similarly, education investments take time to mature. While the PA is already implementing an education sector plan that highlights the importance of improving the quality of education, the relevance of graduates' skills remains an area requiring further attention. This report will therefore reflect on recent growth trends but also on the future trade regime and employability of the WB&G labor force.

An Analysis of Six Case Studies in Developing and High-Income Countries ; This paper focuses on core aspects of the political economy of reform, drawing on case studies of three economies transitioning to stronger business environments (Hungary, the Republic of Korea, and Mexico) and three countries with well-developed business environments (Australia, Italy, and the United Kingdom). The purpose is threefold: first, to identify so-called drivers of reform among successfully reforming countries; second, to explore how a reform strategy can make optimal use of the opportunities provided by the drivers of change; and third; to suggest how these lessons can be proactively used by other reformers to design and guide reforms. The case study findings suggest that, regardless of the content of reform, success is influenced by an evolving mix of seven drivers of change: i) globalization or competitiveness; ii) crisis; iii) political leadership; iv) unfolding reform synergies; v) technocrats; vi) changes in civil society, and vii) external pressure. The case studies suggest that reformers can influence the direction and pace of change by mobilizing and exploiting drivers of it. Rather than a cause-and-effect scenario in which a single driver-such as a crisis-creates and defines the success of a body of reforms, what happens is an unfolding series of events in which various drivers become more and less important in defining phases of the reform process.

In Madagaskar ist ein Großteil der ländlichen Bevölkerung von Armut betroffen und ist damit auf kleinbäuerliche Landwirtschaft und die Nutzung natürlicher Ressourcen zur Grundversorgung angewiesen. Folglich sind die natürlichen und artenreichen Ökosysteme des Landes einem hohen Landnutzungsdruck ausgesetzt. Vor allem die Regenwälder im Nordosten des Landes weisen eine bemerkenswerte Vielfalt an Baumarten und eine hohe Endemismusrate auf, sind jedoch von einer raschen Umwandlung in eine von Menschen veränderte Mosaiklandschaft bedroht. In dieser Mosaiklandschaft im Nordosten Madagaskars findet sich noch ein kleiner Anteil geschützter alter Wälder, ansonsten setzt sich die Landschaft aus einem Mosaik landwirtschaftlicher Flächen, Waldfragmente und Agroforste zusammen. Diese Agroforste dienen dem kleinbäuerlichen Anbau von Gewürzvanille, die Madagaskars wichtigstes Exportprodukt darstellt. In diesen Agroforsten spielen Bäume eine entscheidende Rolle. Sie werden entweder als Schattenbäume oder als Stützbäume für die kletternde Vanille-Orchidee (Vanilla planifolia) dauerhaft in das Anbausystem integriert. Vanille-Agroforste decken bezüglich ihrer Struktur und ihrer Artenzusammensetzung ein breites Spektrum ab. Somit weisen sie vielversprechende Landnutzungsoptionen auf, um die Erhaltung der biologischen Vielfalt mit den Produktionszielen im Nordosten Madagaskars in Einklang zu bringen. Da es bisher nur wenige Belege gibt, die eine soziale und ökologische Bewertung der Vanille-Agroforstwirtschaft erlauben, befasst sich das Forschungsprojekt "Diversity Turn in Land Use Science" mit dieser Forschungslücke. Im Rahmen des Diversity Turn-Projekts befasst sich die vorliegende Doktorarbeit mit dem Naturschutzwert von Agroforsten, indem sie die Vielfalt, Bestandsstruktur und Zusammensetzung von Baumgemeinschaften in Vanille-Agroforsten untersucht und sie mit anderen baumbasierten Landnutzungstypen in der Mosaiklandschaft im Nordosten Madagaskars vergleicht. Um dies zu erreichen, entwickelt die vorliegende Doktorarbeit zunächst einen konzeptionellen Rahmen, der eine Naturschutzbewertung von Agroforstsystemen erleichtert. Anschließend werden einzelne Aspekte dieses konzeptionellen Rahmens anhand von Fallstudien untersucht. Die Fallstudien setzen unterschiedliche Schwerpunkte und decken damit ein umfassendes Spektrum ab, das von der Baumartenvielfalt und Bestandsstruktur, über die Baumartenzusammensetzung, die Vielfalt der Agroforst-Stützbäume bis zur Erfassung des oberirdischen Kohlenstoffbestands reicht. Die Fallstudien stützen sich auf Bauminventurdaten, die in Vanille-Agroforsten mit unterschiedlicher Landnutzungsgeschichte erhoben wurden, sowie in weitgehend ungestörten Wäldern, Waldfragmenten und holzigen Brachflächen, die alle Teil der kleinbäuerlichen Mosaiklandschaft im Nordosten Madagaskars sind. In der konzeptionellen Studie (Kapitel 1) wird zunächst dargelegt, dass sich tropische Agroforste in ihrer Landnutzungsgeschichte unterscheiden: sie können entweder im Wald oder auf Brachland angelegt werden. Jedoch wird dieser Unterschied in der Agroforstforschung und -politik bisher kaum beachtet. Auf der Grundlage von Literaturdaten und einem Beispiel aus eigenen Bauminventurdaten zeigt die Studie, dass sich Agroforste mit unterschiedlicher Landnutzungsgeschichte in Bezug auf biologische Vielfalt, Ökosystemfunktionen und Ökosystemdienstleistungen unterscheiden. Die Studie legt nahe, dass die Unterscheidung basierend auf der Landnutzungsgeschichte in verschiedenen Regionen und Agroforstsystemen anwendbar sein könnte, um lokale Naturschutzziele und Landschaftsmanagement besser aufeinander abzustimmen. Kapitel 2 analysiert die Bestandsstruktur und die Artenvielfalt von Bäumen in den verschiedenen Landnutzungstypen der kleinbäuerlichen Mosaiklandschaft. Dabei steht insbesondere im Fokus, wie sich die Landnutzungsgeschichte in Vanille-Agroforsten auf deren Bestandsstruktur und die Baumartenvielfalt auswirkt: die Studie zeigt, dass Agroforste, die im Wald etabliert wurden, wichtig für die Erhaltung der Lebensraumstruktur und der Baumvielfalt sind, während Agroforste, die auf Brachland etabliert wurden, eine Möglichkeit zur Wiederherstellung der Baumbestände auf diesen ehemals bewaldeten Brachflächen bieten. Kapitel 3 quantifiziert die Vielfältigkeit und Zusammensetzung der Baumartengemeinschaften innerhalb und zwischen verschiedenen Landnutzungstypen in der Mosaiklandschaft. Die Studie verwendet Beta-Diversitätsmaße, die Veränderungen in der Baumartenzusammensetzung und -häufigkeit in diesen verschiedenen Landnutzungstypen widerspiegeln, und zeigt, dass (bis jetzt) viele Baumarten in dieser Mosaiklandschaft überleben können. Allerdings sind die Fluktuationsraten innerhalb und zwischen den Baumgemeinschaften in den verschiedenen Landnutzungstypen hoch, was darauf hindeutet, dass sich die Baumgemeinschaften sowohl in ihrer Identität als auch in ihrem Abundanz verändern. Die Studie befürwortet die Durchführung von Maßnahmen zur Aufforstung und Renaturierung ehemals bewaldeten Brachlands, um die einzigartigen Baumartengemeinschaften in der vom Menschen veränderten Mosaiklandschaft zu erhalten, und schlägt als Einstieg die Etablierung von Agroforsten auf ehemals bewaldeten Brachflächen vor. Die Studie betont jedoch, dass die hohe Fluktuationsrate von Baumartengemeinschaften bei der Planung solcher Aktivitäten zu berücksichtigen ist. Kapitel 4 befasst sich mit der Vielfalt und Zusammensetzung von Agroforst-Stützbäumen, denen bisher wenig wissenschaftliche Aufmerksam zukam. Die Studie stützt sich auf Daten aus der Bestandsaufnahme von Agroforst-Stützbäumen in Vanille-Agroforsten mit unterschiedlicher Landnutzungsgeschichte, sowie auf Befragungen der Besitzer:innen der jeweiligen Vanille-Agroforste. Die Studie analysiert die Artenvielfalt, die Zusammensetzung und die geographische Herkunft der Stützbäume in diesen Vanille-Agroforsten und zeigt, dass Stützbäume wesentlich zur Baumvielfalt dieser Agroforste beitragen, aber abhängig von der Landnutzungsgeschichte werden deutliche Unterschiede zwischen Stützbaum-Beständen sichtbar: Stützbäume in Agroforsten, die im Wald etabliert wurden, umfassen viele einheimische und endemische Stützbaumarten und weisen einen viermal höheren Artenreichtum auf als Agroforste, die auf Brachland etabliert wurden und einen hohen Anteil an eingeführten Stützbaumarten beherbergen. Da auf Brachland etablierte Vanille-Agroforste eine wichtige Rolle bei der Aufforstung und Renaturierung ehemals bewaldeten Brachlands spielen können, empfiehlt die Studie bei deren Etablierung verstärkt auf einheimische oder endemische Baumarten als Stützbäume zurück zu greifen. Kapitel 5 quantifiziert die oberirdischen Kohlenstoffvorräte in den verschiedenen Landnutzungstypen der kleinbäuerlichen Mosaiklandschaft. Dabei wird insbesondere analysiert, wie die Landnutzungsgeschichte die oberirdischen Kohlenstoffvorräte in Agroforstsystemen beeinflusst. Die Studie zeigt, dass Agroforste als Kohlenstoffspeicher in einer multifunktionalen Landschaft fungieren können, dass es aber wichtig ist, ihre Landnutzungsgeschichte und ihre Bewirtschaftung zu berücksichtigen, um ihren Naturschutzwert zu maximieren: Agroforste, die im Wald etabliert wurden, weisen größere oberirdischen Kohlenstoffvorräten auf und haben das Potenzial, eine waldähnliche Struktur mit einheimischen und endemischen Bäumen in der Landschaft zu erhalten, während Agroforste, die auf Brachland etabliert wurden, dieses ehemalig bewaldete Brachland in dauerhaft baumdominierte Landnutzungssysteme zurückführen. Zusammenfassend tragen die Studien im Rahmen dieser Doktorarbeit dazu bei, die ökologische Bewertung tropischer Agroforste zu verbessern. Die Studien liefern datengestützte Erkenntnisse aus Fallstudien in der Mosaiklandschaft im Nordosten Madagaskars, welche die ökologische Bewertung der Vanille-Agroforstwirtschaft in dieser Region ermöglichen. Die vorliegende Doktorarbeit beleuchtet die Vielfalt, die Zusammensetzung und die Bestandsstruktur von Baumgemeinschaften in der Mosaiklandschaft im Nordosten Madagaskars und liefert damit wichtige Informationen, um die Folgen von Landnutzungsänderungen in dieser tropischen Landschaft zu quantifizieren und zu verstehen. Ein solches Verständnis ist unerlässlich für die Entwicklung von regional angepassten Landnutzungsplänen und Schutzmaßnahmen, die darauf abzielen, die Artenvielfalt, Ökosystemfunktionen und Ökosystemdienstleistungen zu erhalten, und ist somit sowohl für die Forschung als auch für den angewandten Naturschutz von hohem Wert. ; In Madagascar, a large percentage of the rural human population faces multifaceted poverty and depends on agriculture and natural resources as main livelihood sources. Consequently, the country's biodiverse natural ecosystems experience high land-use pressure. Especially the north-eastern rainforests comprise a remarkable diversity of trees species with high endemism rates but face rapid transformation into a human-modified mosaic landscape. This human-modified mosaic landscape in north-eastern Madagascar still contains a small share of protected old-growth forest and is otherwise composed of smallholder agricultural land, forest fragments, and smallholder agroforests to cultivate Madagascar's major export product vanilla. In these agroforests, trees are permanently integrated into the crop cultivation system either as shade trees or as support trees for the climbing vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia). Vanilla agroforests cover a wide range of structural and compositional characteristics and might offer promising land use options to reconcile biodiversity conservation with production goals in north-eastern Madagascar. Since evidence on the social and environmental benefits and tradeoffs of vanilla agroforestry has been scarce so far, the research project "Diversity Turn in Land Use Science" addresses this research gap. Within the frame of the Diversity Turn project, this thesis addresses the conservation value of agroforests by examining the diversity, stand structure, and composition of tree communities in vanilla agroforests and contrasting them to other tree-based land-use types in the mosaic landscape of north-eastern Madagascar. To do so, this thesis first establishes a conceptual framework on agroforestry systems and then works through the individual aspects of this framework, using case studies on species diversity and stand structure, species composition, support tree diversity, and aboveground carbon stocks. The case studies build on tree inventory data from vanilla agroforests of contrasting land-use history, old-growth forests, forest fragments, and woody fallows after slash-and-burn shifting cultivation, which all contribute to the smallholder mosaic landscape of north-eastern Madagascar. The conceptual study (chapter 1) elaborates that tropical agroforests differ in land-use history and may be either established inside a forest or on open land but this difference is often neglected in agroforestry research and policy. Based on literature data and an example from own tree inventories, the study shows that agroforests of contrasting land-use history differ in biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and services. The study suggests that the differentiation based on land-use history might be applicable in various regions and agroforestry systems, to better align landscape management with conservation goals. Chapter 2 analyses the stand structure and species diversity of trees in the different land-use types of the smallholder mosaic landscape. Therein, the study puts a special focus on how land-use history affects stand structure and species diversity in vanilla agroforests and demonstrates that forest-derived agroforests are important for maintaining habitat structure and tree diversity, whereas fallow-derived agroforests offer tree cover rehabilitation opportunities on open but formerly forested land. Chapter 3 quantifies the variation of tree species communities within and among different land-use types in the mosaic landscape. The study uses beta-diversity metrics that reflect changes in both species composition and abundance in these different land-use types and demonstrates that (thus far) many tree species can persist in this mosaic landscape. However, turnover rates are high within and between tree communities in the land-use types, indicating that tree communities are transforming both in identity and abundance. The study endorses the implementation of conservation and restoration activities to maintain the unique tree species assemblages in the human-modified mosaic landscape and suggests the establishment of agroforests on formerly forested degraded land as an entry point. However, the study emphasizes considering the high turnover rates of tree species communities in the planning of such activities. Chapter 4 focuses on the diversity and composition of agroforest-support trees, which have received little scientific attention so far. The study builds on support tree inventory data and farmer interviews from vanilla agroforests of contrasting land-use history. The study analyses the species diversity, composition, and geographic origin of support trees in these vanilla agroforests and shows that support trees substantially contribute to the tree diversity in these agroforests, but show clear differences based on land-use history: support trees in forest-derived agroforests encompass many native and endemic species richness and have four times higher species richness compared to fallow-derived agroforests, which harbor a high share of introduced species. Since fallow-derived vanilla agroforests can play an important role in restoration and rehabilitation, the study suggests a stronger consideration of native or endemic tree species in new to establish vanilla agroforests. Chapter 5 estimates aboveground carbon stocks across stem diameters and geographic origin of tree species in the different land-use types of the smallholder mosaic landscape. Therein, the study particularly analyses how land-use history influences aboveground carbon stocks in agroforestry systems. The study demonstrates that agroforests can act as carbon reservoirs in a multifunctional landscape, but considering their land-use history and management is important to maximize their benefits: forest-derived agroforests support higher aboveground carbon stocks than fallow-derived agroforests and have the potential to maintain a forest-like structure with native and endemic trees in the landscape, whereas fallow-derived agroforests take land out of the slash-and-burn cycle by converting it into permanent tree-dominated land-use systems. In conclusion, the studies within this thesis contribute to refining the conservation evaluation of tropical agroforests and provide data-based evidence to assess the conservation value of vanilla agroforests in the mosaic landscape of north-eastern Madagascar. The thesis sheds light on the diversity, composition, and stand structure of tree communities in the mosaic landscape of north-eastern Madagascar and thereby provides vital information to quantify and understand the consequences of land-use change in this tropical landscape. Such understanding is essential to develop land-use management schemes and conservation measures that aim to maintain species diversity, ecosystem functions, and services and is thus important for research and applied conservation alike. ; 2022-01-21

Background: The last two decades have witnessed Rwanda's rapid industrialization and technology development due to its successful governmental policy. Almost 75% of the population currently has access to the internet due to the increasing availability of smartphones in the country. Despite these advances, diabetes literacy and coping mechanisms were found to be lacking in some Rwandan communities. And although several studies have demonstrated smartphone applications to improve diabetes patients' self-management capacity, until the introduction of this research project in April 2019, there was no diabetes self-management application available in Rwanda. Objectives: The main aim of this research project was to develop "Kir'App"; the first Rwandan diabetes self-management smartphone application. Two goals were processed to achieve this. First, the needs and expectations of Rwandan diabetics of the potential app were assessed. Following the results of that assessment, the first prototype of Kir'App was developed. The app was presented to the participants of the previous study for use, and then a second study was conducted to evaluate the users' experiences after a period of 3 months of use. Methods: Both studies in this research project used the same research methodology. Study participants were recruited using convenience sampling at the Rwanda Diabetes Association. Data was collected using semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews. Findings were thematically analyzed using Mayring's method of qualitative content analysis. For the second study, both deductive and inductive approaches were used to analyze the transcripts according to the original categories and sub-categories of the previous study. Results: The first study included 21 participants with both type 1 (female = 5, male = 6) and type 2 (female = 6, male = 4) diabetes. Participants' age ranged from 18 - 69 years, with a mean age of 35.2 years. The second study included 14 people from the previous study. Their age ranged from 19 - 70 years, with a mean age of 34.4 years. The findings of the first study identified eight main themes: (1) diabetes education and desired information provision; (2) lack of diabetes knowledge and awareness; (3) need for information in crisis situations; (4) required monitoring and reminder functions; (5) information on nutrition and alcohol consumption; (6) information on physical activity; (7) coping with the burden of disease, through social support and network; and (8) app features. The results of the second study evidenced seven among the eight themes of the previous study and added one new theme: (1) diabetes education and desired information provision, (2) increased diabetes knowledge and awareness, (3) monitoring and reminder functions, (4) nutrition, (5) physical activity, (6) coping with the burden of disease, (7) app features, and (8) user behavior and usability. Generally, participants stated that the app increased their diabetes knowledge and assisted them with their diabetes self-management. Conclusion: This research project first provided recommendations that were used to design the features of the first Rwandan diabetes self-management smartphone application (Kir'App). Then the first prototype of Kir'App was developed and proved to meet the overall needs and expectations of the diabetics that participated in this research project. The qualitative insights that were discovered from the strict user-centered design process were used in this research project and will be followed for further improvement of the app. The next steps of this research project will focus on the evaluation of the impact of Kir'App on the Rwandan diabetics' self-management capacity and quality of life.:List of figures 7 List of abbreviations 8 1. Introduction 9 1.1. Background of the Study 9 1.2. Problem Statement 12 1.3. Study Aim 12 1.4. Research Objectives 13 1.5. Research and theoretical approaches used 14 1.6. Structure of the thesis 19 2. Publication 1: The Assessment of the Rwandan diabetics' needs and expectations to develop their first diabetes self-management Smartphone Application (Kir'App) 20 3. Kir'App, the first Rwandan diabetes self-management smartphone application 42 3.1. Kir'App description and development process 42 3.2. Functionalities (pages) of Kir'App 43 3.3. Some of Kir'App features in screenshots 45 4. Publication 2: A qualitative study of users' experiences after 3 months: the first Rwandan diabetes self-management Smartphone application "Kir'App" 49 5. Discussion 62 6. Conclusion and recommendations 67 6.1. Research objectives achievement 67 6.2. Limitations of the research project 68 6.3. Contribution to research fields and implication for practice of Kir'App 70 6.4. Recommendations 71 7. Summary 72 7.1. English version 72 7.2. German version 74 Bibliography 76 APPENDIXES 82 A. Appendix of study 1: Assessment of the Rwandan diabetics' needs and expectations to develop the first diabetes self-management smartphone application (Kir'App) A.1. Interview guide 83 A.2. Summary of recurrent themes and sub-categories with examples 85 B. Appendix of study 2: A qualitative study of users' experiences after 3 months: the first Rwandan diabetes self-management Smartphone application "Kir'App" 101 B.1. Comparison of themes 101 C. Autobiographic reflection 120 D.Acknowledgement 121 E.Dedication 121 F. Impact factor of journal with InCites Journal Citation Reports 122 Anlage 1 : Erklärungen zur Eröffnung des Promotionsverfahrens 123 Anlage 2: Einhaltung der gesetzlichen Vorgaben im Rahmen meiner Dissertation 124 Anlage 3: Ethical clearance to conduct the research project in Rwanda 125 ; Hintergrund: In den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten erlebte Ruanda aufgrund seiner erfolgreichen Regierungspolitik eine rasche Industrialisierung und technologische Entwicklung. Fast 75% der Bevölkerung hat derzeit, aufgrund der zunehmenden Verfügbarkeit von Smartphones im Land, Zugang zum Internet. Trotz dieser Fortschritte wurde festgestellt, dass insbesondere die Diabetes-Aufklärung und Versorgung in einigen Teilen Ruandas nicht erfolgreich verliefen. Obwohl mehrere Studien gezeigt haben, dass Smartphone-Anwendungen das Selbstmanagement von Diabetes-Patienten verbessern können, war bis zum Start dieses Forschungsprojekts im April 2019 in Ruanda keine Anwendung zum Selbstmanagement von Diabetes verfügbar. Ziele: Das Hauptziel dieser Studie war die Entwicklung von Kir'App, die erste Smartphone Selbstmanagement Anwendung von Diabetes in Ruanda. Zwei Schritte waren nötig um dieses Ziel zu erreichen: Im Forschungsteam haben wir zunächst die Bedürfnisse und Erwartungen ruandischer Diabetiker gegenüber einer potenziellen App erfragt. Nach den Ergebnissen dieser Bewertung wurde der erste Prototyp der Kir'App entwickelt. Die App wurde den Teilnehmern der vorherigen Studie für 3 Monate zur Verfügung gestellt, woraufhin eine zweite Studie durchgeführt wurde, um die Erfahrungen der Benutzer nach 3 Monaten zu erfragen. Methoden: Beide Studien dieses Forschungsprojekts verwendeten die gleiche Forschungsmethode. Die Studienteilnehmer wurden anhand von willkürlichen Stichproben bei der Rwanda Diabetes Association rekrutiert. Die Daten wurden mithilfe von halbstrukturierten persönlichen Interviews gesammelt. Die Ergebnisse wurden unter Verwendung von Mayrings Methode der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse nach grundlegenden Themen untersucht. Für die zweite Studie wurden sowohl deduktive als auch induktive Ansätze verwendet um die Transkripte gemäß den ursprünglichen Kategorien und Unterkategorien der vorherigen Studie zu analysieren. Ergebnisse: Die erste Studie umfasste 21 Teilnehmer mit Diabetes Typ 1 (weiblich = 5, männlich = 6) und Typ 2 (weiblich = 6, männlich = 4). Das Alter der Teilnehmer lag zwischen 18 und 69 Jahren, bei einem Durchschnittsalter von 35,2 Jahren. Die zweite Studie umfasste 14 Personen aus der vorherigen Studie. Ihr Alter lag zwischen 19 und 70 Jahren mit einem Durchschnittsalter von 34,4 Jahren. Die Ergebnisse der ersten Studie identifizierten acht Hauptthemen: (1) Aufklärung zum Krankheitsbild des Diabetes und gewünschte Informationsbereitstellung, (2) Mangel an Wissen und Verständnis für Diabetes, (3) Informationsbedarf in Krisensituationen, (4) Erforderliche Überwachungs- und Erinnerungsfunktionen, (5) Informationen zur Ernährung und Alkoholkonsum, (6) Informationen zur körperlichen Aktivität, (7) Bewältigung der Krankheitslast durch soziale Unterstützung und Netzwerke; (8) App-Funktionen. Die Ergebnisse der zweiten Studie zeigten sieben der acht Themen der vorherigen Studie und fügten ein neues Thema hinzu. (1) Aufklärung zum Krankheitsbild des Diabetes und Informationsbereitstellung; (2) Erhöhtes Wissen und Verständnis für Diabetes; (3) Überwachungs- und Erinnerungsfunktionen; (4) Ernährung; (5) körperliche Aktivität; (6) Bewältigung der Krankheitslast; (7) App-Funktionen; (8) Nutzungsverhalten und Benutzerfreundlichkeit. Im Allgemeinen gaben die Teilnehmer an, dass die App ihr Diabeteswissen erweitert hat und sie bei ihrem Diabetes-Selbstmanagement unterstützt hat. Fazit: Dieses Forschungsprojekt lieferte zunächst Empfehlungen, anhand derer die Funktionen der ersten ruandischen Smartphone Anwendung für das Diabetes-Selbstmanagement (Kir'App) entwickelt wurden (siehe 1. Studie). Dann wurde der erste Prototyp von Kir'App entwickelt, der die allgemeine Bedürfnisse und Erwartungen der Diabetiker, die an diesem Forschungsprojekt teilgenommen haben erfüllte (siehe 2. Studie). Die qualitative Erkenntnisse, die wir aus dem benutzerzentrierten Designprozess erhalten haben, werden zur weiteren Verbesserung der App verwendet. Die nächste Schritte dieses Forschungsprojekts konzentrieren sich auf die Bewertung der Effekten von Kir'App auf die Fähigkeit zum Diabetes-Selbstmanagement und die Lebensqualität der ruandischen Diabetiker.:List of figures 7 List of abbreviations 8 1. Introduction 9 1.1. Background of the Study 9 1.2. Problem Statement 12 1.3. Study Aim 12 1.4. Research Objectives 13 1.5. Research and theoretical approaches used 14 1.6. Structure of the thesis 19 2. Publication 1: The Assessment of the Rwandan diabetics' needs and expectations to develop their first diabetes self-management Smartphone Application (Kir'App) 20 3. Kir'App, the first Rwandan diabetes self-management smartphone application 42 3.1. Kir'App description and development process 42 3.2. Functionalities (pages) of Kir'App 43 3.3. Some of Kir'App features in screenshots 45 4. Publication 2: A qualitative study of users' experiences after 3 months: the first Rwandan diabetes self-management Smartphone application "Kir'App" 49 5. Discussion 62 6. Conclusion and recommendations 67 6.1. Research objectives achievement 67 6.2. Limitations of the research project 68 6.3. Contribution to research fields and implication for practice of Kir'App 70 6.4. Recommendations 71 7. Summary 72 7.1. English version 72 7.2. German version 74 Bibliography 76 APPENDIXES 82 A. Appendix of study 1: Assessment of the Rwandan diabetics' needs and expectations to develop the first diabetes self-management smartphone application (Kir'App) A.1. Interview guide 83 A.2. Summary of recurrent themes and sub-categories with examples 85 B. Appendix of study 2: A qualitative study of users' experiences after 3 months: the first Rwandan diabetes self-management Smartphone application "Kir'App" 101 B.1. Comparison of themes 101 C. Autobiographic reflection 120 D.Acknowledgement 121 E.Dedication 121 F. Impact factor of journal with InCites Journal Citation Reports 122 Anlage 1 : Erklärungen zur Eröffnung des Promotionsverfahrens 123 Anlage 2: Einhaltung der gesetzlichen Vorgaben im Rahmen meiner Dissertation 124 Anlage 3: Ethical clearance to conduct the research project in Rwanda 125

ABSTRAKPertumbuhan ekonomi memegang peranan penting dalam menentukan keberhasilan pembangunan sebuah negara, oleh karena itu setiap negara selalu menetapkan target pertumbuhan ekonomi yang stabil dalam tujuan pembangunan. Dalam prosesnya pertumbuhan ekonomi dipengaruhi oleh berbagai factor yang dapat mendorong atau bahkan menghambat laju pertumbuhan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pertumbuhan penduduk, keterbukaan perdagangan, inflasi, nilai tukar dan investasi terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi 40 negara anggota Organisasi Kerjasama Islam (OKI) pada tahun 2005-2019 menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan teknik analisis regresi data panel fixed effect model dan menggunakan aplikasi Eviews 11dalam mengelola data penelitian. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa variabel pertumbuhan penduduk dan nilai tukar memiliki hubungan signifikan dan negatif terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi, sedangkan keterbukaan perdagangan dan investasi berpengaruh signifikan dan positif. Sedangkan investasi tidak berpengaruh signifikan pada pertumbuhan ekonomi di Negara OKI. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini pemerintah dan pihak terkait diharapkan dapat mengendalikan tingkat pertumbuhan penduduknya serta mendorong sektor perdagangan internasional untuk meningkatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi mengingat tingkat keterbukaan perdagangan di Negara OKI masih dibawah potensinya.Kata Kunci: Pertumbuhan Ekonomi, Pertumbuhan Penduduk, Keterbukaan Perdagangan, Organisasi Kerjasama Islam. ABSTRACTEconomic growth plays an important role in determining the success of a country's development; therefore, each country always sets a target for stable economic growth in its development goals. In the process, economic growth is influenced by various factors that can encourage or even hinder the growth rate. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of population growth, trade openness, inflation, exchange rates and investment on the economic growth of 40 member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2005-2019 using a quantitative approach with a fixed effect model panel data regression analysis technique and using the Eviews application. 11 in managing research data. The results of this study indicate that the variables of population growth and exchange rates have a significant and negative relationship to economic growth, while trade openness and investment have a significant and positive effect. Meanwhile, investment has no significant effect on economic growth in the OIC Country. Based on the results of this study, the government and related parties are expected to control the rate of population growth and encourage the international trade sector to increase economic growth considering that the level of trade openness in the OIC is still below its potential.Keywords: Economic Growth, Population Growth, Trade Openness, Organization of Islamic Cooperation REFERENCESAbbas, Q., Nurunnabi, M., Alfakhri, Y., Khan, W., Hussain, A., & Iqbal, W. (2020). The role of fixed capital formation, renewable and non-renewable energy in economic growth and carbon emission: A case study of Belt and Road Initiative project. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27(36).Abubakar, A. B. (2015). Impact of International trade on economic growth in India. International Journal of Financial Research, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.5430/ijfr.v6n3p163Ali, S., Ali, A., & Amin, A. (2013). The impact of population growth on economic development in Pakistan. Middle East Journal of Scientific Research, 18(4), 483–491. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2013.18.4.12404Aprianto, N. E. K. (2017). Kebijakan distribusi dalam pembangunan ekonomi Islam. Jurnal Hukum Islam, 14(2), 73. https://doi.org/10.28918/jhi.v0i0.693Badan Kependudukan dan Keluarga Berencana. (2012). Analisis Dampak Laju Pertumbuhan Penduduk dan Kualitas Hidup Manusia di Indonesia.Baharumshah, A. Z., Slesman, L., & Wohar, M. E. (2016). Inflation, inflation uncertainty, and economic growth in emerging and developing countries: Panel data evidence. Economic Systems, 40(4), 638–657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2016.02.009Banerjee, R. (2012). Population growth and endogenous technological change: Australian economic growth in the long run. Economic Record, 88(281), 214–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2011.00784.xBarguellil, A., Ben-Salha, O., & Zmami, M. (2018). Exchange rate volatility and economic growth. Journal of Economic Integration, 33(2), 1302–1336.Becker, G. S., Glaeser, E. L., & Murphy, K. M. (1999). Population and economic growth. The American Economic Review, 89(2).Bucci, A., & Raurich, X. (2016). Population and economic growth under different growth engines. German Economic Review, 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/geer.12092Chirwa, T. G., & Odhiambo, N. M. (2016). Macroeconomic determinants of economic growth: A review of international literature. South East European Journal of Economics and Business, 11(2), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1515/jeb-2016-0009Destek, M. A. (2016). Natural gas consumption and economic growth: Panel evidence from OECD countries. Energy, 114, 1007–1015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2016.08.076Dzian, M., H. Paluš., & Parobek, J. (2020). The impact of globalisation on the Slovak timber trade. Sustainability of Forest-Based Industries in the Global Economy - Proceedings of Scientific Papers, 45–49.Ertimi, B. E., Albisht, E. M., & Oqab, B. A. (2016). The Impact of corruption on economic growth in oic countries the impact of corruption on economic growth in OIC Countries. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 8(9). https://doi.org/10.5539/ijef.v8n9p91Furqani, H. (2017). Consumption and morality: Principles and behavioral framework in Islamic economics. Journal of King Abdul Aziz University: Islamic Economics, 30, 89–102.Grauwe, P. D., & Schnabl, G. (2008). Exchange rate stability, inflation, and growth in (South) Eastern and Central Europe. Review of Development Economics, 12(3), 530–549. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9361.2008.00470.xGul, H., Mughal, K., & Rahim, S. (2012). Linkage between monetary instruments and economic growth. Universal Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 2(5).Haller, A. (2012). Concepts of economic growth and development. Challenges of crisis and of knowledge. Economy Transdisciplinarity Cognition, 15(1).Halwani, H. (2012). Ekonomi internasional dan globalisasi ekonomi. Surabaya: Ghalia Indonesia.Hasan, M. S. (2010). The long-run relationship between population and per capita income growth in China. Journal of Policy Modeling, 32(3), 355–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2009.09.005Hatmanu, M., Cautisanu, C., & Ifrim, M. (2020). The impact of interest rate, exchange rate and european business climate on economic growth in Romania: An ARDL approach with structural breaks. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072798Hayati, M. (2016). Investasi menurut perspektif ekonomi Islam. IKONOMIKA Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis Islam, 1(April), 66–78.Ikechi, K. S., & Emmanuel, N. C. (2015). Capital expenditures and gross fixed capital formation in Nigeria. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 6(12), 188–198.Ikit, Artiyanto, H., & Saleh, M. (2018). Jual beli dalam perspektif ekonomi Islam. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Gava Media.Ismail, P. Z. (2012). Teori ekonomi. Bandung: Dharma Ilmu.Jhingan, M. L. (2000). Ekonomi pembangunan dan perencanaan. Jakarta: Rajawali Press.Khalid, M. A. (2016). The impact of trade openness on economic growth in the case of Turkey. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 7(10).Khan, M. S., & Ssnhadji, A. S. (2013). Threshold effects in the relationship between inflation and growth. IMF Staff Papers, 48(1), 1–21.Kharis, M. M. (2011). Pengaruh faktor-faktor kependudukan terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi di kabupaten Pemalang. Skripsi tidak diterbitkan. Semarang: Universitas Diponegoro.Koirala, S. (2018). An analysis of the impact of real effective exchange rate on economic growth of Nepal. Pravaha, 24(1), 206–216. https://doi.org/10.3126/pravaha.v24i1.20239Mankiw, G. N. (2011). Makroekonomi. Terjemahan dari Macroeconomics 6th (ed.); 6th ed.).Milani, F., & Park, S. H. (2015). The Effects of Globalization on Macroeconomic Dynamics in a Trade-Dependent Economy : the Case of Korea. Economic Modelling, 48.Nurul Huda, dkk. (2017). Ekonomi Pembangunan Islam. Kencana Prenada Media Press.Peterson, E. W. F. (2017). The role of population in economic growth. SAGE Open, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017736094Razmi, M. J., & Refaei, R. (2013). The effect of trade openness and economic freedom on economic growth: The case of middle east and East Asian countries. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 3(2), 376–385.Rudiawan, H., & Meirinaldi. (2019). Dampak faktor-faktor makro ekonomi terhadap pertumbuhan produk domestik bruto Indonesia. Jurnal Ekonomi, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.37721/je.v21i1.535Sakinah, S. (2015). Investasi dalam Islam. IQTISHADIA: Jurnal Ekonomi & Perbankan Syariah, 1(2), 248. https://doi.org/10.19105/iqtishadia.v1i2.483Sugiyono. (2016). Metode penelitian kuantitatif kualitatif dan R&D. Bandung: CV. Alfabeta.Sukirno, S. (2013). Makro ekonomi teori pengantar. Jakarta: Raja Grafindo Persada.Sulistiawati, R. (2012). Pengaruh investasi terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi dan penyerapan tenaga kerja serta kesejahteraan masyarakat di provinsi di Indonesia. Jurnal Ekonomi Bisnis dan Kewirausahaan, 3(1), 29–50.Todaro, M. P., & Smith., S. C. (2013). Pembangunan ekonomi. Jakarta: Erlangga.Tsen, W. H., & Furuoka, F. (2005). The relationship between population and economic growth in Asian Economies. Asean Economic Bulletin, 22(3), 314–330. https://doi.org/10.1355/ae22-3eUmaru, H., A, A. N., & Davies, N. O. (2018). The effects of exchange rate volatility on economic growth of West African english-speaking countries. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 8(4), 131–143. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/v8-i4/5470Vorlak, L., Abasimi, I., & Fan, Y. (2019). The impacts of exchange rate on economic growth in Cambodia. International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting, 5(2), 78–83. https://doi.org/10.33094/8.2017.2019.52.78.83Yalçınkaya, Ö., Hüseyni, İ., & Çelik, A. K. (2017). The impact of total factor productivity on economic growth for developed and emerging countries: A second-generation panel data analysis. The Journal of Applied Economic Research, 4, 404–417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973801017722266Yao, W., Kinugasa, T., & Hamori, S. (2013). An empirical analysis of the relationship between economic development and population growth in China. Applied Economics, 45(33), 37–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2013.795284Zaky, M., Asyadi, M., Zainodin, M., Saja, M., Nawi, S. M., Firdaus, M., & Erna, N. (2015). Managing investment in the light of quran and sunnah: Textual analysis. Procedia Economics Anf Finance, 31(15), 380–386. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)01213-7

Questa tesi affronta il tema della sostenibilità in finanza che gioca un ruolo sempre più significativo nella performance finanziaria delle aziende: sono note le correlazioni positive e statisticamente significative tra le prestazioni ESG e le prestazioni finanziarie. L' obiettivo è approfondire uno dei tre criteri, la Governance, che altro non è che la struttura che abbraccia ogni questione in materia di finanza aziendale, per identificare le pratiche di governo societario che favoriscono sostenibilità e migliore redditività. I tre fattori contaminano l'intero sistema e per analizzarli è opportuno osservarli da due punti di vista principali: da una parte l'universo della finanza responsabile e dall'altra l'universo del business. Il Capitolo 1 si apre con una breve introduzione al mondo della finanza sostenibile, vengono approfonditi i criteri ESG e le strategie SRI. Successivamente entra nel cuore della trattazione con l'analisi del modello di Integrated Governance "A new model of governance for sustainability", ad oggi la ricerca più avanzata sul tema che è alla base di questa tesi e di tutti gli studi e le indagini in essa dibattuti. Nell'ecosistema impresa-società-ambiente l'azienda influenza la società che la circonda così come viene influenzata dagli stakeholder e diventa sempre più difficile danneggiare l'ambiente senza attirare l'attenzione negativa, con un danno di reputazione che riduca il capitale sociale. Lo studio dimostra che integrare la sostenibilità nella strategia aziendale presenta opportunità di innovazione e crescita. L'integrazione è necessaria per gestire rischi e creare un vantaggio competitivo, anche se implementare efficacemente una strategia in modo che risultino migliorate simultaneamente performance finanziaria ed ESG non è semplice: è fondamentale implementare processi e pratiche appropriati, con il coinvolgimento degli stakeholder, con misurazione e reporting delle prestazioni ESG e con una visione di lungo termine. Per questo nasce il modello di Integrated Governance, un ipotetico sistema che integra le questioni di sostenibilità per garantire la creazione di valore a lungo termine. Ogni azienda deve compiere un percorso di adattamento strutturato in tre fasi: dalla fase 1, nella quale la sostenibilità è fuori dell'agenda del CdA, si crea un percorso di transizione verso la fase 2, governance per la sostenibilità, tramite l'istituzione di comitati e il monitoraggio di indicatori che misurano i progressi rispetto alle iniziative. La fase 3, governance integrata, rappresenta lo schema da implementare nel quale il consiglio si assume la responsabilità di garantire una strategia sostenibile e viene assicurata la presenza di quattro caratteristiche imprescindibili: indipendenza a livello individuale, indipendenza di gruppo, retribuzione adeguata e investitori proprietari a lungo termine. Prendendo a riferimento questo modello, il presente lavoro prosegue nel Capitolo 2 a tratteggiare il quadro generale della corporate governance delle società quotate italiane, attraverso l'analisi delle società quotate sull'MTA effettuata da Consob. I risultati principali rilevano che in Italia il modello di controllo prevalente è quello familiare e frequentemente gli investitori istituzionali italiani sono azionisti rilevanti di imprese di piccole dimensioni e del settore industriale, mentre quelli esteri sono presenti in società finanziarie ed a elevata capitalizzazione. Cresce il numero di società che istituiscono comitati interni, multidisciplinari e strutturati in modo similare. Gli interlocker rappresentano il 23% del cda con maggiore presenza nelle grandi e medie imprese, ma rimangono una categoria di minoranza in consiglio. Il background professionale prevalente è di tipo manageriale, seguito da consulenti e professionisti, il livello di istruzione è inferiore nelle società a controllo familiare mentre nelle società controllate dallo Stato o da un istituto finanziario, gli amministratori sono più giovani e più istruiti. I membri delle società pubbliche sono più frequentemente donne e spesso accademiche, mentre nelle società finanziarie gli amministratori femminili sono meno frequenti, con buona presenza di stranieri e background manageriale più comune. La maggioranza degli emittenti riserva al genere femminile la quota di un terzo dei componenti del board: aumenta la quota di donne qualificate come indipendenti mentre si riduce il numero di casi in cui una donna ricopre la carica di ad, soprattutto nelle grandi aziende e nel settore dei servizi. L'età media è di 56,5 anni, ma tende a crescere nelle società Ftse Mib e nelle società finanziarie, viceversa scende nelle società di piccole dimensioni e nel settore servizi. Il Capitolo prosegue a delineare la situazione italiana attraverso l'indagine sul FtseMib Integrated Governance Index, lanciata nel 2016 da TopLegal ed ETicaNews, per conoscere il livello di "buon governo integrato" dei principali gruppi quotati italiani allo scopo di realizzare un indice quantitativo. Dai risultati della prima edizione emerge che esistono società lanciate nell'integrated reporting, tema noto e studiato da più funzioni aziendali, seppur con difficoltà nella gestione dei questionari e nella coordinazione. L'indice ha mostrato un notevole differenziale di punteggio tra settori e anche sui singoli ambiti di analisi c'è grande eterogeneità: nel comparto retribuzioni non viene raggiunto il punteggio pieno, nell'ambito dell'integrazione della sostenibilità solo due casi di pieno punteggio, e sul fronte dei comitati del board a livello di sostenibilità i punti sono molto bassi. Nel 2017 si registra un migliore feedback sulla governance integrata da parte delle aziende e un più alto engagement, con alcune società inizia un dialogo positivo, ma permangono realtà non interessate al progetto e altre con le quali non è stato stabilito un contatto. L'indice viene rivisto e corretto su alcune parti, emerge ancora grande eterogeneità e si confermano le tre posizioni di leadership. I risultati ottenuti nel 2018 invece dimostrano un passo in avanti nella partecipazione sul tema: aumentano i manager coinvolti nella sostenibilità, in particolare del Cfo, e l'Area ordinaria segna un miglioramento. Sull'indice complessivo pesa la parte finanza, introdotta nel 2017 e incrementata nel 2018, che riveste il tema centrale dell'Area Straordinaria. Il comitato di sostenibilità non è ancora la prassi per tutte le società che mostrano scelte eterogenee, risulta complesso l'esercizio sul presidio nel board di tutte le forme di valore, mentre migliora il legame tra remunerazione ed ESG. L'ultima indagine esaminata rivela il consolidamento della consapevolezza sulla governance ESG nel campione di riferimento e segnala un complessivo miglioramento dell'Index. Gli ESG iniziano ad essere percepiti come un tema trasversale alle funzioni aziendali ma per l'agenda del board sono ancora spesso una questione di reporting, policy e compliance. Il Capitolo 2 si chiude con l'approfondimento di due tematiche ritenute cruciali, ovvero la rappresentanza femminile nei Cda ed il ruolo della Direttiva Non Financial. Per quanto riguarda il primo approfondimento questo lavoro analizza i progressi globali verso un'eguale rappresentanza di genere nei CdA delle società attraverso lo studio Women on Boards di MSCI ESG Research, che rivela quanto siano lenti ma costanti i progressi verso l'obiettivo di rappresentanza femminile fissato a livello mondiale. Secondo le proiezioni del 2015 i componenti dell'indice avrebbero dovuto raggiungere il traguardo del 30% di rappresentanza femminile aggregata nel 2027. In base alle tendenze attuali invece le proiezioni sono state aggiornate e rivelano che dovremmo attendere fino al 2029. Ciò significa quindi che i progressi continuano ad avanzare lentamente, le donne occupano incarichi di amministratore ad un ritmo più lento rispetto a quanto. Circa il 21% delle società dell'indice ha ancora un board tutto maschile e sono localizzate in Asia, Cina, Giappone e Corea del Sud. Norvegia, Francia e Svezia aumentano la presenza femminile sopra al livello richiesto, insieme ad 'Australia e Nuova Zelanda. Gli Stati Uniti registrano progressi costanti toccando nuovi record di rappresentanza femminile. Nella suite C il livello è ancora basso ma aumentano i CFO donna, specialmente sui mercati emergenti. L'altro approfondimento riguarda lo sviluppo della rendicontazione non finanziaria: è sempre più pressante la richiesta da parte degli stakeholder di una maggiore trasparenza circa i rischi derivanti dall'attività d'impresa e sulla trasparenza delle informazioni di carattere non finanziario. Le aziende avvertono l'esigenza di definire la propria storia attraverso indicatori relativi alle politiche sociali e ambientali, per accrescere gli elementi della gestione, di natura qualitativa, quali la reputazione, la fiducia e il consenso. La Direttiva UE 2014/95 stabilisce nuovi standard minimi di reporting in relazione alla gestione del personale, al rispetto dei diritti umani e alla lotta alla corruzione. Mira ad introdurre e rafforzare comportamenti virtuosi e ha l'obiettivo di aumentare la trasparenza nella comunicazione di informazioni non finanziarie ed incrementare la fiducia degli investitori e degli stakeholder. Il Capitolo 3 entra nel merito della misurazione ed osservazione della correlazione tra performance finanziarie e integrazione ESG. È incentrato sullo studio di Banor SIM e del DIG del Politecnico di Milano sull'indice Stoxx® Europe 600. Emerge come i portafogli delle società con rating integrato registrano performance migliori rispetto al benchmark, mette in risalto come i portafogli delle società del con rating di governance performano meglio: il dato che vogliamo sottolineare è quello del parametro WOB, che consegue le performance migliori in assoluto. La tesi si chiude con l'esposizione di un case study di azienda che integra efficacemente i fattori esg all'interno del proprio modello di business, in linea con le best practices internazionali. È la migliore società italiana nel 2019 per corporate governance e integrazione dei fattori ESG nelle strategie aziendali, secondo l'IGI, dopo essere salita sul podio già nell'anno precedente.

Agriculture is important for most of the world's poor population not only as a source of income but defense against hunger. Over the last three decades, agricultural supply chain organizational structures in developing countries have increasingly become complex and transformed because of the emergence of competitive, fast-moving business environments. These changes have particularly affected several food value chains, creating in some cases positive effects, and resulting in the exclusion of smallholders who are unable to meet specific supply chain requirements. This counteracts the achievement of development goals by disrupting associated distributional effects to excluded smallholders in developing countries. Evidence suggests that affected smallholders respond by switching marketing channels and shifting to organizational network relationships. This consequently intensifies the formation of dualistic systems in which both modern and local value chains coexist. However, since the mid-1990s, the focus of development analysts and researchers has been on the expansion and inclusion of smallholders in modern value chains. This has resulted in total neglect of local value chains, which remain a significant source of income for many rural populations and ensure effective food delivery that meets culturally diverse needs in developing countries. Only recently has agribusinesses' and development analysts' attention been placed on local value chains yet, some key knowledge and research areas remain unaddressed. Indeed, our understanding of how local value chains are organized and function within dualistic systems remains generally limited. In particular, little is known about the role of socially constructed concepts such as gender-relations and decision-making power in driving value additions. Understanding these fundamentals is important for the postulation of policies for agricultural and local value chain upgrading and equitable distribution of wealth. Besides, smallholders continuously face external and internal contingencies that affect their competitiveness along food systems. Theory posits that the effects of changing business environments on smallholder performance can be mitigated by fitting supply chain network that includes vertical, horizontal and lateral relationships. However, the associations between these constructs as postulated theoretically remain generally underexplored, especially for smallholders in African food sectors. Frameworks and empirical analyses that holistically and simultaneously analyze these associations are rare. Furthermore, over the last two decades, there has been increasing attention of donors, governments and researchers to strengthen collection actions through producer groups in developing countries. Producer groups are widely viewed as valuable institutional arrangements for smallholders to cope with/overcome market inefficiencies arising from changing business environments. However, little is known about the effect of membership in producer groups on smallholder performance in fishery subsectors. Overall, bridging these gaps is important to understand and posit practical implications on how to promote alternative development models and smallholders' opportunities in dynamic food systems. On this account, this dissertation fills these gaps by analyzing the links between organizational structures, gender roles, and performance of smallholders in African local value chains. The dissertation consists of three main papers that are based on two types of data from the Nigerian shrimp and prawn sector. First, qualitative data was obtained between December 2017 and January 2018 from 48 respondents in three States namely; Akwa-Ibom, Delta and Lagos. The second data includes two sets of quantitative data obtained from the survey of 405 producers and 238 processors in Akwa-Ibom, Ondo and Lagos States between May and August 2018. The first paper aims to uncover how local value chains in dualistic food systems are organized, depicting the predominant governance themes, gender roles for value addition, and necessary upgrading strategies for smallholders in Africa. Failure of existing studies to capture the evolution and multiplicity of governance structures, and hidden social constructs has resulted in mixed findings on the organization and drivers of local value chains. Using qualitative data obtained from 3 in-depth focus group discussions and 21 key informant interviews, we rely on the global value chain approach to map local value chain's organization distinctively from modern value chains. We make a conceptual contribution by extending this approach to include a gendered dimension of the value web approach, which we developed. This allows for simultaneous analysis of the roles of governance schemes and hidden gender relations in driving local value chains. Our main results reveal that competitive traders, the mutual dependence between production and processing segments and strategic business activities of female processors were crucial for the chain's functioning. Results from the Net-maps show that the predominant marketing channel is long: producer–women processors/marketer–trader–retailer–consumer, however, analysis of the governance dimensions shows the importance of the relational governance between producers and women processors that allows for better coordination of supply and marketing activities at the supply-base. Further analysis of the gendered value-web highlights the vital roles women play in ensuring value additions and smooth flow of products along the chain. Women processors act as financial buffers for producers, points of contact and precursors to all midstream value additions in the value web. The second paper builds on the results and implications of the first paper. Here, we suggest a comprehensive quantitative research framework to determine the relationship between changing business contingencies, organizational supply chain networks and smallholder performance. While supply chain contingencies and organizational complexities have been widely studied in organizational theory literature, it only became a subject of quantitative analysis in recent times. Still, several conceptual and research shortcomings exist in the literature such as the neglect of the concurrent fit of organizational strategies to both external and internal contingencies, lack of comprehensive analysis of organizational networks, and less focus on multiple tiers. Hence, we use a variance-based structural equation model to analyze the quantitative data from producers and women processors. We first take a cue from contingent resource-based theory and netchain approach to conceptualize the influence of both external (market turbulence, technological progress, distrust and power asymmetry) and internal (human and financial resources) contingencies on organizational relationships and performance, extending an existing empirical model. We then empirically test the so-called "Contingency-Netchain-Performance" (CNP) framework, on two tiers to derive valid and comprehensive evidence comparable across the tiers. Results from the estimations indicate that both external and internal contingencies significantly influence adaptational change in organization supply chain network, which in turn contributes to smallholders' performance. All the smallholders' external contingencies influence the formation of tighter vertical coordination but their influences differ on horizontal and lateral relationships. More importantly, results reveal that smallholders' internal contingencies concurrently influence their organizational network structures and performance. However, the influence of both external and internal contingencies on organizational networks seems to differ across tiers while supply chain vertical relationships tend to intensify the formation of closer network structures. Several conceptual, theoretical and practical contributions emerged from the successful application of the CNP framework in this study. In the third paper, we examined the selectivity-corrected role of fisher groups on the capture and technical efficiency of artisanal shrimpers in Africa. We empirically identify factors that influence shrimpers' decision to belong to fisher groups and estimate the effect of membership on capture and technical efficiency. Methodological augmentation using Greene's stochastic production frontier method and propensity score matching that correct for selection bias, allows us to account for different technological set if any, and sample selection bias from both observed and unobserved factors. We use quantitative data of 353 producers that operate outboard engines, comprising of 95 members and 258 non-members. We found that the overall participation in fisher groups is positively determined by shrimpers' socioeconomic characteristics; female participation in shrimp-related groups; and infrastructural facilities like credit and tarmacked roads. The stochastic results reveal that technical efficiency scores remain consistently higher for members regardless of how biases were corrected. Although technical efficiency scores for members and nonmembers tend to be over-estimated if selectivity is not appropriately controlled, our findings suggest that participation in fisher groups is important for smallholders with below-average performance and positively related to increases in catch and technical efficiency. Important lessons and conclusions were derived from the results of this dissertation. The papers confirm that organizational network structures matter for smallholders' upgrading and local value chain development in Nigeria. Our results confirm strong influences from highly dynamic external and internal contingencies on the formation of dense and complex organizational network structures in which vertical and network relationships are dependent. By aligning their organizational network structure to fit changing external and internal contingencies, smallholders can create and remain competitive within dualistic sectors. However, associated concepts such as gender roles and internal contingencies across mutually dependent tiers are important to upgrade smallholders' activities. Furthermore, fisher groups is a valuable institutional arrangement as they tend to improve shrimpers' capture and technical efficiency, and might be crucial for attaining equitable distributional effects to smallholders with below-average economic performances. Relevant policy implications for smallholders' upgrading and local value chain development, as well as limitations of the study, are discussed in the papers.

The agroforestry system could be considered a dynamic management of the natural resource based on the integration of trees with crops or livestock. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the grass intake and the oxidative status of meat of geese reared in three different agroforestry systems: apple orchard (AO), olives trees (OT) and vineyard (V). Eighty one-day old Romagnola geese of both sexes were divided in four homogeneous groups: control (C), with indoor density of 5 geese/m2 and without pasture access, and the three agroforestry systems (AO, OT, V), with 1 hectare of pasture each. The geese were reared inside a poultry house until 20 days of age. At 21 days of age the animals belonging to AO, OT and V were allowed to outdoor access (pasture), whereas geese of the C group were kept indoor. At 150 days of age, the geese were slaughtered in a commercial slaughterhouse. After 24 h of storage at +4°C the breast and drumstick muscles were analysed to determine the fatty acid profile, the antioxidants content and the oxidative status. All the data were statistically analysed with ANOVA. The results showed that the grazing activity of geese improved the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids content, the n-6/n-3 ratio and the antioxidant content, especially in geese kept in the agroforestry systems enriched with trees (AO and OT). Indeed, the presence of trees make animals feel protected and stimulated them to explore the pasture and consequently to consume more grass. However, the best oxidative status was exhibited by the C geese. In the other groups the higher antioxidants intake through grass was not able to counteract the higher oxidative thrust and consequently, the meat of outdoor reared geese was characterized by a worst oxidative status. Further research is needed to identify new possible strategies to increase the antioxidant content in the muscle in order to reduce the lipid oxidation.Keywords: geese, agroforestry system, PUFA, oxidative statusReferencesBACH, E. et al. (2020). Soil biodiversity integrates solutions for a sustainable future. Sustainability, 12(7), 2662. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072662BROOM, D. M. (2019). Animal welfare complementing or conflicting with other sustainability issues. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 219, 104829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2019.06.010CARTONI MANCINELLI, A. et al. (2019). Rearing Romagnola geese in vineyard: pasture and antioxidant intake, performance, carcass and meat quality. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 18(1), 372-380. https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2018.1530960CARTONI MANCINELLI, A. et al. (2020). Performance, behavior, and welfare status of six different organically reared poultry genotypes. Animals, 10(4), 550. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10040550CASTELLINI, C. et al. (2016). Adaptation to organic rearing system of eight different chicken genotypes: behaviour, welfare and performance. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 15(1), 37-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2015.1131893COSENTINO, C. et al. (2015). Low vs high "water footprint assessment" diet in milk production: a comparison between triticale and corn silage based diets. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 27(3), 312-317. https://doi.org/10.9755/ejfa.v27i3.19226DAL BOSCO, A. et al. (2012). Fatty acid composition of meat and estimated indices of lipid metabolism in different poultry genotypes reared under organic system. Poultry Science, 91(8), 2039-2045. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2012-02228DAL BOSCO, A. et al. (2014). Effect of range enrichment on performance, behavior, and forage intake of free-range chickens. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 23(2), 137-145. https://doi.org/10.3382/japr.2013-00814DAL BOSCO, A. et al. (2016). Transfer of bioactive compounds from pasture to meat in organic free-range chickens. Poultry Science, 95, 2464–2471. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pev383DAL BOSCO, A. et al. (2019). The antioxidant effectiveness of liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) extract administered as dietary supplementation and/or as a burger additive in rabbit meat. Meat Science, 158, 107921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.107921DE BOER, I. J. M. et al. (2011). Greenhouse gas mitigation in animal production: towards an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 3(5), 423-431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2011.08.007DIRECTIVE, W. F. (2000). Water Framework Directive. Journal reference OJL, 327, 1-73.EC (European Commission). (2002). Implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources; synthesis from year 2000 Member States reports. OOPEC, Luxembourg, 44 pp.EC (European Commission). (2008). Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products with regard to organic production, labelling and control. Official Journal L 250, 1-84.EC (European Commission). (2011). Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 3.5.2011COM(2011) 244 final.EU REGULATION. (2007). Council Regulation (EC) No 834/07 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91.FAO. (2010). Fats and fatty acids in human nutrition. Report of an expert consultation, 10-14 November 2008, Geneva.FAO. (2016). State of the World's Forests 2016. Forests and agriculture: land-use challenges and opportunities. FAO, Rome.GATELLIER, P., MERCIER, Y. and RENERRE, M. (2004). Effect of diet finishing mode (pasture or mixed diet) on antioxidant status of Charolais bovine meat. Meat Science, 67, 385–394. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.meatsci.2003.11.009HEWAVITHARANA, A. K., LANARI, M. C. and BECU, C. (2004). Simultaneous determination of vitamin E homologs in chicken meat by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Journal of Chromatography A, 1025(2), 313–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2003.10.052HUGHES, B. O. and DUN, P. (1983). Production and behaviour of laying domestic fowls in outside pens. Applied Animal Ethololgy, 11, 201. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3762(83)90133-5J. D. and ACKMAN, R. G. (1992). Capillary column gas chromatographic method for analysis of encapsulated fish oils and fish oil ethyl esters: Collaborative study. Journal of AOAC International, 75, 488–506. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaoac/75.3.488JOUKI, M., RABBANI, M. and SHAKOURI, M. J. (2020). Effects of pectin and tomato paste as a natural antioxidant on inhibition of lipid oxidation and production of functional chicken breast sausage. Food Science and Technology, In press. https://doi.org/10.1590/fst.26419KE, P. J., CERVANTES, E. and ROBLES-MARTINEZ, C. (1984). Determination of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in fish tissue by an improved distillation–spectrophotometric method. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 35(11), 1248-1254. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2740351117LANTINGA E. et al. (2004) In: Penning P. D., editor. Herbage Intake Handbook. 2nd ed. Reading, UK: The British Grassland Society, p. 23–52.LIU, H. W. and ZHOU, D. W. (2013). Influence of pasture intake on meat quality, lipid oxidation, and fatty acid composition of geese. Journal of Animal Science, 91(2), 764-771. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2012-5854MASSACCESI, L. et al. (2019). Geese reared in vineyard: soil, grass and animals interaction. Animals, 9(4), 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9040179MATTIOLI, S. et al. (2017). Adaptive response to exercise of fast-growing and slow-growing chicken strains: blood oxidative status and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense. Poultry Science, 96(11), 4096-4102. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pex203MUGNAI, C., DAL BOSCO, A. and CASTELLINI, C. (2009). Effect of rearing system and season on the performance and egg characteristics of Ancona laying hens. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 8(2), 175-188. https://doi.org/10.4081/ijas.2009.175NAIR, P. V. R. and GARRITY, D. P. N. (2012). Agroforestry research and development: the way forward. Agroforestry -The Future of Global Land Use, 515-531.PAOLOTTI, L. et al. (2016). Combining livestock and tree crops to improve sustainability in agriculture: a case study using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 131, 351-363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.024PATRIZI, N. et al. (2018). Sustainability of agro-livestock integration: implications and results of Emergy evaluation. Science of the Total Environment, 622, 1543-1552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.029PLIENINGER, T. et al. (2016). The driving forces of landscape change in Europe: A systematic review of the evidence. Land Use Policy, 57, 204-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.04.040PONTE, P. I. P. et al. (2008). Influence of pasture intake on the fatty acid composition, and cholesterol, tocopherols, and tocotrienols content in meat from free-range broilers. Poultry Science, 87(1), 80-88. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2007-00148ROSATI, A. et al. (2012). Olive agroforestry: an inverse approach to agroforestry. In: Mosquera-Losada MR, Pantera A, Rosati A, Amaral J, Smith J, Dupraz C (eds). What priorities for European agroforestry. Book of abstracts of the 1rst European agroforestry conference, Brussels. 9–10 Oct 2012. ISBN:978-84-96351-79-0SAN-MIGUEL-AYANZ, J. et al. (2017). Forest fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. ISBN 978-92-79-92831-4, https://doi.org/10.2760/663443SOSSIDOU, E. N. et al. (2015). Effects of pasture management on poultry welfare and meat quality in organic poultry production systems. World's Poultry Science Journal, 71, 375–384. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043933915000379SOW, A. et al. (2020). Birds and bats contribute to natural regulation of the millet head miner in tree-crop agroforestry systems. Crop Protection, 132, 105127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2020.105127StataCorp. 2015. Statistical software, release 14. College Station (TX): StataCorp.TINELLO, F. et al. (2017). Co-fermentation of onion and whey: A promising symbiotic combination. Journal of Functional Foods, 39, 233-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2017.10.018TORRALBA, M. et al. (2016). Do European agroforestry systems enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services? A meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 230, 150-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.06.002

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde retrospektiv auf Grundlage der Sektionsprotokolle der Jahrgänge 1975 und 2015 aus dem Institut für Rechtsmedizin Hamburg bezüglich Sektionsdatum, Geschlecht, Alter, Größe, Gewicht, Todesursache und Todesart geprüft, wie sich das Sektionswesen in den vergangenen 40 Jahren entwickelt hat und ob aufgrund von gesellschaftlichen, wissenschaftlichen und demografischen Veränderungen in Deutschland im Laufe der letzten 40 Jahre ein Panoramawandel stattgefunden hat. Zudem wurden besondere Identifikationsmerkmale der Leichen und der Einsatz des CT im Jahr 2015 erfasst. Die Obduktionsrate ist in den letzten 40 Jahren um 17 % zurückgegangen. So wurden n = 1512 Sektionen im Jahr 1975 durchgeführt, während es 2015 nur n = 1267 waren. Im Hinblick auf die Geschlechterverteilung sind sowohl 1975 als auch 2015 doppelt so viele männliche wie weibliche Fälle im Gegensatz zu der offiziellen Todesursachenstatistik, in der ein ausgeglichenes Verhältnis vorliegt, zu verzeichnen. Hinsichtlich der Altersverteilung ist festzustellen, dass aufgrund der demografischen Verschiebung und der sich stetig verbessernden Lebensqualität durch ständige wissenschaftliche und medizinische Erkenntnisse das Durchschnittsalter in den letzten Jahrzehnten in Deutschland angestiegen ist. Diese Erkenntnis deckt sich mit dem ermittelten Durchschnittsalter des untersuchten Sektionsguts der Jahre 1975 und 2015. So ist das Durchschnittsalter des Sektionsguts von 51,6 Jahren im Jahr 1975 in mehr als 10 Jahren auf 62,57 Jahre im Jahr 2015 angestiegen. Gleichzeitig wurden im Jahr 2015 viermal mehr Fälle von über 90-Jährigen als 1975 erfasst. Im Hinblick auf die jahreszeitliche Verteilung ist sowohl 1975 als auch 2015 keine Auffälligkeit zu erkennen. Mithilfe der erhobenen Daten wird ersichtlich, dass sich das Verhältnis der Sektionsart in den letzten 40 Jahren gewandelt hat. Während es sich im Jahr 1975 um 70 % Verwaltungssektionen, 28 % gerichtliche Sektionen und 2 % berufsgenossenschaftliche Sektionen handelte, waren es 2015 nur noch 19 % Verwaltungssektionen, 74 % gerichtliche Sektionen und 7 % berufsgenossenschaftliche Sektionen. Diese Veränderung des Sektionstyps liegt vor allem an dem sich ändernden Aufgabenspektrum eines rechtsmedizinischen Instituts in den letzten Jahrzehnten. Dies zeigt sich insbesondere an dem Anstieg der Sektionen im Auftrag von Berufsgenossenschaften um fast das Dreifache in den vergangenen 40 Jahren aufgrund der Erkenntnis über den gesundheitsschädigenden Einfluss von Asbest bei Berufen, die direkt bzw. indirekt einer Asbestbelastung ausgesetzt waren. Die Veränderung des rechtsmedizinischen Aufgabenspektrums spiegelt sich auch im Verhältnis der festgestellten Todesart wider. . So wurden 1975 43 % (n = 654) natürliche, 47 % (n = 717) nicht natürliche, 5 % (n = 64) Verdachtsfälle und 5 % (n = 77) unklare Todesfälle erfasst, während es sich 2015 154 um 59 % (n = 752) natürliche, 34 % (n = 433) nicht natürliche, 3 % (n = 26) Verdachtsfälle und 4 % (n = 56) unklare Todesfälle handelte. Im Hinblick auf die natürlichen Todesfälle ist festzustellen, dass sowohl 1975 als auch 2015 der Tod aufgrund einer Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankung mit Abstand die größte Gruppe von natürlichen Todesursachen darstellt. Dazu zählen z. B. Todesursachen wie die koronare Herzkrankheit, der Herzinfarkt, eine Kombination aus verschiedenen Faktoren oder Herzrhythmusstörungen. Es folgen sowohl 1975 als auch 2015 die respiratorischen Todesursachen, zu denen z. B. die Pneumonie, eine Lungenembolie oder die Folgen eines Bronchialkarzinoms zählen. Zudem wurde mithilfe der Berechnung des Body-Maß-Indexes geprüft und bestätigt, dass Menschen mit Übergewicht einem erhöhten Risiko ausgesetzt sind, plötzlich aufgrund ihrer Lebensweise zu versterben. Einen Sonderfall der erfassten natürlichen Todesfälle stellen die plötzlichen Todesfälle von Kleinkindern dar, dessen Ursachen bis heute unter Wissenschaftlern diskutiert wird. Es ist ein Rückgang der plötzlichen Kindstodesfälle von n = 43 Fällen im Jahr 1975 auf n = 27 im Jahr 2015 zu verzeichnen. Dies entspricht einem Rückgang von 37 %. Bei Betrachtung der erfassten nicht natürlichen Todesfälle im Jahr 1975 im Vergleich zu 2015 ist ein erheblicher Wandel in den letzten 40 Jahren festzustellen. 1975 stellen die Suizide die größte Gruppe der nicht natürlichen Todesfälle mit 39,3 % (n = 280) dar, gefolgt von Verkehrsunfällen (n = 199, 27,9 %), Unfällen (n = 128, 17,9 %), Tötungsdelikten (n = 78, 10,9 %) und ärztlichem Fehlverhalten (n = 2, 0,3 %), während 2015 das ärztliche Fehlverhalten mit 33,6 % (n = 142) die größte Gruppe der nicht natürlichen Todesumstände darstellt, gefolgt von Unfällen (n = 101, 23,7 %), Suiziden (n = 61, 14,3 %), Verkehrsunfällen (n = 58, 13,6 %) und Tötungsdelikten (n = 28, 6,6 %). Insbesondere der Rückgang der tödlichen Verkehrsunfälle um 70,8 % zeigt, dass durch Fortschritte in der Fahrsicherheit wie die Einführung des Sicherheitsgurts und des Airbags eine erhebliche Reduzierung der Verkehrsunfälle möglich ist. Gleichzeitig zeigt der enorme Anstieg der Sektionen mit Verdacht auf ärztliches Fehlverhalten von nur n = 2 Fällen im Jahr 1975 auf n = 142 im Jahr 2015, dass sich durch das steigende Gesundheitsbewusstsein bei Patienten und Angehörigen und die stetig fortschreitenden wissenschaftlichen Entwicklungen im Bereich der Medizin und den Anspruch der Patienten auf eine erhöhte Heilungschance, aber gleichzeitig mit zunehmenden Problemen im Hinblick auf Krankenhaushygiene durch die Zunahme der Resistenzen bei Antibiotika durch multiresistente Keime wie MRSA, ein erheblicher Wandel im Aufgabenspektrum der rechtsmedizinischen Institute vollzogen hat. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen einen erheblichen Wandel des Sektionswesens im Institut für Rechtsmedizin Hamburg in den letzten 40 Jahren, was weitgehend mit anderen Arbeiten, die sich mit einer ähnlichen Thematik befasst haben, übereinstimmen. Jedoch wird durch den Rückgang der Obduktionsrate und den Wandel des rechtsmedizinischen Aufgabenbereiches deutlich, dass es von grundlegender Bedeutung ist, auf politischer Ebene Gesetzesänderungen vorzunehmen, um die Obduktionsrate zu steigern und so die Dunkelziffer der potenziell nicht natürlichen Todesfälle, die ärztliches Fehlverhalten, Unfälle, Suizide, und Tötungsdelikte darstellen, reduzieren zu können. ; This dissertation has been performed retrospectively on the basis of autopsy protocols dated 1975 and 2015 from the Department of Forensic Medicine Hamburg, whereby the autopsy date, sex, age, height, weight, cause of death and type of death and behavior of the deceased over the past 40 years are all factors that have been examined. Furthermore, this dissertation has taken into account the social, scientific and demographic developments in Germany over the last 40 years, in order to assess any contributory impact. In addition, special identifying features of the bodies, and the introduction of CT scanning in 2015 have been considered. The autopsy rate has dropped by 17% over the last 40 years. So n=1512 autopsies were performed in 1975, while in 2015 only n=1267 were recorded. In terms of gender distribution, both in 1975 and 2015, it is evident that there are twice as many male cases as there are female. This is in antithesis to the official cause of death statistics, where a more uniform correlation of gender can be observed. With regard to age distribution, it can be concluded, that due to a shift in the demographic situation as well as a steadily improving quality of life, which can be attributed to the fast-paced developmental nature of science and medicine, the average life expectancy in Germany has risen in recent decades. This finding is corroborated by the mean age of the deceased examined during the years 1975 and 2015. For example, the average age of the deceased examined in 1975 increased from 51.6 years of age by more than 10 years to 62 years in 2015. At the same time, more cases involving individuals over the age of 90 were recorded in 2015 than in 1975. Regarding the seasonal distribution in both 1975 and 2015, no discrepancies can be observed. The data collected show that the types of autopsies have transformed in the last 40 years. Whilst 70% of the cases examined in 1975 were scientific autopsies, 28% were forensic autopsies and 2% occupational-related autopsies, in 2015 there were only 19% scientific autopsies, 74% forensic autopsies and 7% occupational-related autopsies documented. This variation in the type of autopsy can arguably be ascribed to the altering range and nature of tasks of a forensic institute in recent decades. This is particularly evident in the rise of autopsies conducted on behalf of professional associations, which have almost tripled over the past 40 years, due to the recognition of the harmful effects of asbestos on occupations directly or indirectly exposed. The change in forensic landscape is also reflected in the relationship between the types of death observed. For example, in 1975, 43% (n=654) natural deaths, 47% (n=717) unnatural deaths, 5% (n = 64) suspected cases and 5% (n = 77) unclear deaths were recorded. In contrast, 2015 noted 59% (n=752) natural deaths, 34% (n=433) unnatural deaths, 3% (n=26) suspected cases and 4% (n=56) unclear deaths. 156 In terms of natural deaths, both in 1975 and 2015, death due to cardiovascular disease is by far the largest observed group of natural death causes. This includes coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction or a combination of various factors or cardiac arrhythmias. Both 1975 and 2015 marked prevalence in respiratory causes of death, such as pneumonia, pulmonary embolism or the consequences of bronchial carcinoma. In addition to this, the introduction of the Body Measurement Index (BMI), enabled a substantiation of the hypothesis that lifestyle choices can play a pivotal role and confirmed that obesity can lead to an increased risk of death. It is also relevant to note the special category of recorded natural deaths, namely that of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which still is a heatedly debated topic amongst scientists. Statistics show that there is a decrease in sudden death in childhood cases from n=43 cases in 1975 to n=27 in 2015, namely a 37% observed decrease. When examining recorded unnatural deaths in 1975 compared to 2015, there has been a significant all-encompassing change over the last 40 years. In 1975, suicides represent the largest group of unnatural deaths, with 39.3% (n=280), followed by traffic incidents (n=199, 27.9%), accidents (n=128, 17.9%), negligence (n=78, 10.9%) and medical negligence (n=2, 0.3%). Interestingly in 2015 medical negligence constitutes the largest contributor to unnatural deaths at 33.6% (n=142), followed by accidents (n=101, 23.7%), suicides (n = 61, 14.3%), traffic accidents (n = 58, 13.6%) and homicides (n=28, 6.6%). In particular, the 70.8% drop in fatal traffic accidents demonstrates that advances in driving safety have been made, such as the introduction of the seatbelt and the airbag. These have been crucial in ensuring the reduction of traffic-related incidents. Concurrently, the considerable increase in suspected medical negligence, from only n=2 cases in 1975 to n=142 in 2015, shows that there has been a significant change in the range of tasks of forensic institutes due to increased health awareness among patients and relatives, and the ever-advancing scientific developments in the field of medicine. This inevitably leads to an increased possibility of recovery, however it simultaneously incorporates the growing concern of hospital hygiene, as well as the increase in resistance to antibiotics by multiresistent germs as by MRSA. The conclusion of this dissertation is, that the Department of Legal Medicine Hamburg has undergone a multitude of structural changes in the last 40 years. This upholds, to a large extent, the findings of other academic findings, touching upon a similar issue. However, the decline in the rate of autopsies, and the transformation that the field of forensic medicine has undergone, make clear that it is instead essential to make policy changes at the political level, and to increase the number of autopsies. It is only in this manner that the unreported death toll, medical malpractice, accidents, suicides, and homicides can be combated and we will be able to witness a decline in such statistics.

Розглянуто передумови становлення та історичні аспекти розвитку кафедри обліку та оподаткування НУБіП України, проаналізовано основні напрями її діяльності, що стали визначальними у формуванні наукового світогляду студентів. Розкрито зміст базових досліджень науковців, їх вклад у професійне становлення конкурентоспроможних сучасних фахівців з бухгалтерського обліку в умовах навчального процесу. Систематизовано результати науково-дослідної роботи студентів як невід'ємної складової навчального процесу і одного із найважливіших засобів підвищення якості підготовки і виховання фахівців з вищою освітою, професійної компетентності і конкурентоспроможності майбутніх випускників на ринку праці, здатних творчо застосовувати в практичній діяльності наукові досягнення. Окреслено стратегію розвитку кафедри обліку та оподаткування, що спрямована на всебічне оновлення всіх сфер її діяльності, інтенсифікацію навчально-виховного процесу, поглиблення науково-дослідницької роботи зі студентами, зростання кваліфікації майбутніх бухгалтерів і престижу професії.Ключові слова: кафедра обліку та оподаткування, підготовка кадрів, професорсько-викладацький склад, навчально-методична робота, науково-дослідна робота ; The preconditions of formation and historical aspects of development of the accounting and taxation Department of NULES of Ukraine are considered. In particular, it is substantiated that the Department of Accounting and Taxation is leading in the training of specialists in the field of specialty (training direction) "Accounting and Taxation" ("Accounting and Audit"). Periodization of the history at the Department with refinement names (Accounting and Auditing, Accounting, Analysis and Audit) appears as a consistent change at the chronological stages. Its founder-organizer and first head in 1959 became Associate Professor S.M. Rogachenko. With his participation, calculation type of the estimated accounting Plan in the collective farms, which was officially recognized in Ukraine, and subsequently became the all-union, which contributed to the creation of integrated system of Accounting in agriculture instead of an autonomous. Historically, a powerful scholarly school has been formed, aimed at further development of fundamental search and applied research on Accounting, and over time - Audit and Taxation. The emergence, development and enrichment of the academic accounting school coincides with the leadership at the Department of the Doctor of Economics, Professor I.V. Malyshev, who carried out a fundamental scientific research with an impact on the theory of Accounting by substantiating the method of double recording.The content of the basic researches of scientists, their contribution to the professional formation of competitive modern accountants in the conditions of the educational process is revealed. In particular, Professor Kireytsev G. G. prepared 32 Candidates and two Doctors of Economic Sciences (L.V. Gutsalenko, P.L. Suk); carried out scientific research at the most important theoretical socio-economic and scientific and technical problems of Accounting development in Ukraine. The scientist carried out his scientific research in two main areas: theoretical and methodological principles of Accounting development and training of accounting personnel in the system of higher agroeconomic education. The results of scientific research were published in more than 200 scientific and methodological works, among them were monographs, textbooks, manuals. Among the scientific works in the nomination "Monograph in the field of economic knowledge in the direction of: Accounting, Audit and Statistics", in particular the monograph "Globalization of the Economy and the unification of the Accounting methodology" (2008), was recognized as the best one by NAAS of Ukraine. The scientific achievements of the Professor at the Department L.K. Suk are outlined: he has developed the Recommendations of the check form of control of the internal economic calculation, Recommendations of the application of the journal-order form of Accounting, Typical standards for the planning, accounting and calculation of the production (works, services) cost of agricultural enterprises; the imitative accounting and analytical model of reproduction management of long-term biological plant production assets has been formed; in practice, proposals have been approved to reflect and group the costs of their cultivation. 14 candidate dissertations have been defended under scientific guidance of the scientist.The directions of modern researches of leading scientists, which became the decisive factors in forming the scientific outlook of students, were determined. In particular, head of the Department Professor E.V. Kaliuga within the Strategy for the Modernization of the Accounting System in the Public Sector for 2007-2015 (Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 34 of 16.01.2007) took a direct part in the elaboration and final editing of national accounting standards drafts (public accounting standards) (forward - NP(S)APS: 122 "Intangible assets", 124 "Revenue", 126 "Rent", 127 "Impairment of assets", 136 "Biological assets", built on the basis of the IPSAS, taking into account the IMF GFSM 2001). E. V. Kalyuga was awarded with gratitude of the Methodological Accounting Board under the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine (2010), with the Honorary Diploma of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine (2011), with other awards for a significant contribution to the development of Ukraine's Accounting and high professionalism. Effective scientific and methodological work on updating and improving the normative-methodical providing of Accounting and financial reporting was carried out by E.V. Kaliuga in the composition of the Methodological Accounting Council of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine (from 2007 for the next eight years). In scientific researches of Professor E.V. Kaluga theoretical and methodological principles of Accounting in the state sector of Economy, the estate of economic control in Ukraine and directions of its reform are prioritized. Various problematic issues of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation in the conditions of harmonization of domestic Accounting and Control to the requirements of international standards are consistently developed in secured dissertations under the direction of Professor E.V. Kaluga (five Candidates of Economic Sciences have been prepared and defended).The article systematizes the results of research work of students as an integral part of the educational process and one of the most important means to improve the quality of training and education of specialists with higher education, professional competence and competitiveness of future graduates in the labor market, able to creatively apply in practical activities scientific achievements.Significant attention is dedicated to the international activity at the Department, which became an integral part of its evolutionary development. Professors carry out joint research on the problems of the theory and methodology of Accounting with scientists from foreign educational institutions through the preparation of scientific articles, reports for international conferences, postgraduate students for the implementation of dissertation papers; lecturers undergo a scientific-pedagogical internship at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences under a program of scientific exchanges organized by UNESCO (Ph.D., Associate Professor Litvinenko V.S., 2016). The activization of international activity at the Department with the direct participation of students is emphasized. In particular, the American Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), which has more than 80,000 members from 120 countries, has provided six scholarship grants to the most talented Master students: A. Dudnichenko, R. Gorbunenko, V. Chekarev, V. Vovchenko, O. Gnesy and N. Pinchuk. The program provides free training and passing exams to one of the most popular among practitioners international qualifications in managerial Accounting, "Certified Management Accountant (CMA)", and as a result - the acquisition of complex competencies which are necessary for the work of specialists in the field of Accounting, Audit and Taxation or related financial sector at domestic and international companies. Within international cooperation the University Bachelors, Masters and Postgraduate Students of the Department of Accounting and Taxation successfully study abroad at leading universities and study internships at enterprises in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Japan, USA, gaining experience in European education and innovative knowledge in specialty.The necessity of cooperation not only with foreign ones, but also with domestic scientific and educational institutions is substantiated because the issue of graduate`s employment has special importance for the Department of Accounting and Taxation. The Department's own experience in shaping the bases of passing students' practice and ensuring the employment of graduates is revealed. Range of business and scientific partners are used in full measure, among them are the Research Financial Institute DNNU «Academy of Financial Management», State Audit Office of Ukraine, leading consulting company EBS and others. The need and high value of cooperation with experts-practitioners, representatives of government bodies is confirmed by the cycle of recent meetings.The strategy of Accounting and Taxation Department aimed at the comprehensive updating of all spheres of its activity, the intensification of the educational process, deepening of research work with students, the growth of qualifications of future accountants and the prestige of the profession is outlined. The presented scientific achievements, the developed partnership relations testify that the Department is not just a certain contingent of scientific and pedagogical workers, the place of transfer of their knowledge to the next generation. This, above all, is traditions based on the years and style of study, the motivational atmosphere of scientific knowledge with the involvement of students in this process. At the same time, the new challenges of society development, the current world crisis of education and, finally, the scientific achievements of the Department of Accounting and Taxation require its modern faculty members to formulate and implement new tasks and goals. Among the priorities are identified the search for alternative and rational ways to strengthen positions at the educational field, multiplying and disseminating at the domestic and international levels scientific achievements that would meet modern European challenges, including life-long learning, reorientation of the educational process from traditional ways of transferring existing knowledge to students to development their abilities and innovations, their ability to learn. At the same time, it is important to integrate the directions of educational, research and educational work of students, which must be realized both during studying and outside the educational process. The driving principles of the Department of Accounting and Taxation are defined: combination of the best existing educational traditions of the Department and the experience of domestic and international higher educational institutions; flexibility in responding to existing social changes, creativity and innovation of faculty members.