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2010. gada nogalē filozofijas doktora, RA nāca klajā Reģionālistikas institūta vadošā pētnieka, LU profesora Valda Tēraudkalna monogrāfija "Kristus un cēzars. Kristietība un vara vēsturē". Kā monogrāfijas prezentācijā 9. decembrī Rēzeknē uzsvēra autors, cēzars nav konkrēta vēsturiska personība, bet gan laicīgās varas simbols – tāpēc arī grāmatas nosaukumā uzrakstīts ar mazo burtu. Laicīgās un garīgas varas attiecības – daudzveidīga līdzāspastāvēšana un cīņa par ietekmi – iezīmē plašu problēmloku un diskusiju objektu. Neskatoties uz aktualitāti, atjaunotās Latvijas valsts laikā šai problemātikai veltītu akadēmisku, ārpus kristīgo konfesiju oficiālajām mācībām esošu pētījumu skaits ir nepietiekams.Laicīgās un garīgās varas attiecību aspekti analizēti vien tiesību zinātņu speciālista Ringolda Baloža monogrāfijā (Balodis 2000), vēsturnieces Ineses Runces promocijas darbā (Runce 2008) un atsevišķu pētnieku publikācijās RA Reģionālistikas iznstitūta žurnāla "Via Latgalica" otrajā numurā (Via Latgalica 2009). Tāpēc V. Tēraudkalna monogrāfija vērtējama kā pietiekami nozīmīgs notikums.Tāpat kā savā pirmajā monogrāfijā (Tēraudkalns 2003) par publiskajā telpā neviennozīmīgi vērtēto Vasarsvētku kustības darbību Latvijā, V. Tēraudkalna ievēro "skata no malas" principu – secinājumus veicot akadēmiskās robežās un neuzsverot savu viedokli un vērtējumu.Pieteiktā tēma ir plaša un komplicēta ar starpdisciplināru raksturu. Izvēlētais pētāmo jautājumu loks ir pamatots un lielā mērā latviešu valodā lasošam lasītājam – novators, jo monogrāfijā ietverti ne tikai tie strāvojumi un personības, kas kristietības vēsturē atstājušas paliekošu lomu (Augustīns, reformācija u. c), bet aplūkotas arī Latvijā maz zināmas tēmas (radikālās reformācijas pārstāvju izpratne par valsti, kristietība komunistiskajā Ķīnā u. c.)Monogrāfijā analizētas laicīgās un garīgās varas attiecības no kristietības pirmsākumiem līdz mūsdienām, uzmanību veltot aprakstītā laika posma ietekmīgāko teologu atziņām par to, kādam jābūt šo attiecību modelim. V. Tēraudkalns plaši izmanto salīdzinošo metodi, kas pētījumu paplašina laikā un telpā – aprakstot agrāk notikušu faktu un parādību, tiek norādīts uz to izpausmēm arī vēlākajos posmos un mūsdienās, rakstot par parādībām Eiropā, Ziemeļamerikā un Āzijā, norādīts uz līdzīgām parādībām arī Latvijā.Autors monogrāfijas sākumā atspoguļo, kā no marginālas sociālas kustības kristietība kļūst par valsts reliģiju ar visām no tā izrietošām sekām– no upura līdz vajātājam. Seko turpinājums par baznīcas un valsts (valdnieka) varas konkurenci viduslaikos, par valsts un baznīcas attiecībām reformācijas laikmetā, kad reformācijas ideologi norāda uz kristiešu pienākumu līdzdalībai arī pilsoniskās aktivitātēs. Tiek analizēta kristietības loma ASV politiskās sistēmas izveidē, "kristīgo" partiju (Kristīgie demokrāti un Kristīgie sociālisti) izveidošanās 19. un 20. gadsimtā un ideoloģiskā nostādne – sasaistīt politiku ar kristīgajām vērtībām.Lasītāju interesi saistīs monogrāfijas nodaļa par politikas sakralizāciju 20. gadsimtā (politiskās reliģijas) nacistiskajā Vācijā, fašistiskajā Itālijā un komunistiskajā Ķīnā. Tāpat lasītājs tiek iepazīstināts ar marksisma sociāli politisko teoriju iekļaušanu teoloģiskajā diskursā pēc Otrā pasaules kara (Dieva izredzētie un nabadzīgie, Dievs cieš līdz ar mums, nākotne maina tagadni u. c. līdzīgi lozungi).Monogrāfijas pēdējā nodaļa veltīta kristietības lomai mūsdienu Eiropas publiskajā telpā, akcentējot Anglijas pieredzi. Noslēgumā, runājot par kristietības saistību ar demokrātiju, autors secina, ka tieši demokrātija ir atbrīvojusi baznīcu no tās privilēģijām, ļaujot rast savu sūtību kalpošanā citiem, nevis mēģinot sevi saglabāt kā varas struktūru. Tajā pašā laikā tiek pievērsta uzmanība mūsdienu demokrātijas dažiem ētiskajiem aspektiem.Monogrāfijas zinātnisko kvalitāti "ceļ" plašais avotu un Kembridžas, Kopenhāgenas, Oksfordas, Vīnes u. c. universitāšu bibliotēkās izmantotās zinātniskās literatūras klāsts. V. Tēraudkalna pētījums iezīmēs jaunus mazāk zināmus faktus un to interpretāciju laicīgās un garīgās varas attiecībās gan dažādu zinātņu nozaru pētniekiem, gan ārpus akadēmiskās vides esošiem interesentiem.

The aim of the paper is to reflect the political activities of the Roman Catholic Church in two periods of the history of Latvia and the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia – in the period of First Independence of the Republic of Latvia, basically in the 1920s, and in the period following the restoration of Latvia's independence. With the foundation of the independent state of Latvia, the Roman Catholic Church experienced several changes; - bishops of the Roman Catholic Church were elected from among the people; - the Riga diocese was restored the administrative borders of which were coordinated with the borders of the state of Latvia; - priests of the Roman Catholic Church were acting also in political parties and in the Latvian Parliament. For the Church leadership, active involvement of clergymen in politics was, on the one hand, a risky undertaking (Francis Trasuns' experience), but, on the other hand, a necessary undertaking, since in this way the Roman Catholic Church attempted to exercise control over politicians and also affect the voters in the elections for the Saeima. The status of the Church in the State of Latvia was legally secured by the concordat signed in the spring of 1922 which provided for a range of privileges to the Roman Catholic Church: - other Christian denominations in Latvia are functioning in accordance with the regulations elaborated by the State Control and confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior, but the Roman Catholic Church is functioning according to the canons set by the Vatican; - releasing the priests from military service, introduction of the Chaplaincy Institution; - releasing the churches, seminary facilities, bishops' apartments from taxes; - a license for the activity of Roman Catholic orders; - the demand to deliver over one of the church buildings belonging to Riga Evangelical Lutherans to the Roman Catholics. With the regaining of Latvia's independence, the Roman Catholic Church of Latvia again took a considerable place in the formation of the public opinion and also in politics. However, unlike the parliamentarian period of the independent Latvia, the Roman Catholic Church prohibited the priests to involve directly in politics and considered it unadvisable to use the word "Christian" in the titles of political parties. Nowadays, the participation of the Roman Catholic Church in politics is indirect. The Church is able to influence the public opinion, and actually it does. The Roman Catholic Church does not attempt to grasp power, but to a certain extent it can, at least partly, influence the authorities so that they count with the interests of Catholic believers. Increase of popularity of the Roman Catholic Church in the world facilitated also the increase of the role of the Roma Catholic Church in Latvia. The visit of the Pope in Latvia in 1993 was a great event not only for the Catholic believers but also for the whole state of Latvia. In the autumn of 2002, in Rome, a concordat was signed between the Republic of Latvia and the Vatikan which is to be classified not only as an agreement between the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia and the state of Latvia but also as an international agreement. Since the main foreign policy aim of Latvia is integration in the European Union and strengthening its positions on the international arena, Vatican as a powerful political force was and still is a sound guarantee and support in international relations.

During the first independence of the Latvian Republic, the radical agrarian reform between 1920 and 1937 was the most important attempt to solve the agrarian problem. At the core of the reform was the nationalization of the estates, the buildings, the interior inventory and the cattle, and the distribution of the land which had become property of the National Land Fund (NLF) among landless peasants and small farmers. The objective of the paper is to identify the different factors that cumbered the beginning of the agrarian reform in Latgale and made it more complicated. In Latgale there was a big problem to abandon the system of land management under collective responsibility, which slowed down the personal initiative of the farmers and therefore constrained the introduction of more progressive methods of land cultivation and management. In Latgale, as a long-term adminstrative part of the guberniya of Vitebsk, archaic methods of managementi similar to those in Russia prevailed. After the formation of the Latvian state, when the region of Latgale joined the better developed regions of Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Zemgale, the agrarian underdevelopment of Latgale became particularly obvious. Therefore, eliminating this gap in the agrarian development became one of the most important tasks on the way to an economically and politically stable state. Although the Latvian law on the Agrarian reform was meant to apply to the whole territory of Latvia, the agrarian reform in Latgale needed to react to peculiarities that demanded additional measures. While preparing and implementing the agrarian reform in Latgale, it was necessary to consider the historical "heritage" from the times when Latgale was part of the Polish- Lithuanian state and the Russian Empire: - A non-efficient system of management which was based on rural management expertise; - An artificially created shortage of land among the Latgalian, i.e. Catholic farmers, since there were restrictions for them in land purchasing; - Poorly educated and conservative farmers. Since 1917, the situation of the Latgalian farmers became worse because of unlawful activities by different armies such as the requisition of cattle and looting. Because of the continuing existence of the Soviet regime until January, 1920, the registration of landless peasants and the land assignment started later in Latgale than in other regions. When the land assignment in Latgale started, at first the data that the land surveyors and regional managers of the National Land Fund had gathered on site had to be processed. The precise area under the administration of the National Land Fund was not known, nor was the area of the land which was used for agricultural purposes. There were no maps of the major part of the estate and village lands in Latgale. As long as Latgale used to be the part of the Guberniya of Vitebsk, there was no data about Latgale. Many archives of the agrarian commission were destroyed by the communists in 1919, and during World War I parts of them had already been taken to Russia. There was no organized land register in Latgale. From a legal point of view, the land was registered under the name of one owner, but in reality many heirs often cultivated the land together. In addition, there were some legally registered shared land properties in Latgale. There were not many landless peasants in Latgale, but there were indeed many small farmers who had obtained the right to acquire additional land. The quantity of the land of the National Fund in Latgale did not correspond to the large number of land claims. In Latgale, about 60% of the small farmers had a right to claim land. Since the procedure of land assignment was therefore much more difficult in Latgale than in other Latvian regions, the special instruction № 25 was drafted for Latgale in addition to the law on the agrarian reform. This instruction regulated the principles of land assignment from the National Fund in the region. The instruction provided for greater privileges for land claims put forward by locals. Although there were a lot of difficulties and problems during the preparation of the agrarian reform and the land assignment in Latgale, it finally proved to be a great achievement for the solution of the agrarian problems in Latvia in general.