09/07/2025 14:00
- 16:15
HALL: Audimax
Proponent:
Pekala U.
Chair:
Peetz K.
Speaker:
Bista M.,
Malek A.M.,
Peetz K.,
Pekala U.
Christianity presents itself as a religion giving special meaning to suffering through references to Christ's passion and resurrection. In the consequence, it attributes salvific dimension also to the human suffering. Christianity has also developed a model of patiently enduring suffering in imitation of Christ.
Yet is this Christian concept still viable in the changing socio-cultural context? To what extent does it actually help individuals to endure suffering? Or does it rather result in people who suffer being left alone with their pain? The latter problem is not only limited to individual experiences of suffering. It seems that the Christian concept of suffering makes the abandonment of people in pain a systemic issue, affecting the functioning of institutions, communities and society, also beyond the religious context. The following negative effects of this concept can be observed: person's ability to set boundaries in the face of violent behavior is decreased; for a perpetrator it is easier to escape accountability; finally, people around the suffering person can find an exemption from their responsibility to help.
The ambivalence of the Christian concept of suffering is particularly revealed in the context of the socio-cultural transformation influencing also the religious sphere. Indeed, significant impact for critical reflection on this issue comes from outside the church, e.g.: from medicine and psychology (especially from approaches promoting empathy and exposing the mechanisms of violence); from organizations raising public awareness of the needs and rights of ill people or those with disabilities; from grassroots initiatives seeking justice for the sexually abused in the church.
On this backdrop, the panel aims to critically examine the contemporary validity of the Christian concept of suffering from the perspectives of systematic theology, church history, social sciences, and pastoral practice in the medical care.