Tomislav Ivančić

Tomislav Ivančić (born November 30, 1938 in Davor , Kingdom of Yugoslavia , † February 17, 2017 in Zagreb ) was a Croatian Roman Catholic theologian .

Life

Ivančić studied philosophy and theology in Zagreb and Rome . He was ordained a priest in 1966 . After obtaining his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University , he returned to Zagreb in 1971, where he completed his habilitation on The Revelation as a Mutual Relationship. A contribution to the theology of revelation 1975 professor for fundamental theology at the catholic-theological faculty of the University of Zagreb was.

From 1998 to 2001 Ivančić was Dean of the Catholic Theological Faculty. Since 1998 he has also been the director of the Institute for Fundamental Theology. Since 2004 he has been a member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission .

Ivančić was the founder of "Hagiotherapy" and in 1990 he founded the "Center for Spiritual Help" in Zagreb .

Community "Prayer and Word" and "Hagiotherapy"

Tomislav Ivančić is considered to be the founder of "Hagiotherapy" (Greek: Hagios 'Heilige' Therapeia 'Heilung'), especially in the context of the MiR community ( molitva i riječ , in Germany, Austria and Switzerland "Prayer and Word") ) applied pastoral care concept, which is to be classified in the area of ​​"therapeutic pastoral care". The MiR community is a catholic association of lay people whose goals are spiritual help for people in conflict and crisis situations as well as evangelism. Theologically it stands in the context of the Catholic-Charismatic evangelism movement .

Methods

Hagiotherapy is based on trying to heal spiritual and moral ailments. It sees itself as a philosophical-theological theory and practice model based on a triad of body, psyche and spirit. Ivančić sees a crucial level in the spiritual, as many causal disorders in this area would ultimately manifest themselves as symptoms in body and soul. He therefore speaks of “symptomatic spiritual illnesses” such as remorse , fears and traumatic states, which express themselves as wounds to body and psyche.

Ivančić developed training programs with which so-called “spiritual” traumas such as fears, oppression, senselessness, aggressiveness etc. should be healed. These are carried out in so-called centers of spiritual help , where the course leaders have received special theological training. He assumed that every illness, of a physical or mental nature, often has a spiritual dimension and that the healing of the human spirit plays a key role in healing the whole person. In his opinion, spiritual health manifests itself in an aggressiveness with negative connotations . The “Eirene Therapy” is about the goal of reconciliation and liberation from all aggressions .

In his opinion, with the involvement of the clergyman, the greatest chances of healing would be achieved, as one “not only makes use of the powers of the human spirit, but also the powers of the Spirit of God”. The human being would touch the transcendence with his spirit and “survive himself even if he loses his life”. This state can be achieved with the help of grace , specifically through prayers , the reception of the sacraments , penance and church proclamation .

criticism

According to the theologian Harald Baer, ​​hagiotherapy is very close to the charismatic movement . Their professions in the healing power of faith , are "with thinking Biser and Beinerts not compatible because of a semantic similarity serious theological differences are facing." Bonds make them true in the methods of logotherapy , represent "but the claim of a greater range and efficiency insofar as logotherapy remains limited to the area of ​​the inner-worldly and finite ”. Ivančić attempted “to let almost all the important authors of Western intellectual history have their say”, but “no discussion of the theses, no weighing of arguments, no working out of convergences and divergences” took place. When quoting biblical passages, look for "in vain exegetical comments, not to mention current literature references".

The theologian and physician Walter Schaupp criticized the fact that hagiotherapy succumbs to the temptation to " incorrectly transfer the logic of classical therapeutics to the spiritual level". In addition, theologically outdated thoughts of guilt and atonement could be found in it, for example that “the moral guilt of grandparents can manifest itself in physical illnesses of the grandchildren”, which should be treated accordingly “spiritually”.

The theologian Winfried Müller called on religio.de the “use of medical vocabulary” in “pastoral interactions” as problematic due to “a subsequent confusion of terms”. It is "to be warned against using this vocabulary for theological interaction". Ivančić would leave "the terrain of serious scientific work" and open the door to "an amateur patchwork medicine".

Publications

• Tomislav Ivančić: Diagnosis of the Soul and Hagiotherapy ,
• Tomislav Ivančić: Basics of Hagiotherapy , Graz 1998, Gratia, ISBN 3-901569-07-3
• Tomislav Ivančić: Hagiotherapy. A method of spiritual help ,
• Tomislav Ivančić: Therapy of the Mind
• Tomislav Ivančić: Encounter with the Living God, Salzburg 2007, Grafocommerce, ISBN 3-902521-10-4
• Tomislav Ivančić: Human wounding on all sides, Zagreb 2017, Teovizija
• Tomislav Ivančić: Healing of Humans in Hagiotherapy, Illertissen, Media Maria Verlag, ISBN 978-3-9815943-6-2
• Tomislav Ivančić: Hagiotherapy in the encounter with people , Berlin 2015, LIT Verlag, ISBN 978-3-643-12954-3
• Tomislav Ivančić: When God dies. Fundamental theological approaches , Berlin 2016, LIT Verlag, ISBN 978-3-643-13053-2
• Tomislav Ivančić: Renewals of the Church in Today's World , Berlin 2016, LIT Verlag, ISBN 978-3-643-13304-5
• Tomislav Ivančić: Jesus of Nazareth - historical person. Approaches with a view to fundamental questions from theology, history, literary and cultural studies. Preface by Thomas Söding , Berlin 2018, LIT Verlag, ISBN 978-3-643-13617-6 .

literature

• Gloria Braunsteiner: Therapy of the Mind. The Hagiotherapy Approach - an Example of Therapeutic Theology ?, (Dissertation 2003) Münster 2004, LIT, ISBN 3-8258-7060-X
• Gloria Braunsteiner: Hagiotherapy at the touchstone of therapeutic theology , in: Spirit and life . - 79. 2006, 3. - pp. 224-234.

Web links

• Literature by and about Tomislav Ivančić in the catalog of the German National Library
• Community “Word and Prayer” by Tomislav Ivančić
• Diploma thesis by Leni Mairhofer on the subject of hagiotherapy (PDF file; 1.28 MB)
• "The goal is spiritual health" , Harald Baer in the material service of the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauung questions

Individual evidence

1. ^ Preminuo mons. dr. Tomislav Ivančić. In: vecernji.hr. Večernji list doo, February 24, 2017, accessed February 17, 2017 (Croatian). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} "The aim is mental health" Harald Baer in Materialdienst 2/2010 of the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauungsfragen
3. ↑ Leni Mairhofer: Hagiotherapy (PDF; 1.3 MB): Pastoral theological and pastoral psychological considerations on 'therapeutic pastoral care' using the example of 'Hagiotherapy' according to Prof. Dr. Tomislav Ivancic, diploma thesis for obtaining the master’s degree at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Karl Franzens University Graz.
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Winfried Müller: Hagiotherapy. In: religio.de.
5. ↑ Alois Krist: Tension instead of division: Dimensions of a conducive handling of aggression in the church, Lit Verlag 2010, p. 70 here online on Googlebooks.
6. ↑ "The Spiritual Dimension of Sickness - Christian Perspectives". Walter Schaupp, Institute for Moral Theology of the Catholic-Theological Faculty Graz, pp. 6, 8 (PDF; 220 kB).