SOTER: Journal of Religious Science / SOTER: religijos mokslo žurnalas

The Faculty of Catholic Theology: between origins and present

Kęstutis Žemaitis — 2025-07-02

Marketing Signs of Medical Abortion in the Internet Media

Birutė Obelenienė — 2025-07-02

In order to legalise medical abortion (legalised on 1 January 2023), a large-scale propaganda campaign was launched in the Lithuanian online media, with the majority of articles advocating for the legalisation of medical abortion. This article uses a qualitative document analysis method to collect data from one of the most visited online portals delfi.lt. By entering the keywords medical abortion, medical termination of pregnancy, mifepristone in its search engine and specifying the period of publication of the articles from 31 December 2021 to 1 January 2024 (the period before the legalisation of medical abortion), it found 9 articles of which 8 were in favour of medical abortion. The content analysis of the articles identified categories corresponding to the selected marketing advocacy attributes. It was also found that the experts claiming to be obstetrician-gynaecologists made false statements that were not in line with scientific research. Based on the review of the research conducted and the investigation carried out, it can be concluded that the use of inaccurate and misleading terminology in the articles, the omission of the massive and prolonged bleeding and intense pain inherent in medical abortion, is deliberate misleading of consumers, which may affect the woman’s free and informed consent.

The Role of Conscience in the Sacrament of Penance

Skaistė Barkutė — 2025-07-02

The article highlights the role of conscience in the preparation for and celebration of the Sacrament of Penance. In today’s world, there is a notable devaluation of both conscience as a unique human moral faculty of judgement and the Sacrament of Penance. However, the Sacrament of Penance, established by Christ, enables a person to recover the relationship with God that was broken by sin and to renew the state of grace. Reconciliation requires sincere repentance and conversion of heart. Therefore, for repentance to be truly effective, it is essential that the evil committed by the person be perceived, and the conscience of the person plays a major role in this perception. Conscience is very important because it is the only way we can have a feeling of sin. Only a sensitive and just conscience not only encourages us to avoid evil, but also points out our sins and calls us to repentance and confession. A thorough examination of conscience also awakens thankfulness to God, which strengthens the believer’s desire to avoid sin.

Evaluating the Sex Education Content of the General Life Skills Programme From a Moral-Value Perspective

Živilė Advilonienė — 2025-07-02

The article addresses the problematic aspects of the value-moral education of minors in the sexual education portion of the General Life Skills Programme (GLSP). Its analysis is based on the premise that sexual education is inseparable from the value-worldview approach, which determines the paradigm, content and direction of the programme development. Exploring the interaction between the attitudes towards value-moral education of young people and societal expectations, the article is based on the analysis of the content of the sexual education part of the GLSP. Although the GLSP's founders acknowledge the value-worldview nature of the programme by aligning it with moral and social education programmes, the study reveals a disjuncture between the content of the programme and societal expectations: the GLSP is categorised as a mandatory formal education without alternatives; it is based exclusively on sex education and focuses on a unified, universally applied, partial (dis-integrated) sex education, based on controlling the consequences of risk. The methodological tools recommended for the programme often do not correspond to the age of minors, do not correspond to their psychosocial development, do not take into account the unique situation of the young person's physical, psycho-emotional and social maturity, and do not take into account other circumstances in their life. The GLSP does not take into account the individual situation and needs of the pupil, it rejects the natural concept of the family, and it excludes the principles of Christian anthropology. The sexual education part of the GLSP does not teach virtues, respect for human life, the family and the institution of marriage. Qualities such as bashfulness and chastity, which are important in sexual education, are presented in a negative connotation, and attitudes towards gender-neutral intimate behaviour are formed, associating sexual intercourse with the egocentric pursuit of pleasure, physical and social security, rather than with the profound encounter between the I-Thou between a man and a woman, which opens the way for the beginning of a new life.

Setting up Prayer Spaces in Emergencies: Preliminary Guidelines

Gabrielius E. Klimenka — 2025-07-02

In emergency situations, religious aspects are or become very important for some victims and often for rescuers. In the face of crisis or danger, people face spiritual anxiety and loss and seek solace, but often the conditions to meet this need are simply not in place, as it is not yet foreseen in Lithuania’s emergency preparedness plans. Emergency management only addresses the physical needs of the victims. Psychological first aid is sometimes provided, but spiritual assistance is very rarely provided, and this need is not reflected in any of the planning phases. This paper presents initial guidelines for establishing a prayer space that can meet the spiritual needs of people in distress. It outlines what infrastructure elements should be present in a prayer space, how the logistics are developed, what challenges and problems may arise, and suggestions on how to address them. When setting up a prayer space in an emergency situation, it is necessary to take into account the local religious diversity and design the interior accordingly. A prayer space can be multi-faith and therefore its interior design should be easily adaptable or changeable. It is important to ensure the size of the space, comfort, the provision of necessary religious facilities, the compatibility of prayer times and the availability of spiritual staff. This practice helps to meet the spiritual needs of all victims and to create an atmosphere of peace and support, even in the most difficult circumstances. The study also considers the importance of prayer in emergency situations and the need for training of spiritual personnel. In the first case, it is observed that prayer has not only a spiritual but also a psychosocial effect; in the second case, spiritual personnel must be prepared not only to respond to the spiritual needs of the victim but also to be able to deal with the emergency situation. The discussion on the installation of a prayer space suggests the creation of an interreligious or multifunctional space, where not only Catholics but also other religions can pray. Interfaith training of professionals is particularly relevant, as the number of people of other religions in Lithuania is growing, and this could ensure that spiritual assistance can be provided to people of other religions in the future. The article also makes recommendations to various institutions that could contribute to the implementation of the issue raised.