authors: Oleksandr Marchuk, Iryna Marchuk
Urgency of the research. Thanks to the return to the theological discourse of the 20th century of the ontological-organic approach to the understanding of soteriology (the understanding of salvation in the connotation of healing), there was a renewal of interest in the achievements of the Eastern Patristic theological tradition. And the main thing is the preservation and disclosure of conceptual authenticity in the conditions of the acutely actualized need to realize (especially in this bloody time of war) the unconditional value of human life, not only physical, but also mental and spiritual health. In this methodological perspective, the scientific output of outstanding representatives of the neopatristic direction of Christian therapeutic theology is particularly axiologically significant and extremely practically in demand.
Target setting. Taking into account the active development of the chaplain movement in Ukraine, the need to develop organizational and legal norms and the main aspects of the activity of chaplains in health care, the formation of a conceptual base in the functional and applied provision of their work, the need for practical application of theoretical developments of the neopatristic direction of therapeutic theology in this area.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The conceptual basis of the study was made up of the works of well-known representatives of the neo-patristic direction of Christian therapeutic theology: Protopresv. Ioannis Romanidis, Metr. Iierofei Vlakhos and Jean-Claude Larchet. Among the Ukrainian scientists, public activists, and chaplains-practitioners who touched on the topics of medical chaplaincy within the scope of their scientific investigations or public initiatives are: L.-O. Andriyshyn, O. Brat-siun, M. Vasin, S. Dmitriev, S. Karvatska, A. Nahirnyak, R. Piasta, T. Rysey, Ya. Rohman, O. Rudenko, I. Sichkarik, A. Chmyr, S. Ubogov and others. However, unfortunately, in the domestic historiography, there is no comprehensive scientific research, which would be devoted to the analysis of the prospects for the practical implementation of the concepts of the neopatristic direction of therapeutic theology in the Ukrainian medical chaplaincy.
The research objective. In the conducted study, the main vectors of the possible practical use of these ideas in the field of development of Ukrainian medical chaplaincy at the initial stages of implementation (educational cluster) are proposed, which, in fact, actualizes the research focus of this article, defines its main goal and task.
The statement of basic materials. Structurally, the topic of scientific intelligence is revealed in three parts. First of all, the patristic teaching on salvation, the attainment of spiritual perfection, holiness was reproduced in the spiritual and therapeutic connotations of the basic concepts of neopatristic theology. The basic neopatristic approaches to their interpretation and practical social demand are revealed. In the second part of the study, the educational prospects of applied application of the ideas of the neopatristic direction of Christian therapeutic theology in the field of Ukrainian medical chaplaincy (an important initial stage before its implementation) are analyzed. In the third part of the work, clear recommendations and proposals for the organizational content of the prospects for the gradual introduction of clinical pastoral care in Ukraine are offered.
Conclusions. Therapeutic concepts of neopatristic theology are an important content core in the formation of educational developments for the training of chaplains and assistant chaplains (within formal, informal and informal education), elective courses for the acquisition of soft skills for students of various specialties and specializations of formal education. Accordingly, the practical results, in fact, the first attempts to implement the outlined work, as well as the concrete phasing of actions regarding the implementation of medical chaplaincy at the regional levels, have been proposed.
Key words: “therapeutic theology”, “medical chaplaincy”, “palliative care”, “education of medical chaplains”, “clinical pastoral care”.
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