The Role of the Faith in Jesus Christ in the Family Experience of Grief
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI believe that the conclusions should be supported to a greater extent by empirical research. These are the respondents' statements regarding their feelings of mourning. There are relatively few such statements, and there are many theological considerations. Since the journal is not only of a theological nature, the article will be more understandable to representatives of other social sciences. Quotations from respondents who experienced mourning will lend credence to the theological considerations.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer. Thank you very much for your careful reading of my text, for pointing out elements that require correction and for your positive assessment of my work. I agree that by citing empirical research, the article will be more understandable to specialists who are not theologians. I will try to take this into account in my subsequent publications. Yours sincerely,
Author.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI congratulate the author on the choice of the issue of his work. Today there is a great need for a clear presentation of eschatological issues that are difficult to understand. The author has succeeded in answering the most important questions about the passage "from life to life" through the "gate of death" from the point of view of Catholic theology. He has done this in a compact, short form, but probably clear to the modern reader, assuming that he is initiated into religious language at least at a basic level. Unfortunately, the mystery of "life after life" cannot be explained in language completely devoid of key theological concepts. The originality of this study lies in linking the eschatological content to the situation of a bereaved person. In addition, the consultation of a large number of publications from many countries of the world in the field of eschatology and the psychology of mourning deserves praise. The article, while retaining its overview character, is of interest not only to specialists in Christian eschatology, but also to people seeking the truth about the ultimate things of man. The research problem and the methodology used in this work were well presented.
The criticisms of the manuscript presented for review are few and specific:
1. I believe that most of the footnotes citing the original transcript mainly in the German language version are unnecessary, since the content is well rendered in English in the body of the article. Could it be that the author has doubts about the quality of the translation of these texts? Or does he wish to encourage the reader to reach for the source texts in the original language? I do not think it is necessary to understand the content of this study.
2. Lines 359-362: Here the author used an awkward transition from Ratzinger's thought to that of the Church Fathers. I suggest replacing the phrase "In this respect" with another expression. This phrase must not suggest the reader presume that the Church Fathers are referring to Ratzinger's thought.
3. Lines 374-375: "Such is the mystery of man, and it is a great one, as seen by believers in the light of Christian revelation." My doubt: How does one know that this great mystery is seen by believers in the light of Christian revelation? I believe that this thesis finds no basis in reality. There are believers in the world who do not know the Christian revelation. This thought should be expressed differently - more precisely.
4. Line 480 - an obvious mistake. Here it is about the prophet Samuel and not King Solomon.
5. Line 693 - Incomplete title in Polish.
6. Line 694 - Error in the title in Polish.
7. Line 712 - No space in the title in German.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
I am very grateful not only for recognizing the investigation of Catholic eschatology as understandable to people who are not theologians but are searching for the meaning of life despite the existence of death. Thank you, first of all, for pointing out specific elements that need to be corrected. I am full of admiration because my intention to include quotations in German was correctly understood: yes, I wanted to encourage the reader to refer to the original texts. But I agree with the comment that it is unnecessary, and I will remove the quotations in the original language to make the text more clear.
Regarding comments no. 3: “Lines 374-375: "Such is the mystery of man, and it is a great one, as seen by believers in the light of Christian revelation." My doubt: How does one know that this great mystery is seen by believers in the light of Christian revelation? I believe that this thesis finds no basis in reality. There are believers in the world who do not know the Christian revelation. This thought should be expressed differently - more precisely.”
This is a quote from Gaudium et Spes 22 and when read in the context of the previous quote allows the term "believers" to be understood not in the narrow sense as “knowing the Christian revelation”, but in the broad sense, that is, "every man” “the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers […] the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery” (GD 22).I hope this clears up the doubt.
Thank you also for pointing out linguistic errors in the text. Of course they will be corrected.
Yours sincerely,
Author.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe paper is not well suited for Religions. 1) It lacks (to a severe extent) any respect towards other Christian denominations and other religions / faith traditions other than the Roman Catholic faith as tought by CCC and Church doctrine. The concepts of Annihilism, Reincarnation and Spiritism are simplified and reported without proper literature. 2) It is not in accordance with quality and theoretical standards of grief counseling or theory of mourning. Current grief models that are well resaerched and taught in psychological and in faith-based grief counseling training - like Worden, Smeding, Stroebe et al - are ignored. Moreover, it is highly problematic according to ethical standards in grief counseling and in pastoral care to propose a certain faith tradition to persons who are highly vulnerable. 3) The methodology chosen in the paper to describe theological concepts of grief without any psychological understanding, and then applying them to a psychological understanding of grief process is not acceptable.
The attached file (commented original) gives further information on the problems I have with the arguments, and also further literature that would have to be taken into consideration.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
The English is of a good, easy to read quality.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for your detailed analysis of my article.
The numerous comments on my text mean, that my text was read with great attention, and commenting on it required a lot of work. I greatly appreciate the indication of numerous bibliographic references that I will use in my further scientific work. Thank you also for your clear comments regarding the modern understanding of the mourning process. They are an impulse for my further and in-depth research work. It is clear to me that my article was reviewed by a high-class specialist in this field.
I am aware that I have not included all possible psychological and theological literature, but the article was of a synthetic nature and is still extensive. In addition, a feature of the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is that it summarizes the most important threads of Roman Catholic theology.
I would like to repeat that the article was intended to be a presentation of Catholic teaching, therefore there are no references to theologians of other Christian denominations or theologians of other religions. When writing an ecumenical and interreligious text in the future, I will certainly refer to the opinions of scientists from outside the Roman Catholic Church.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that I had no intention of expressing any disrespect towards other Christian denominations or other religions. I am a Roman Catholic theologian and therefore I explain Roman Catholic doctrine. For greater clarity I noted it several more times in the places indicated by the Reviewer. I am happy when theologians from other communities explain their point of view. The "Religions" is worth recommending, among other things, because it allows for the free presentation of various points of view. Once again, I would like to express my great gratitude to the review, which greatly broadens the horizons of my thinking.
Yours sincerely,
Author.
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe article is well written and I enjoyed reading it. It states in detail the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning mourning and death. Moreover, it compares clearly and successfully this teaching with ideas and practices that prevail in the modern world. Additionally, it synthesises the resources according to the directions mentioned in the introduction.
From a methodological point of view, the 'testimonies' mentioned seem to be used mostly to confirm existing knowledge, rather than to open new perspectives. Therefore, it seems to be underestimated. In my opinion, they could have been developed in order to provide empirical evidence to the teaching and broaden the horizons of relevant research.
Another weakness is that, more or less, priests and theologians are familiar with this approach, since it is part of their duties and responsibilities in pastoral work.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer.
I am grateful for both: the words of appreciation and criticism. In my intention, the text was to be a presentation of mourning in the light of Catholic dogmatic theology, which is why the testimonies are few and indicated only as confirmation of the truthfulness of the thesis contained in the title. However, I agree that supporting the theoretical conclusions with detailed empirical research would significantly enrich my article. I will take this into account in my next articles. It will certainly broaden my horizons as a priest and theologian.
Yours sincerely,
Author.
Reviewer 5 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsIn the article presented for review, an interesting topic is addressed regarding the role of faith in Jesus Christ in the family experience of bereavement. Bereavement is a natural reaction to the death of a person, and it is by far one of the most difficult experiences for a person, as well as for a family. In postmodern culture, the topic of death is topical, but difficult and uncomfortable, so it has been excluded from social discourse. The article is a valuable contribution to the discussion of the aforementioned topic, especially in the contemporary context. In postmodern culture, the issue of death is a difficult and inconvenient topic, but constantly topical, so it has been excluded from social discourse. Therefore, the article is a valuable contribution to the discussion of the aforementioned topic, especially in the context of modernity.
Noteworthy elements of the article are the theories discussed regarding: reincarnation, spiritualism and annihilationism, and their reference to " are completely incompatible with the Revelation of God concerning the relationships between the living and the dead through the faith in Jesus Christ, transmitted in the teaching of the Catholic Church" (p. 12). Equally valuable elements included in the article are the demonstration of the positive role of Christian mourning rituals (p. 15) and prayer for the dead as an expression of the socio-relational nature of salvation and mourning (p. 12).
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
I am grateful for your careful study of my text. I would especially like to thank you for appreciating the connection between my work and the current social situation, which is characterized by silence on the topic of death. I am also happy that my presentation of the issue of reincarnation, spiritism and annihilism was positively assessed.
Yours sincerely,
Author.
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe changes from version1 to the revised version 2 are not sufficient. They specify Catholic to Roman Catholic, which is good. Otherwise, almost none of the requests for reworking the paper, especially including research in psychology and grief theory, and discussing normativity in several aspects, have been adressed in reworking the paper.
Again, it is highly problematic - from an ethical point of view - to introduce or propagate specific faith-tradition-related concepts and practice in context of counseling and pastoral care within a pluralistic society. The concepts should not be left out, but they should not be used to advice mourners to 'right' processes of grief and mourning.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
