The care of persons with intellectual disabilities in Eastern Europe and the need for rethinking the notion of perfection in Eastern Orthodox Theology

Maican, Petre
(2019) The Orthodox Research Group of John Chrysostom — Location: Faculty of Theology, Cluj Napoca, Romania (30.November.2019)

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  • Maican, PetreUCLouvain
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Abstract
The difficult situation of persons with intellectual disabilities in Romania has figured in the reports of the European Commission (EC) for many years. And despite the best efforts of the EC nothing changed. In fact, in 2019 a new case of abuse in state institution emerged in the press. The article proposes two main reasons for this lack of success of the EC in improving the care of persons with intellectual disabilities in Romania. On the one hand, the EC strategy does not take into account the cultural and religious context of the country. The notion of human rights used by the EC to implement its vision does not resonate very well with the dominant ethical discourse coming from the Orthodox Church. On the other hand, Orthodox theology itself does not have a proper framework for sustaining the right type of relationship between carers and persons with intellectual disabilities. The main paradigm of Orthodox theology either considered them defective – because they lack the consciousness and the moral freedom needed to attain deification (the very goal of their existence) – or are seen as instruments for spiritual healing and deification of their careers.
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Maican, P. (2019). The care of persons with intellectual disabilities in Eastern Europe and the need for rethinking the notion of perfection in Eastern Orthodox Theology. The Orthodox Research Group of John Chrysostom, Faculty of Theology, Cluj Napoca, Romania. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/123975