Hereditas 1. [antikvár]

Introductory Thoughts Lectori salutem! "Religion is a multifarious phenomenon; besides religious teaching it is manifested in social and cultural institutions, becomes objectified in a wide variety of forms, directly or indirectly imbues people's thinking, it can influence their behaviour and shape their mentality. It is studied not only by the theologians of churches and religious communities; social sciences and the humanities study the historical and cultural, artistic, social and juridical, psychological and pedagogical aspects and manifestations of religion. The different branches of learning apply their own theoretical considerations and methods in their investigation of the religious dimensions of culture and society. This theoretical and methodological diversity is manifested in the multidisciplinary approach to religion." We cite from the Mission Statement of the ''Bálint Sándor" Institute for the Study of Religion, which was founded by the "Gál Ferenc" Roman Catholic Theological College in Szeged in co-operation with the Faculty of Arts, University of Szeged, in September 2009. The fellows of the research institute deal with the contemporary social role of European religions, its changes and antecedents and the changing and evolving religious culture. With their research, analyses and interpretations they seek to answer questions of today as well as of processes that occurred in the past, especially those that have impacts right up to the present with Hungarian and international aspects: in short, they examine religious man in history and in the present time. The research institute considers it an important task to study the intellectual and material legacy of Sándor Bálint and make it accessible to all. The research institute has adopted the name of Sándor Bálint, one of the great founders of Hungarian religious studies.' Co-operating with international and other Hungarian institutions, the "Bálint Sándor" Institute for the Study of Religion wishes to contribute to scholarly and social discourses, offering and providing data and analyses of historical processes for decision-makers. The research institute wishes to promote a better understanding of religious man and the phenomenon of religion, and closer co-operation with the disciplines dealing with religion and churches, to enable the application of new approaches arising from multidisciplinary co-operation. To reach these aims mentioned before the Institute publishes and popularises its research findings at conferences, in academic and popular publications, exhibitions and media, in Hungarian and foreign languages, in Hungarian and international frames. Under the title Hereditas now the "Bálint Sándor" Institute publishes its first periodical. Szeged, November 24"^ 2011 Gábor Barna and László Odrobina editors 1 Gábor Barna: A life's Work in Ethnology of Religion. Sándor Bálint (1904-1980), in: Ethnology of Religion. Chapters from the European History of a Discipline. Ed. by Gábor Barna. Budapest-Szeged: Akadémiai Kiadó-Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Szeged, 2004, 9-22. 7