"Unity, education, language" : Cyril and Methodius in the eyes of Slovenian Catholic intellectuals from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century

Malmenvall, Simon (author)

From the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, during the struggle against Germanization and other nationalist pressures, Slovenian Catholic intellectuals attributed significant merit to Cyril and Methodius in spreading education and strengthening national consciousness. The importance of Cyril and Methodius in the Slovenian environment was substantiated by intellectuals, such as the pedagogue and bishop of Maribor Anton Martin Slomšek (1800–1862), the Franciscan friar and linguist Stanislav Škrabec (1844–1918), and the diocesan priest and historian Ivan Vrhovnik (1854–1935). The highest expression of these efforts was the establishment of the Society of Saints Cyril and Methodius in 1885, who-se purpose was to build schools with the Slovenian language of instruction in eth-nically mixed areas. The establishment of Cyril and Methodius as bearers of religious and national ideals was crucially influenced by a series of anniversaries associated with the millennium of their work in Moravia and Pannonia (1863, 1869, 1885). The publication of the encyclical Grande munus (1880) by Pope Leo XIII also significantly contributed to the spread of their veneration. However, the role of Cyril and Methodius was comprehensively portrayed among Slovenian intellectuals not until Franc Grivec (1878–1963) in the first half and in the mid-twentieth century. Grivec was a priest and professor of ecclesiology and Eastern theology at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana, who also arranged for the first critical editions of sources about the holy brothers in the Slovene language.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Cyril and Methodius, Christian unity, Slovenian national consciousness, language and education
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 29.12.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 885-906
• Numbering: Letn. 85, [št.] 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177678
• UDC: 37.01:27-9Ciril in Metod
• ISSN on article: 0006-5722
• DOI: 10.34291/BV2025/04/Malmenvall
• COBISS.SI-ID: 263030275
• Publication date in RUL: 31.12.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Bogoslovni vestnik
• Shortened title: Bogosl. vestn.
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 0006-5722
• COBISS.SI-ID: 8745472

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: "Edinost, izobrazba, jezik" : Ciril in Metod v očeh slovenskih katoliških intelektualcev od sredine 19. do sredine 20. stoletja

Abstract

Od sredine 19. do sredine 20. stoletja – v času boja proti germanizaciji in drugim nacionalističnim pritiskom – so slovenski katoliški intelektualci Cirilu in Metodu pripisovali pomembne zasluge pri širjenju izobrazbe in krepitvi narodne zavesti. Pomen Cirila in Metoda so v slovenskem okolju utemeljevali izobraženci, na primer pedagog in mariborski škof Anton Martin Slomšek (1800–1862), frančiškan in jezikoslovec Stanislav Škrabec (1844–1918) ter škofijski duhovnik in zgodovinar Ivan Vrhovnik (1854–1935). Najvišji odraz teh prizadevanj je pomenila ustanovitev Družbe svetega Cirila in Metoda leta 1885, katere namen je bila gradnja šol s slovenskim učnim jezikom na narodnostno mešanih območjih. Na uveljavitev Cirila in Metoda kot nosilcev verskih in narodnih idealov je ključno vplivala vrsta obletnic, povezanih s tisočletnico njunega delovanja na Moravskem in v Panoniji (1863, 1869, 1885). K razmahu njunega čaščenja je pomembno prispevala tudi izdaja okrožnice „Grande munus“ (1880) papeža Leona XIII. Toda vlogo Cirila in Metoda je med slovenskimi intelektualci celovito prikazal šele Franc Grivec (1878–1963) v prvi polovici in sredini 20. stoletja. Grivec je bil duhovnik ter profesor ekleziologije in vzhodne teologije na ljubljanski Teološki fakulteti, ki je poskrbel tudi za prve kritične izdaje virov o svetih bratih Cirilu in Metodu v slovenskem jeziku.

• Keywords: Ciril in Metod, krščanska edinost, slovenska narodna zavest, jezik in izobraževanje