Res Humanitariae

The article focuses on the shift in meaning assigned to the symbol of the holiday tree, specifically its transformation from the Christmas tree into a New Year’s tree. This transformation occurred due to the reorganisation of the ritual calendar by the Soviet occupying regime in Lithuania. The primary objective is to discuss the (political) contest for dominance over this symbol, as portrayed in children’s periodicals, interwar Lithuanian Žiburėlis and Soviet Lithuanian Genys. The theoretical approach is based on the concept of symbolic conflict as articulated by the anthropologist Simon Harrison. The study helps us to understand the mechanism behind the shift of meaning concerning the holiday tree in Soviet Lithuania.

The visit of Pope Francis as the Supreme Pontiff to Lithuania was noted as a valuable phenomenon. Modern young people, which individually try to enrich their identity, had an opportunity to perceive and internalize this valuable phenomenon at different levels. The object of the research is a visit of the Pontiff as a valuable phenomenon. The subject of the research is a valuable youth’s position through the internalization of the mentioned valuable phenomenon. The aim of the article is a revelation of attributes of a valuable youth’s position through the internalization of the visit of the Pontiff as a valuable phenomenon. The tasks of the research are as follows: to discuss the valuable position of young people in relation to the essence and meaning of the Pontiff’s visit; to highlight their emotional experience during the visit; to characterize the valuable youth’s position in terms of their aspirations and behavior. The type of the research: this is a semi-deep and pilot study. Methodological and epistemological principles are as follows: the paradigm of universal development, idealism, humanism, existential phenomenology and neo-Thomism.