The Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences: Technical Sciences (Bull.Pol. Ac.: Tech.) is published bimonthly by the Division IV Engineering Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, since the beginning of the existence of the PAS in 1952. The journal is peer‐reviewed and is published both in printed and electronic form. It is established for the publication of original high quality papers from multidisciplinary Engineering sciences with the following topics preferred: Artificial and Computational Intelligence, Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, Civil Engineering, Control, Informatics and Robotics, Electronics, Telecommunication and Optoelectronics, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Thermodynamics, Material Science and Nanotechnology, Power Systems and Power Electronics.

Journal Metrics: JCR Impact Factor 2018: 1.361, 5 Year Impact Factor: 1.323, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) 2017: 0.319, Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 2017: 1.005, CiteScore 2017: 1.27, The Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education 2017: 25 points.

Abbreviations/Acronym: Journal citation: Bull. Pol. Ac.: Tech., ISO: Bull. Pol. Acad. Sci.-Tech. Sci., JCR Abbrev: B POL ACAD SCI-TECH Acronym in the Editorial System: BPASTS.

The paper explains how both Eastern and Western bishops attempted to preserve the doctrine expressed in the Nicene Creed. At the Synod (Council) of Rimini (359) the Latin bishops rejected the Arian concept and accepted the Nicene Creed, they canonically removed the Arian-minded bishops and wrote a letter to the Emperor Constantius. After the Emperor did not approve their attitude, under pressure from his envoys, they changed their mind and adopted a pro-Arian profession of faith. Pro-Arian tendencies also won at the Synod (Council) of Seleucia (359). The staun-chly Arian option won at the Synod (Council) of Constantinople (360). However, the Synod (Council) convoked in Paris by Hilary of Poitiers (361) decidedly rejected the Arian views and approved the Nicene Creed. Consequently, and similarly to the Synod of Sardica (343-344), a split according to language zones became evident: the Greek bishops were in favour of Arianism, and the Latin ones were in favour of the Nicene Creed. It was only at the Council of Constantinople (381) that a definitive sett-lement was achieved – the Nicene concept was adopted according to which the Son is consubstantial with the Father.

On 1 March 2020, Professor Andrzej Wasilkowski died. In his research, Professor Wasilkowski undertook issues which were co-creating the mainstreams of legal debates all over the world. He was an author of valuable publications on the relationship between international law and Polish domestic law. Professor Wasilkowski was also a director of the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the head of the Legal Advisory Committee of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The article presents the EU legislative procedure and decision-making processes with a special emphasis on decisions regarding energy policy. It has been pointed out that most of the energy related legal acts, including the renewable energy directive and those aimed at the gradual reduction of emissions of harmful substances, are adopted according to the ordinary legislative procedure. However, special legislative procedures apply in the case of international agreements between the European Union and third countries. The trilogues, i.e. meetings of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council, aimed at reaching a common position before the first reading in the EP, are of great importance in decision making. The article also discusses the problem of energy policy and its impact on the environment, recalling the relevant articles of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union. The most important paths of influence of the Member States on new legal acts in the context of energy policy have also been shown. This is an extremely important issue from the investors’ point of view, since projects related to the energy industry have a very long payback period, so the stability and predictability of the Community’s energy policy is of paramount importance to them. The possibilities of shaping new laws related to energy at the stage of preparing a regulation are discussed later in the article. The work of parliamentary committees, especially those related to energy, i.e. the ITRE (The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy) Committee and ENVI (The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety) has also been discussed. In addition, the article clearly shows different approaches of Western European countries and the Central and Eastern European countries (including Poland) towards energy issues.

Sobór Watykański II, który był największym wydarzeniem we współczesnej historii chrześcijaństwa, zainicjował proces otwarcia i reformy Kościoła katolickiego na niespotykaną dotąd skalę. Przez trzy lata dyskutowano na temat najważniejszych tematów, zarówno natury czysto teologicznej i eklezjalnej, jak i pastoralnej i misyjnej. Jednym z tych soborowych tematów było także ożywienie braterskich relacji między katolikami i nie-katolikami. W artykułe dokonano analizy jednego z najważniejszych teologicznych tematów, który niestety pozostał w wyniku soborowej i postsoborowej dyskusji przeszkodą w rzeczywistym dialogu o przywróceniu jedności między katolikami a prawosławnymi. Jest nim prymat papieski, który prawosławni postrzegają jako wynik ludzkiej inwencji, pozbawionej solidnych biblijnych i patrystycznych podstaw. Ternin ten pojawił się po 1054 roku jako podstawowa cecha polityki religijnej związanej z prymatem Rzymu. Kościół prawosławny wierzy w możliwość przywrócenia jedności chrześcijan, jednak nie zgadza się na interkomunię bez uprzedniego osiągnięcia jedności w wierze. Stąd też oczekuje się od Kościoła katolickiego decyzji porzucenia roszczenia prymatu i papieskiej nieomylności bądź też ich przekształcenia zgodnie tradycją pierwszych wieków. Również oczekuje się redefinicji relacji między biskupem Rzymu a kolegium katolickich biskupów w sensie rzeczywistej i efektywnej synodlaności.

Since the beginning of islam in the 7th century christians and Muslims have been a permanent challenge for themselves. the confrontation and the closeness which accompany them through the entire history are rooted in the universal and monotheistic character of both religions. From the christian point of view it would be diffcult to talk about interreligious dialogue or at least its modern developments, without the Second Vatican council (1962–1965) and the declaration nostra aetate. The council recognized in it the spiritual, moral and cultural values present in different religions, emphasizing spiritual and moral values between Muslim and christians. For the frst time in the history of the Catholic Church, the council’s fathers offcially called for the co-operation with Muslims. This is the starting point of the real dialogue between Christians and Muslims.

This article attempts to describe and analyse – in three parts – some aspects of the dialogical initiatives of Christian-Muslim relations. A greater part of it refers to the Roman Catholic Church, but some examples of interpretation and dialogical initiatives of the Orthodox and protestant churches are included as well. Islam as a point of reference is taken as a whole. After a short introduction containing a general defnition of dialogue and its interreligious form the frst part deals with historical facts which shaped the dialogical attitudes. The selected historical facts build a background for some theological ideas on islam in orthodox, catholic and protestant traditions. The second part focuses on the practical aspects of dialogue – its forms and representative institutions, i.e. the pontifcal council for interreligious Dialogue, World council of churches and Orthodox center of the ecumenical patriarch in chambésy which are engaged in the dialogue on behalf of the main christian churches. The third part offers some ideas concerning aarguments for dialogue, its effciency and quality which might be important for the future of dialogue. The modern history of Christian-Muslim relations shows that the dialogue between adherents of these two largest religions is possible despite that it is not an easy undertaking. the author underlines that there is no alternative to dialogue as there is no better way to defeat prejudices and heal the wounds of the past.

There is a growing interest in new transportation routes that combine benefits of shorter distances, cost-effective transits and routes not troubled by maritime security concerns. The Northwest Passage offers a package of routes through the Canadian maritime zone; it is 9,000 km shorter than the Panama Canal route and 17,000 km shorter than the Cape Horn route. The Northern Sea Route shortens a Hamburg-Yokohama voyage by 4,800 miles, in comparison with the Suez Canal route. The transpolar route, if it materializes with an ice-free Central Arctic Ocean route, would shorten distances even further. Given the increase in regional and international navigation and shipping in the region, it is therefore not surprising that in recent years Arctic States and international bodies focused on the needs of enhanced safety and environmental standards for polar shipping. In addition to the dedicated domestic polar shipping regulation, primarily in Canada and the Russian Federation, the Arctic Council and International Maritime Organization (IMO) have launched important initiatives. The most important is establishing of international rules for ships operating in polar waters – The Polar Code.

Bible and liturgy are the main sources of the Church's life. The Bible tells us about God saving man and the liturgy makes present the salvation given by God. The presentation of the Bible in the liturgy begins with the description of the syna- gogue worship at the time of the early Church. Since the beginning Christians read the Bible during the liturgy. The liturgy of the word was formed gradually, until it reached its final shape in he antiquity. That form was preserved till the Second Vatican Council. The Council resolved to enrich the table of the Divine Word and to read the Scripture in a cycle longer than one year. For Sundays and festivities has been introduced a triennial cycle, the readings of the liturgy of the hours have been changed, biblical readings have been added to the liturgy of the sacraments and the Psalms have been distributed in a 4-weeks cycle.

The words of the Bible are not only read but they become prayer and song. The liturgical prayers draw their inspiration, words and expressions from the Scripture. It is Christ who proclaims the gospel, God speaks to his people and the Church listens to the Divine Word. The liturgy of the Word is closely connected with the liturgy of the Eucharist. During the Mass, the table of the Divine Word and the table of the Eucharist are spread.

Taking into account that terrorism has grown in recent years, the EU institutions decided to update the legal framework which provides for fighting this phenomenon. Consequently, the Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA was replaced by the EU Directive 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating terrorism, which should be implemented by the Member States by 8 September 2018. This new act contains a long list of terrorist offences, offences related to a terrorist group, and offences related to terrorist activities. It also stipulates penal sanctions for terrorist offences and provides measures of protection, support and assistance for terrorism victims. This article is a commentary on these groups of provisions and compares them to the previously binding ones. Thus, it indicates the legal changes introduced by the Directive which have to be taken into account by the Member States while implementing it. The comparison of these new provisions with the previously binding ones is also helpful in answering the question posed in the title: Can the Directive 2017/541 be treated as a new chapter in combating terrorism by the European Union?

Artykuł składa się z części krytycznej oraz pozytywnej. Część krytyczna stanowi polemikę z dwoma najbardziej rozpowszechnionymi uzasadnieniami na rzecz utożsamienia całkowitej niewydolności mózgu (tzw. śmierci mózgowej) ze śmiercią człowieka. Zgodnie z jednym z nich, śmierć ma miejsce wtedy, gdy dochodzi do somatycznej dezintegracji organizmu. Natomiast drugie uzasadnienie, zaproponowane w 2008 r. przez President’s Council on Bioethics, utożsamia śmierć z utratą zdolności do samozachowania. W części zawierającej pozytywną argumentację autor przedstawia alternatywną koncepcję, według której śmierć, w znaczeniu, jakie jest istotne z perspektywy praktyki medycznej, jest tożsama z nieodwracalną utratą cech stanowiących o tym, że dana istota posiada status moralny. Nowa koncepcja pozwala utożsamić stan całkowitej niewydolności mózgu ze śmiercią człowieka oraz daje podstawę do opracowania bardziej precyzyjnych medycznych kryteriów śmierci.

Intellectual and spiritual formation of Joseph Ratzinger - Pope Benedict XVI - requires talk about the process of his development. The article refers to the most overlooked phase of the young Ratzinger, who moves from the position of a progres-sive and sometimes irresponsible theorizing academic theologian to the position of a thinker grounded in the community of faith, becoming the guardian and teacher of Christian doctrine in line with the spirit and tradition of the Church. A lot of light on the change in the attitude of the German professor sheds the preparatory phase to the Second Vatican Council and its debates, as well as the unpleasant experience of the student revolt in 1968, which finds our professor in Tübingen. And in this way the liberal German theologian grows into to an outstanding Catholic theologian of the universal Church.