A lot of beatifcations and canonizations have taken place in recent years. This has led to the publication of life histories, either scientifc or popular in character, of those elevated to the glory of the altars. After 1945 the frst important book was Hagiografa polska (The Polish Hagiography). Another important book was Twoje imię (Your Name) by H. Fros and F. Sowa, republished several times. In his article E. Walewander explains methodological requirements for a hagiographical text which is to be historical in nature, based on historical sources and using methods characteristic of Church history. A similar publication is Sancti. Miracula. Peregrinationes by A. Witkowska, which is a collection of essays on various hagiographical issues. The two-volume edition of Staropolskie piśmiennictwo hagiografczne (The Old Polish Hagiographical Writings) by A. Witkowska and J. Nastalska is a bio-bibliographical dictionary of hagiographers of the pre-partition Poland and a collection of old Polish hagiographical texts. Drogi rozwojowe hagiografi polskiej w wiekach średnich (The Developments of Polish Hagiography in the Middle Ages) by J. Starnawski is a study in the development of Polish writings in the Middle Ages. In the post-war Polish hagiography most publications have been biographical in nature, while there are still not enough methodological and research studies in hagiography of the 19th and 20th c.

The notion of free will, which supports moral responsibility in various accounts of Catholic moral theology, is in a particular way situated at the intersection of theological and non-theological disciplines. Early studies on volition in cognitive neuroscience, inspired by Libet’s experiment (1983), suggested that free will is an illusion because our conscious intentions do not cause corresponding actions: these are initiated beforehand by unconscious brain processes. Although this seems to contradict basic anthropological and ethical assumptions, a closer look at this thesis renders it immature. At the same time, new developments in the multidisciplinary science of human volition draw attention to several aspects of freedom and agency that may be central to the way people take action and control their lives. The implications of this research may provoke some reformulations on the side of theological ethics. They may also point to certain schools and traditions, such as Christian virtue ethics, as theologically preferable.