The Changing Catholicism in Poland

Abstract

When I say in the title that Catholicism is changing in Poland, I am fully aware that the essence of the Catholic faith and the basic structure of the Catholic church cannot be changed and are not changing. But the expression of this faith, the Catholic thought, the Catholic attitudes and mentality, a language in which the Gospel is announced, can change according to changing conditions, and are changing. This is true throughout the world. The church has a mission, a role to fulfill and must make its presence effectively meaningful for the world, and consequently it must adjust to concrete changing conditions. This is the meaning of the aggriornamento proclaimed by Pope John. What is changing in Poland? First, it is necessary to present some basic information about the situation of Catholicism in Poland. Poland has been a Catholic country for over one thousand years. The Catholic church has played an enormous role in Polish history, shaping its culture, customs, social and political attitudes. Political developments in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have strengthened ties between religious and patriotic feelings, with all the advantages and disadvantages of this situation. The average Pole has a deep sense of attachment and fidelity to his faith and his church, characterized by traditionalism and sentimentalism. Unfortunately, we have failed to develop a more rational approach to our faith. With few exceptions we have never had in Poland in the past or in more recent times great theologians. Neither have we produced heretics. Since 1944 we have been confronted in Poland with quite a new, and in some ways, an unexpected situation. As a result of the political developments at the end of World War II, Poland joined the Eastern European bloc of socialist countries. An encounter of Catholicism and materialistic-atheistic Marxism inevitably resulted in a conflict. In fact, it was a double conflict: ideological between the two incompatible doctrines; and political between the Communist state striving to attain a monopoly of ideological influence upon its citizens on the one