The foundations of Franciszek Blachnicki's pastoral-educational concept based on nature

Abstract

Father Franciszek Blachnicki was a Polish priest, professor of pastoral theology at the Catholic University of Lublin (Poland) and the creator and first moderator of the Light-Life Movement, also known as the Oasis Movement. Its goal was to care for the upbringing and formation of children and youth, and later also adults, in the Christian spirit. Blachnicki developed an original educational method in which observing nature played an important role. Important elements for such upbringing, education and formation are ‘discovery expeditions’, also called ‘open-eye expeditions’. Their goal is to observe and experience nature. Natural phenomena help explain difficult issues in the field of spirituality and morality and other issues related to the meaning and purpose of human life. This article focuses on two issues. The first are small religious groups, an example of which is the Light-Life Movement. The second is a ‘directed life’, meaning to discover the Creator's plan for creatures, especially man. The inspiration of this text is the 70th anniversary of the first formation and educational meetings of the Light-Life Movement.