Church In Poland Research Articles

From Love to Hate: The Catholic Church in Poland in the Public Opinion

Poland is a country that is still considered Catholic. Faced with a series of image problems of the Catholic Church, this opinion is being increasingly revised. People, especially young people, are increasingly turning away from this centuries-old institution in search of their moral principles. The percentage of Catholics in Poland is decreasing. The author of the study decided to find out: (1) What do Poles think of the Catholic Church today?; (2) How do they evaluate the various areas of activity of the Catholic Church in Poland?; (3) Is there a predominant opinion in Polish society about the necessity of separation of state and church?; (4) What political consequences does this have? These questions are answered through desk research analysis of reports by the Public Opinion Research Centre and statistical analysis of the author’s quantitative survey conducted after the 2023 parliamentary elections in Poland. The survey results indicate that various areas of activity of the Catholic Church in Poland are evaluated in different ways. The respondents are most critical of the Church’s influence on political authorities and the problem of solving the issue of paedophilia among the clergy. The results of the survey confirm that Law and Justice voters are the people who have the highest opinion of the Catholic Church in Poland and are closely associated with Christian values.

People with Disabilities and Their Families in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland: An Analysis of Barriers to Participation in Religious Practices

People with Disabilities and Their Families in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland: An Analysis of Barriers to Participation in Religious Practices

Prohibition, Censorship, Denial: Polish Episcopate’s Narrative on (Homo)sexual Acts Between 1945 and 1989

Abstract One of the most important issues for the Polish Episcopate under communism was moral evaluation of sexual activities. Bishops suggested that, along with other immoral activities, homosexuality resulted from the popularization of Marxism and atheization of customs. This article presents a thematic analysis of the episcopal writings from 1945 to 1989, and their evaluation in light of Michel Foucault’s theory, in order to discuss Polish episcopal power in the context of its narrative on homosexuality. I present the doctrinal and historical context of the analyzed writings in a trichotomy: the Episcopate of Poland, the Apostolic See, and the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic. Moreover, I recognize that components of episcopal discourse suggest a multiplicity of power relations. In the selected period, these forces were the subjects of a game in which the church created strategies and chains of influence, and, as an agent of power, consolidated its position by demanding obedience. This image of the institutional church in Poland was established through a great central mechanism of denial that excluded any possibility of a positive moral evaluation of homosexual and other extramarital acts.

The Concept of the Intermarium and the Confessional Issue: Geopolitical Challenges to Belarusian Orthodoxy in ХХ – early ХХI century

The article discusses the problems of merging geopolitics and religion. Using the example of Belarusian Orthodoxy, the author shows how religious institutions can become instruments for the implementation of geopolitical strategies, in particular the Polish foreign policy doctrine of the Intermarium. The influence of this doctrine on the position of the Orthodox Church in the Baltic-Black Sea region, including on the territory of Belarus, is analyzed. The author examines the specific historical conditions of the periodic actualization of Polish geopolitical projects in relation to Belarus. Using some examples, he shows the technologies of the United States working with the Belarusian anti-Soviet emigration and the technologies of using religious institutions to implement geopolitical strategies. It is concluded that modern interpretations of the Intermarium doctrine are directly related to the policy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in relation to the East Slavic territories associated with the Kiev Metropolis of the XV–XVII centuries. The assessment of the activities of the primate of the Orthodox Church in Poland on the Ukrainian-Belarusian lands in the first half of the 1940s is new for domestic and foreign historiography as an attempt to build a “church Intermarium”. The article contains unique materials about the anti-Soviet activities of the Belarusian emigration, its contradictions and splits. The findings actualize the issue of developing mechanisms to counteract manipulative influence against the Orthodox Church, carried out in order to achieve political benefits. Based on the results of the consideration of the problem, a recommendation is proposed regarding the need for planned systematic work to strengthen church immunity against external manipulative influence, fraught with disruption of social and confessional balance in the Republic of Belarus.

Kryzys wiary, czy religii? Przesłanie nadziei i zangażowania duszpasterskiego w świetle adhortacji evangelii gaudium

The public debate increasingly talks about the crisis of the Church, which is manifested by a decline in the most important statistical indicators of faith. However, if we look at the development of Christianity, we will easily see that in its history it has very often experienced problems with the hallmarks of a crisis. Perhaps the basis for perceiving the current situation as a crisis is a distorted image of God and the expectation that Catholicism would dominate in quantitative terms over other worldview proposals that can be found today. This text reflects on the phenomenon of the crisis of the Catholic Church in Poland and discusses whether the observable changes in the Church concern faith itself, or rather religion, which is a broader concept. Finally, based on Francis’ exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, the article shows inspiration for awakening hope and pastoral activity, which are a guarantee of saving the faith of those seeking God and being close to Him.

Internuncio Antonio Francesco Cirioli's correspondence with the Secretary of State on the eve of the General Sejm held in Warsaw in 1623

From the mid-16th century onwards, the Apostolic Nunciature in Poland was pro-parliamentary, anti-Turkish and counter-reformative. It should not come as a surprise that the preliminary instruction issued to nuncio Giovanni Battista Lacellotti to stay especially alert and secure the interest of the Catholic Church in Poland as well as care for Christian affairs during parliamentary sessions acquired particular significance. In early November 1622, by the appointment of cardinal Cosimo de Torres, under Gregory's XV papal brief of 3 December 1622, Antonio Francesco Cirioli became internuncio. A Bolognese by origin, Cirioli was and a Doctor of Laws and from 1621 an auditor of Cosimo de Torres's nunciature (to date completely absent from the literature of the subject). The office of the internuncio in Warsaw, to which he was appointed following his 13-month service as an auditor, was held by Cirioli for as many as twenty-three weeks, i.e. from 19 November 1622 to 29 April 1623.

Karmelici Bosi w kręgu zainteresowań aparatu bezpieczeństwa PRL na terenie województwa krakowskiego w świetle zachowanych sprawozdań kierowanych do MBP i MSW w latach 1947-1970

In the times of the Polish People’s Republic, national security issues and, at the same time, surveillance of the society and suppression of many institutions – the Catholic Church included - were in the hands of appropriate services, modelled on the Soviet NKVD. At first this was the Ministry of Public Security and since 1956 the Security Police. The first part of the article presents the organization of security units in the voivodship of Cracow and the distribution of monastic communities, while the second throws light on the activities of these units uh the basis of preserved reports sent from Cracow to the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Officials of the Security Police who worked in the voivodship and district departments took a close interest in the Discalced Carmelite monks, taking account of their wartime past, pastoral activity and connections with the Church hierarchy. To ensure influence upon the life of the Discalced Carmelite Province as well as access to information on monastic internal issues they gained several secret collaborators within the congregation itself and its lay associates. The article is the first attempt at showing the methods of the Security Police (SB) and the Security Office (UB) activities directed at monastic orders; methods aiming at subjugating to the authorities not only the orders themselves, but the whole Catholic Church in Poland.

On the Margins of Meaning: Some remarks on gesture asdepicted in the Orthodox frescoes of Roman Catholic churches in Poland

Artykuł jest przedrukiem tekstu z pisma Biuletyn Historii Sztuki, 1-2, 2008, s. 163-176.

A Realist and a Prophet: The Role of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński during Communist Rule in Poland

Largely thanks to the outstanding personality and leadership talents of Cardinal Wyszyński and his great authority, the Catholic Church in Poland did not fully submit to the Communist power; in contrast, it not only retained but also significantly increased its influence in society. The plan to break up the church and atheise Poles ended in defeat, and the primate of the millennium played a key role in this failure. Thanks to the pastoral programmes he prepared and carried out, the Catholic faith and attachment of Poles to the church deepened significantly. This movement can also be traced to an increase in independent and oppositional attitudes towards the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic, which significantly gained strength in the 1970s, the most important expression of which was the establishment in 1980 of the Solidarity social movement. It was this significant role of the church that distinguished Poland from other countries in the Soviet bloc, which did not have a leader of such stature as Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński.

Рух за українізацію автокефальної «Православної церкви в Польщі» на Волині у 20-30-х рр. XХ ст.

The purpose of the article: to analyze the movement for the Ukrainianization of the autocephalous «Orthodox Church in Poland» in Volyn. The research methodology is grounded on the principles developed by the “Annals” school, in particular, objectivity in judgments about the past, the desire to understand the mentality of social groups of that time, first of all the clergy, the specifics of their relationships. In the process of research, the methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as chronological, comparative and descriptive methods were applied.The scientific novelty of the obtained results consist in the deepening of the understanding of the national identification of the clergy and believers in Volyn, the evolution of the Ukrainian church movement in Poland in the 20’s and 30’s of the 20th century in Volyn, based on the archival and published sources. Conclusions. In the conditions of Polish statehood, the clergy of the Orthodox Volyn Diocese developed in the direction of national self-identification. During this period, the intellectual level of the priests grew, as did their desire for the Ukrainization of their own church. In Volyn, the idea of Ukrainization of the Orthodox Church had support among believers, the public, and most importantly, the clergy and hierarchy, who actively implemented it. Therefore, Volyn appears as a center where the Ukrainian church movement is born and begins to strengthen. It was distinguished by the growth of national consciousness of Ukrainians and significant achievements in the Ukrainianization of the Orthodox Church in Volyn, which was part of the Orthodox Church in Poland. The movement for Ukrainization was aimed at conducting liturgies and church administration in the Ukrainian language, teaching religion in schools in the Ukrainian language, translating liturgical literature into the Ukrainian language, consecrating Ukrainian bishops, separating all Ukrainian parishes into a separate diocese headed by a Ukrainian bishop, etc. The Ukrainian church movement in Volyn helped preserve the identity of the Ukrainian people in the conditions of Polish statehood.

Reconquest, Reconstruction, Resumption: Churching Poland after the Second World War

Abstract This article examines how the Roman Catholic Church in Poland navigated the enormous increase in church buildings at its disposal at the end of the Second World War. This expansion was largely due to the mass acquisition of post-German churches in lands transferred from Germany to Poland. But rapid reconstruction of most of the churches destroyed during the war as well as the resumption of new construction also played a role. Although access to increased worship space might seem to have been a boon for Poland’s postwar Catholic Church, the appropriation, reconstruction and completion of thousands of church buildings presented the church with an array of challenges. Refounding local Polish religious life in post-German, and often post-Protestant, houses of worship raised difficult questions about how various constituencies in newly formed communities could be made to feel at home in their new surroundings. Trade-offs between the expectations and customs of divergent groups were exacerbated by the prominence within the postwar church of Catholics who were themselves post-German, having spent the war categorized as German before being recategorized as Polish after 1945. Close attention to how Polish Catholics encountered new sacred spaces and one another reveals the complex negotiations and balancing acts required to form an ostensibly homogeneous religious-national community.

Cultural and Theological Influences on Religious Engagement with Digital Media during COVID-19: A Comparative Study of Churches in Poland and Ireland

This article investigates how cultural context and theological ideas shape the integration of digital media in religious practices. Focusing on Poland and Northern Ireland/The Republic of Ireland, we explore the diverse strategies employed by religious institutions in utilizing digital media. The study centers on the Catholic Church, analyzing its responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in different cultural contexts. Examining various denominations specific to each country, we highlight the role of theological assumptions in shaping the use of digital platforms within religious contexts. This comparative analysis provides insight into the complex interplay between culture, theology, and technology, contributing to the understanding of how religious institutions adapt to societal changes and navigate the digital landscape. Our findings reflect the theological controversies of shifting religious practices and services to digital media, and point to the non-voluntary aspect of adjusting to the pressures of deep mediatization in both cultural contexts.

Manifestations of cancel culture in relation to the Roman Catholic Church in Poland

The aim of the article is to examine the media strategies of contesting the Roman Catholic Church in Poland on the example of three Polish opinion weeklies: "Polityka", "Newsweek" and "Tygodnik Powszechny". The period of our search was set at twelve months, starting from the outbreak of protests on October 22, 2020. On the basis of the media material analyzed above, three main strategies of contesting the Roman Catholic Church in the Polish opinion-forming press were identified: 1) exposing the negative aspects of the analyzed issues; 2) profiling of interlocutors and interviews; and 3) lexical and visual content modeling techniques.

Polish Catholic environmentalism as the counterculture movement

ABSTRACT The increasing participation of faith leaders in environmental debates has led to the renewed interest in the ‘greening of religions’. This paper examines the frames employed by religious actors to encourage environmental action, with a focus on the eco-movement within the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. Its narratives are connected to the goals of promoting ‘ecological conversion’ and encouraging change at the community level. We demonstrate how pro-environmental religious actors navigate between anti-ecological voices within the Church and left-wing activism, applying the following frames: 1) presenting ecological lifestyle as a religious obligation, 2) promoting the idea of ‘integral ecology,’ rooted in a Christian anthropology, 3) reinterpreting Catholicism by showing green practices as a legitimized element of the Church’s tradition. We argue that these activities constitute a form of a counterculture that develops a values-based approach to environmentalism, aiming to transform the culture of the Catholic church and society.

Duszpasterstwo katechetyczne – spór o pojęcie

Aim: The aim of this study was to present the dispute over the concept of "catechetical pastoral ministry" which emerged in theological reflection, especially in the fields of pastoral theology and catechesis. Methods: To comprehensively illustrate the meaning of the discussed term, the method of analyzing contemporary literature on the subject was used. Additionally, through the method of synthesis, a clarification of the meaning and application of this concept in the field of scientific reflection within practical theology was achieved. Results: The analysis revealed that the emergence and use of terms such as "liturgical pastoral ministry" or "catechetical pastoral ministry" in common church language are the result of a certain shorthand, describing the pastoral mission of the Church in the areas of liturgy or catechesis. Therefore, it is justified to use the term "catechetical pastoral ministry" in the context of a broader pastoral perspective on catechetical activities. Analyzing the ongoing "dispute over the concept" in publications, arguments were drawn, including those of Adam Przybecki, who advocates the need to clarify the discussed approach, considering it "illogical" and a form of misuse, especially when this term became widely used in the Catechetical Directory of the Catholic Church in Poland in 2001. Conclusion: In conclusion, based on the conducted analysis defining the meaning of the term "catechetical pastoral ministry," the suggestion is made to focus on practical actions and the positive evangelical outcomes that will permanently contribute to the functioning of parish communities and the conducted pastoral ministry, considering a broader pastoral perspective. Originality: Undoubtedly, in the field of practical theology, the undertaken analysis and attempt to clarify the concept constitute an important and original approach, confirming the need for discussion and even debate regarding the meaning of used terms and concepts. Keywords: parish catechesis, "catechetical pastoral ministry," sacramental catechesis, selected pastoral aspects of catechesis, liturgy, parish, practical theology.

Material and Spiritual Aid from the Catholic Church of Poland to Ukraine in the Face of Russian Aggression that Began in 2014

This article presents the attitude of the Polish Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, towards Russian aggression against Ukraine and the forms of support it has given to the victims of the war. The Russian invasion, which began in 2014 through a hybrid war that resulted in the occupation of Crimea and began military actions in the Donbass, unleashed a wave of refugees that in 2022 became an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of European countries. After the conflict entered a phase of open warfare between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s neighbouring countries received a large number of refugees. A year later, Poland, which had become the main destination for refugees, received the largest group - more than 10 million people, among whom were predominantly Orthodox. 1 Significant help was given to them by the Catholic Church, strongly influenced by the teachings of Polish Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005. Support for the victims of the war in Ukraine is carried out by Polish Catholics on the territory of the Republic of Poland, as well as through aid sent by them to the war-affected areas on Ukrainian territory.

Działalność ojców salwatorianów w Bagnie w latach pięćdziesiątych i sześćdziesiątych XX wieku w kontekście deklarowanej wolności uzewnętrzniania przekonań religijnych w Polsce Ludowej

The overall approach of the communist authorities toward religious orders in the 1950s and 1960s hinged on the attempt to weave them into the socialist reality of the Polish People’s Republic. Religious orders in the PPR held considerable organizational and personal potential, which meant that they were of interest to both the Episcopate of Poland and the state authorities, and their activities were formed under the distinct influence of the relationship between the state and the Roman Catholic Church. Two periods can be distinguished on the basis of executing different policies of the communist authorities with regard to monastic orders and congregations in Poland: from 1945 to the early 1960s and from the 1960s to the end of 1989.
 During the first period (the so-called Stalinist era) monastic orders, much like the Roman Catholic Church, were treated as an enemy of the state. During this period, in the case of the Congregation of Salvatorian Fathers in Bagno, state repression and, at the same time, limitations on their freedom to manifest religious beliefs were enforced through administrative, legal and police measures.
 In the second period, the Communist authorities altered their tactics in their dealings with monastic orders. At that time, steps were taken to weaken the episcopate’s influence over monastic orders by attempting to use their autonomy to break up the unity of the Church in Poland.
 Up until 1964, the Salvatorian Fathers’ Higher Seminary in Bagno was frequently inspected and required to produce suitable documentation for the authorities. After that, the government made larger-scale attempts to infiltrate the monastery by building a network of secret collaborators. They took advantage of the order’s international missionary activities in particular, forcing or encouraging monks to cooperate with the State in exchange for passports and gaining permission to leave.
 In view of this, the policy towards the Salvatorian Fathers’ congregation in Bagno depended on the institution’s loyalty to the State, which also directly translated into its members’ greater freedom to express their religious beliefs, which in the case of this congregation meant, among other things, that they were allowed to educate clerics at the Lower and Higher Seminary and conduct their missionary activities in the spirit of Roman Catholic faith.

Rozmowy rządowe w sprawie przekazania oryginału tomosu o autokefalii cerkiewnej w Polsce przy patriarsze ekumenicznym Konstantynie VI

Upon the issuance of the patriarchal and synodal Tomos on autocephaly on November 13, 1924, the Polish government began talks regarding the ceremonial transmission of the above act by the patriarchate's delegation. At the request of the synod of Orthodox bishops in Warsaw, the Polish government undertook to obtain the acceptance of the remaining autocephalous Orthodox Churches to declare Polish autocephaly. Arrangements related to the arrival of the patriarchate's delegation to Poland in order to deliver the original Tomos on autocephaly were initiated by the Ecumenical Patriarch Constantine VI. Due to the planned arrival of a delegation to Poland for the ceremony announcing autocephaly, the Polish government commissioned the publication of a scientific study on the Orthodox Church in Poland. For the first time, the article published the only preserved original of the Tomos on Polish autocephaly, kept in the archives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Fanar in Constantinople.

Idea rycerstwa w kazaniach i mowach Aleksandra Jełowickiego CR

In the texts of Aleksander Jełowicki’s public speeches, in particular those associated with his preaching practice, attention is drawn to the frequent reference to the idea of Christian chivalry. Christian knights, in the discourse of the Resurrectionist, are the defenders of the homeland who have been fighting throughout history, as well as all those who took part in national uprisings, who were often forced to emigrate. In allegorical terms, Poland itself is recalled as the knight fighting for Christian values, distinguished by its attitude against the background of the degrading societies of the West. The long duration of the personal model developed after the Council of Trent, described as miles christianus, was therefore inserted by Jełowicki into the current of shaping national aspirations, characteristic of the 19th century. The moral and religious aspect of these was to identify with the values represented by the Catholic Church, standing by which, according to the preacher, ensured the recovery of independence. Thus, the idea of Christian chivalry was complementary to the vision of a state and nation strongly linked to biblical models, which, moreover, characterized the spirituality of the congregation. Jełowicki’s texts, ultimately, exemplify a peculiar kind of militarization of Polish spirituality and religiousness, a testimony that is also recognizable in the contemporary Catholic Church in Poland.

Walka o uznanie. Kościół prawosławny w Polsce i jego starania o akceptację autokefalii przez Rosyjski Kościół Prawosławny w latach 1923–1928

The tomos by the Patriarch of Constantinople that granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Poland in 1924 did not end the efforts to independence that Church. The main question was the recognition of the act by all of the other Orthodox Churches. The greatest problems were encountered in contacts with the Russian Orthodox Church, which believed that only it had the right to issue an act allowing the Orthodox Church in Poland to become independent. There was an exchange of correspondence between the heads of the both Churches (1923–1928), which did not lead to an agreement, but at the same time showed their stances.