The Roman Catholic Church in the Process of Democratic Transformation

The Case of Poland

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2318338
AutoresIrena Borowik (0000-0003-3267-6913, Institute for the Scientific Study of Religion, Rynek Glowny 34, 31-010 Krakow, Poland, autor de correspondencia)
Año2002
Volumen49
Número2
Páginas239-252
Fecha de publicación2002-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Compass (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0037-7686 • E-ISSN: 1461-7404
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0037768602049002008
OpenAlexW2154313077
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas49
Referencias citadas2

Before the democratic changes started in Poland in 1989, the Catholic Church was a very important element of dualistic societal structure: 'bad' communists, associated with the Communist Party and its apparatus; and 'good' Poles, patriots, associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Opposition to political totalitarianism was strongly supported by the Church, identified with Polish national identity, freedom, and defence of human rights and democracy. The Church entered the period of transformation with this historical heritage and with the exceptionally high respect of society for its role as political actor and co-creator of civil society. Ten years of transformation brought significant changes: in the political system (from totalitarianism to democracy); in economics (from a controlled to the free market); in the orientation of the state (from locality to globality); in the restructuring of society (from dualism to pluralism); and in differentiation of worldviews. The author describes how the Catholic Church and its hierarchy are adapting to the changing situation

Civil society · Communism · Democracy · Globality · Globalization · Opposition (politics · Pluralism (philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Philosophy · Polish Historical and Cultural Studies · Religion and Society Interactions · Theology and Canon Law Studies