Charakterystyka religijności wiejskiej. Badania mieszkańców wsi Zacisze

Abstrakt

The present paper constitutes a part of the research made in the religiousness of the inhabitants of the village of Zacisze. The study aims at providing a two-fold characteristic of the religiousness of individual inhabitants made by the so called arbitrators {15 selected authorities on the subject). The first problem is how the religiousness of the villagers is reflected in „the social mirror”; the second focuses on the villagers own expression of their convictions, views and understanding of religious concepts. The study embraces 212 people {104 men and 108 women) of different age working on all kinds of farms: from the largest to the smallest.

The level of the inhabitants of the village of Zacisze is above average. The people accept such truths of the faith as the existence of God, life after death, after-life accountability, and such typically Catholic truths as the divinity of Christ, Christ’s foundation of the Catholic Church, the pope’s authority in the matters concerning salvation as given by Christ in 89 to 97 per cent. The social life of the villagers is mainly centered around their parish, although they are less acknowledged with the life of the Church in Poland and in the world. Their religious attitude is largely ecumenical; in their majority their attitude towards other denominations is positive although other studies (Chlewiński 1980) have shown that actual contacts with members of other denominations are rare. The study also proved the existence of the stereotype „the Pole-Catholic”.