The Activity of the Foundation for the Aid to the Jouth „Growth” and the Catholic Educational Centre „Oratorium”

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that may contemporary pedagogic conceptions ignore the aspect of spiritual life in the formation of man. The underlying idea for such an approach is based on the individualistic and materialistic conception of man, the one that negates or underestimates the spiritual element of the human person. In social life one can notice an axiological chaos, relativism in moral evaluations and attitudes.

The Catholic Church in Poland has always been strongly linked with society and has been sensitive to moral and social matters. Under the complex circumstances of socio-cultural transformations, this was manifested by establishing various institutions designed to help people. In this action the Church followed Christian inspiration. The following examples are concrete expressions of the Church's social commitment: the John Paul II Foundation for the Aid to Children and the Youth „Growth” in Jarosław and the Catholic Educational Centre „Oratorium” in Stalowa Wola.

Detailed analyses of the curricula and the actual activity of those institutions prove that they provided integral formation. Special care was paid to the development of all basic spheres of human personality, that is, the physical, intellectual, cultural, and religious spheres. Consequently, their educational conceptions accept the rich contribution of the Catholic pedagogic thought. The curricula that were in use takie into consideration the contemporary needs of their students and are based on the approved theories of contemporary pedagogy and psychology. In educational practice an important role is attributed to education and efforts to make up for any negligence in this area. The students are treated as subjects and they are inspired to work on themselves, ie to carry out self-formation in the spirit of Christian values.