Open access
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN RURAL COMMUNITY AGAINST URBAN BACKGROUND
Krystyna LEŚNIAK-MOCZUK1
Zmiana społeczna, pandemia- jako kategorie analizy współczesnego społeczeństwa
Publication language: Polish
Journal article
Transformations No. 2 (113) 2022, Publication date: 30 June 2022
Keywords: religion, religious practices, holiday rituals, rites of passage, rural, urban
Abstract Religion has played many roles in human life for centuries, and its functions have been subject to change with the development of society. In the Polish society, the Roman Catholic Church is an extremely important and influential institution, strongly linked to the national identity. The aim of this article is to compare the changes in declared religiosity of the believers in local rural and urban environments during the period of political change in Poland at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. The author's research, conducted in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship in rural versus urban settings, used qualitative methods: questionnaire interviews, non-standardised free interviews with a list of problems, narrative and in-depth interviews, introspection, and observation with visual techniques. In both study populations, there was an increase in 'exhibitional piety' realised through church attendance and the celebration of sacred rites during church festivals. Cultivation of rituals containing religious elements has decreased to a greater extent in the city than in the countryside. The countryside is ahead of the city in introducing modern secular customs attributed to rites of passage and church festivals. The results of the research, carried out in a region characterised by a higher scale of religiosity in comparison with other regions in Poland, do not confirm the conclusions of religion sociologists that religious faith is breaking from church institutions and religious practices, that religiosity is not socially visible, and the legitimacy of faith is shifting from church authorities to individuals responsible for the authenticity of their own religious premises.
Instytut Nauk Socjologicznych, Uniwersytet Rzeszowski, Polska
ORCID: 0000-0001-7032-9205
E-mail: kles@autograf.pl