Religion in the Public Sphere in Central and Eastern Europe

Acknowledgements

The texts presented in this volume are the result of the research project “Religion in the public sphere. Religious identities in the multireligious regions of Central Eastern Europe, the case of Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia” supported by the National Science Centre in Poland (funding programme OPUS V, registration number 2013/09/B/HS6/03076) and carried out in the years 2014–2016.

Words of thanks are owed to experts in the field of the public sphere: prof. Maria Marczewska-Rytko and prof. Wojciech Misztal (Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland), dr Jan Olbrycht (MEP European Parliament), and experts on religion and Church(es) in selected regions of Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine: prof. Janusz Mariański (Catholic University in Lublin, Poland), and prof. Pavol Dancák (Preŝov University, Slovakia) who shared their valuable comments and furthermore took part in the conference that concluded the project. Last but not least we would like to thank all of the researchers who took part in the project and all of those met along the way, especially at the 4^th International Religious Studies Congress in Gdynia, who contributed with their insight and constructive criticisms.

Introduction

Religion continues to be one of the most important phenomena in contemporary European society, and a focus of attention for the social sciences. It is still a powerful factor determining the choices of millions of Europeans, answering as it does the most fundamental question, especially at critical moments in people’s lives. Religiosity in its various forms is studied as an aspect of culture without which our understanding of society would be incomplete. Religious institutions, established churches, and minority organisations constitute a significant aspect of European social and cultural pluralism. It also has great political significance. The role of religion in the public sphere and the public space remains an issue over which a number of controversies have developed, in recent years as well as in the country’s past, despite the increasing secularisation of European societies. An argument over the direct reference to Christianity in the preambles to EU treaties, or a conflict over the presence of religious symbols in the public space in France constitute examples of a kind of problem discussed in Europe on a daily basis and which have a tendency to generate strong emotions.

As it is generally known, European societies greatly differ as far as religious matters are concerned. For some, religiosity has been largely reduced to the private sphere, while it remains public to a significant extent in others. Churches hold differing positions with regard to their legal status, political involvement, and influence on people’s way of life. Migration makes the reality of religion in European societies even more complex; in some countries, religious pluralism has become an essential aspect of multiculturalism with all its social, cultural, and political implications. Other countries resist multiculturalism and the immigration of “religious others,” and religious institutions play a role in this negative attitude towards the plurality of faith and confession. It is now perhaps evident that the modern theory of increasing secularisation has not been fully confirmed and that religion is and will continue to be present in European societies, albeit in changing relationship with society, its culture, and its political organisation.

Central and Eastern Europe, for several decades of communist domination largely isolated from the civilizational processes encountered in the West, has recently passed through a rapid process of modernisation since the fall of communism in 1989. In many ways, this is a region that lags behind the West in matters of cultural change and which is trying to catch up with the dominant, Western part of Europe. Even if communism reduced and, in some countries, largely eliminated the presence of religion in public life – in the media, in ←9 | 10→education, and in the public space, traditional religiosity remained present in society, while in some countries, notably in Poland, the Catholic Church even strengthened its position as a powerful influence on society and as a public authority, itself recognized by the communist regime. After 1989 a different expectation was expressed regarding the future situation of religion in CEE – some expected continuity of secularisation, this time no longer imposed by the regime but developing as a consequence of individualisation and modernisation. Others predicted the return of traditional religion and its role in society as a pendulum reaction after the imposed secularity under communism and expected Churches to regain their power in society and politics. It is also worth mentioning that in very recent years Central/Eastern Europe has experienced a rise in populism and a “democratic backslide.” These developments, which are reactions to modernity, globalisation, and European integration, seem to be connected with a growth in traditionalism, a return to what is seen as traditional values expected to provide people with direction in life and simple answers to difficult questions. Traditional religious beliefs and practices, even radical, fundamentalist versions of Christianity, are part of this tendency, which adds to the importance of religion and religion-related issues, all of which ought to be studied and understood.

The empirical data presented in this volume is a result of a research project sponsored by the Polish National Centre of Science -NCN (OPUS 5, No. 2013/←10 | 11→09/B/HS6/03076), and carried out in the years 2014–2016. The project covered three regions: in Poland (Cieszyn Silesia), in Slovakia (Central Slovakia-Preszov Oblast) and Western Ukraine (Lviv Oblast). All of the authors of this book are members of the project team. Most of the data come from Poland, partly as a result of the composition of the team and the practical circumstances within which the research was done, but also because of the scale and complexity of the phenomena and processes which are developing in Poland in direct relation to religion, not only locally but also at a national level. Unfortunately, in the end, it proved to be impossible to secure a chapter devoted exclusively to Slovakia, while other chapters frequently refer to Slovakia as well as to Ukraine and Poland.

The book begins with a chapter entitled “Religious Identities and Religious Pluralism in Central/Eastern Europe,” which provides an overview of the present situation of religion and religiosity in the region, with special attention paid to pluralism and the construction of collective identity. There then follow two chapters devoted to the legal conditions of religion and Churches in CEE: one, entitled “The relationship between Church and State and religious multiplicity in Central and Eastern Europe. A historical and legal perspective” deals mainly with the historical background, while the second, “The Law Governing the Relationship between the State and the Church in Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine” presents the current legal norms and processes. These are followed by a chapter on Ukraine (“Religion in Western Ukraine: History and present times”). This is succeeded by five chapters that focus on various aspects of the present situation ←11 | 12→of religion in the public sphere and the public space in Poland, as well as the current public, political debates in which religion and religious values play a crucial role. These are: “Religion in the Polish political debates: Stances adopted by the major political actors,” “Religious symbols in public places and the teaching of religion in schools in Poland. An analysis of the media discourse,” “The Polish in vitro discourse as a “second debate on abortion:” Sociological discourse analysis,” “Religious issues in the political discourse. Parliamentary debates on civil unions and the public funding of religious institutions,” and “Religious issues in the “Good Change” political campaign of the Law and Justice Party.” Two later chapters are devoted to the region of Cieszyn Silesia and to those processes which are specific to what is a region of historically rooted religious pluralism now facing the twin modern challenges of democracy and individualism. These are: “A model example or complicated cooperation? Ecumenical dialogue as a local narrative on religious pluralism in the region of Cieszyn Silesia” and “Religious pluralism in Cieszyn Silesia. The coverage of religious communities in regional magazine Głos Ziemi Cieszyńskiej.” The book concludes with an article entitled “The specificity of the model of Church-state relationships in Central/Eastern Europe.”

Religious identities and religious pluralism in Central/Eastern Europe

Keywords: religious identity, Central and Eastern Europe, traditional pluralism, democracy