Dystansowanie się wierzących wobec swojego Kościoła. Próba zrozumienia zjawiska

Abstract

The article points to three causes of this trend today: 1. Crisis in people’s faith in Jesus Christ. Today many Catholics regard Christ as a vaguely defined transcendental code rather than the Son of God and the Saviour. As a result, the “yes to Christ, no to the Church” approach often emerges and is backed by individualism, an attitude characteristic of our times. Consequently, Church membership becomes a question of cultural identity rather than an essential religious fact. 2. The tendency to reduce faith to the level of belief. This decreases sensitivity to religious truth and results in a selective approach towards the Church’s faith and morality. As a consequence, religious practices are radically reduced and religious celebrations become as rare as those in ancient pagan religions. 3. The constant defamation of the Church observed since the Enlightenment period. Stereotypes present the Church as if it were a criminal organization. In social consciousness the Church, which has long been part of local communities, is blamed for many of those historical faults that lie with the entire society. The mass media make headline news of evil acts committed by people related to the Church, frequently exaggerating them and sometimes even creating so-called media facts, which have never taken place. Thus, for many Catholics open admission to Church membership is not easy.