Emancypacja, cyfrowy świat i obiektywna prawda. Refleksje nad ostatnim ćwierćwieczem Polski i Kościoła

Abstract

Year 2017 marked the 25th anniversary of the bull Totus Tuus Poloniae populus promulgated on 25 March 1992, with which John Paul II reorganized the administrative structure of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. The document sanctioned the elevation of 14 new dioceses in Poland. The 25th anniversary, like any other for that matter, is urging us to carefully evaluate the past years, as well as to ask questions about the near future of the Polish Church. To better understand changes that have taken place in that period of time, let us imagine the average 25-year-old boy and the average girl of the same age: who are they, how do they live, what do they do? Most probably, they are still students, they work or are looking for a job. They may have a wife, a husband, or a partner with whom they live together without marriage, despite their being Catholics who had Religious Education as a mandatory subject starting (as required in accordance with the instruction of Ministry of National Education issued on 30 August 1990) in the first grade of primary school. There is a substantial probability that these average young people have emigrated and having found abroad better job and better perspectives do not want to come back. Perhaps they are very religious and live out their faith and their national affinity consciously. It is probable that such people tell us more than official statistics does about directions and trends, values and priorities that are recognisable and prevailing in Polish society and the Polish Church. 25-year anniversary cannot only be the occasion for celebrating, it should also become an opportunity to seriously reflect on the past and on the challenges of the future. In the context of the anniversary of the reorganization of Polish dioceses we should ask ourselves some important questions: how to resist the negative aspects of the digital revolution? How it can be showed that a good and happy life should be built not on egoistic impressions, but on clear moral norms that delineate the categories of good and evil? How is Christian ethos to be sustained in the modern era, whereas preservation of clearly defined models and principles is impeded by consumptionist logic that entails the illusion of achieving satisfaction through „devouring the world”?