No abstract

The presented sociological study emerges from the area of sociology of religion that would like to describe and explain religious reality. Its main goal is to present John Paul II’s encyclical Ut unum sint and its reception among Slovak youth. The study is divided into two parts. The introduction includes a short outline of the main reflections that appear in the encyclical Ut unum sint and some experiences connected with ecumenism in Slovakia — strongly dependent on specific people, priests or parishes. The first part presents the main tasks of Christian churches from the point of view of studied young people (e.g. charity, humanity, education or ecumenism). The second part sheds light on the possible differences between the chosen categories of the analyzed representatives of youth, particularly with regard to ecumenism. To that end independent variables were chosen: sex, place of residence, number of siblings, performance at school, attitude to religious faith, religious practices, and religious affiliation. The study is based in particular on the author’s own sociological research conducted at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century.

Although after the political change in 1989 it is possible to scientifically study the phenomenon of religiosity also in post-communist countries, it should be humbly recognized that the authentic sociology of religion in Slovakia is still in statu nascendi. This is evidenced, for example, by the fact that in the most famous Slovak sociological journal called “Sociology” only one issue has been devoted to the topic of religiosity during last 30 years (“Sociology”, 2001). We can claim, that researching of religiosity in Slovakia is almost like discovering a “virgin land”. At the same time it should be acknowledged that the development of research of religiosity in the Slovak reality was most positively influenced by the Polish school of sociology. The purpose of this study is to describe the outlined impact and emphasize its importance for researching of Slovakian religiosity.

Dla socjologii rodziny, socjologii wartości i socjologii moralności bardzo interesujące jest pytanie, na ile są dla współczesnych ludzi ważne takie wartości, jak rodzina lub przyjaciele i znajomi? Poszukują odpowiedzi na pytanie, jakie jest miejsce tych wartości wśród innych wartości życia codziennego? Wspomniane dyscypliny naukowe badają także różnice w tej sprawie między poszczególnymi kategoriami ludności ze względu na cechy demograficzne lub społeczne (np. płeć, wiek, wykształcenie, miejsce zamieszkania, region itp.). Na te i inne pytania stara się odpowiadać prezentowane studium empiryczne, które oprócz innych opiera się przede wszystkim na wynikach reprezentatywnych badań socjologicznych nad wartościami życiowymi Słowaków z 2019 roku.

Janusz Mariański: Nowa religijność i duchowość — mit czy rzeczywistość?[New Religiosity and Spirituality — a Myth or Reality?]. Warszawa 2019, 265 pp. - the review.