On the origins of the bond between Catholicism and national consciousness in Polish society in the first half of the nineteenth century

• Main Author: Martyna Deszczyńska
• Format: Article
• Language: Polish
• Published: Instytut Wydawniczy Księży Misjonarzy Redakcja "Nasza Przeszłość" 2021-06-01
• Series: Nasza Przeszłość
• Subjects: history; nineteen century; poland; catholcism; nation; society; identity;
• Online Access: https://ojs.academicon.pl/np/article/view/3576

The text presents the origins of the relationship between Catholicism and national consciousness in Poland at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It discusses the literature on the subject, arguing that the topic has not been sufficiently described and indicating new fields of research. It uses methodology from history, religious studies and book sciences. The findings are based on various sources (fiction, ephemeral religious literature, sermons, book collection inventories, journalism and diaries). Their analysis indicates that the mid-nineteenth century emphasized and deepened in content the durability of the cohesion of Polishness and Catholicness. Despite growing secularization, new meanings were drawn from membership in the Universal Church (J. Ordęga, S. Rawicz). The loss of membership in the "political nation" (gentry) caused religious identity to be perceived as an element binding the community together. This strengthened the durability of the myth of the Catholic Pole.