RELIGION AND IDENTITY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Autor analizira ulogu religije u formiranju nacionalnog identiteta u Srednjoj i Istočnoj Europi na primjeru Katoličke crkve u Poljskoj u 20. stoljeću. U Poljskoj se, kao i u većini srednjoeuropskih i istočnoeuropskih društava, nacionalni identitet razvio protiv države, a na temelju odabranih elemenata etničke kulture i tradicije, među kojima središnje mjesto pripada religiji. U razdoblju komunizma poljska je Katolička crkva imala stožernu ulogu u konstrukciji nacionalnog identiteta, koji je poistovjetio poljaštvo i katoličanstvo. Crkva je tako- đer imala presudnu ulogu u rušenju komunističkog sustava. Međutim, ona se teško prilagođava novim uvjetima političke demokracije, ideološkog i kulturnog pluralizma. Kako su osobito pokazale rasprave o pobačaju i vjeronauku u javnim školama, pokušaj Crkve da zadobije status moralnog arbitra, koji je iznad demokratskih institucija, rezultirao je novim podjelama i doveo u pitanje njezin utjecaj u društvu.The author analyses the role of religion in the formation of national identities in Central and Eastern Europe on the example of the Catholic Church in Poland in the 20th century. In Poland, like in most Central-European and Eastern-European societies, national identity developed against the state and was founded on certain elements of ethnic culture and tradition, the central position belonging to the Church. During communism, the Polish Catholic Church had the leading position in the construction of national identity, which identified Polishness with Catholicism. The Church also had a crucial role in the destruction of the communist system. However, it has found increasingly difficult to adapt to the new conditions of political democracy, ideological and cultural pluralism. As has been shown through the debates on abortion and religious education in state schools, the attempt by the Church to achieve the status of moral arbiter, above all democratic institutions, has resulted in new divisions and jeopardised its influence in the society