W niniejszym artykule zostały przedstawione wyniki badań socjologicznych zrealizowanych w latach 1988–2017, na próbach ogólnopolskich młodzieży uczęszczającej do szkół średnich. W hipotezie głównej założono, że młodzież wykazuje skłonność do negowania tradycyjnych wartości (religijnych i moralnych) obowiązujących w Kościele katolickim oraz ulega wartościom lansowanym przez nowe nurty ideowe charakterystyczne dla społeczeństw ponowoczesnych i pluralistycznych. Badania empiryczne z lat 1988–2017 wykazały ponadto przyspieszenie zmian w kondycji religijnej i moralnej młodzieży szkolnej. W 2017 roku wskaźnik przeciętny odnoszący się do wybranych przejawów religijności wynosił 47%, a spadek aprobaty tych elementów kształtował się na poziomie 15,7%. „Pełzająca” sekularyzacja w środowiskach młodzieżowych, wyraźnie przyspieszająca, wydaje się już faktem społecznym.

The model of a contemporary female Catholic as designed by religious girls on the threshold of adulthood. A report on focus group interviews

This article describes the model of a contemporary Catholic woman as designed by religious girls on the threshold of adulthood. In the struggle of young people with existential dilemmas, both specific models and abstract role models may prove to be helpful. Both have become the subject of research carried out in 2021 conducted using 10 focus group interviews with 35 female students in the final years of secondary schools. The focus groups were created by recruiting 17–18 years olds girls of the Roman Catholic faith living in western and northern Poland and attended religion lessons. This article contains an excerpt concerning the model of a Catholic woman in the contemporary world designed by interviewees. The projection task showed that the created role models go beyond the stereotypical images of Catholic women, less refers to a specific traditional Christian personal models and is an exemplification of a new female perspective in Catholicism.

Religiousness and the sense of identity of students from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia

The subject matter explored in the article include the issues related to religiousness of university students. This category comprises their denominational structure, their attitude to religion, their self-evaluation of the essence of religion in life, the frequency of participation in religious practices. These categories are shown in relation to their sense of identity. The research with the use of the survey method was conducted among students from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia who live in culturally diverse territories. The research results show the ongoing changes in Polish and Slovak societies. Young people take advantage of the possibility of making choices and their choices concern not only education and professional paths, but also the beliefs, behaviour and activities in the religious sphere. The surveyed students’ freedom of choice is manifested, among others, in their sense of a multidimensional identity and in the consciousness of belonging to the Church. Among the surveyed university youth – in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia – one can observe the individualization of religiousness in the form of the departure from religious affiliation, as well as in “belonging without faith”.

New Spirituality as a Sociocultural Megatrend

The term “new spirituality” has been becoming trendy for some time now. It is appearing more and more in the social sciences, as well as in everyday life. It appears increasingly in the social sciences, as well as in everyday life. It becomes one of the most interesting and widely discussed problems in the modern humanities. Many modern people, in the highly developed countries of the world, do not use the noun „religion” or the adjective „religious”, but refer to the terms „spiritual” or „spirituality”, considering them more appropriate to describe their worldview. There is no single form of spirituality, but there are many, ever new ones. In the article, the author presents definitions of the new spirituality, discusses its various characteristics and finally quotes the following definition of the new spirituality: “New spirituality is one of the megatrends of the beginning of the 21st century. It is an experience of the sacred, sometimes nameless, understood as something personal, intimate, and relating to the inner power of the human being. New spirituality emphasizes the role of experience and spiritual exercises, sees the human body as a container filled with inner, spiritual sense and as a manifestation of the creative power of the Spirit, respects nature, promotes healthy eating, attaches great importance to human bonding based on fidelity and love, refers to moral values it considers applicable, is sensitive to art, and emphasizes gender equality. It is holistic, democratic, easily accessible, and non–hierarchical. It stands in opposition to institutionalized religion, which means that it is beyond the Church”.