„Co polecam waszej dobroczynności”.Jak proszono o pieniądze w wiejskim kościele na Górnym Śląsku na przełomie XIX i XX wieku
„Which I am commending to your charity”.How they asked for money in the country church in Upper Silesia on the turn of the 19th and 20th century

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the issue of formulating requests for money in the Roman Catholic Church In Silesia on the turn of the 19thand the 20thcentury. The author analyzed two parish announcements books (from the years 1897–1916) in the village of Szymiszów near Strzelce Opolskie. The obtained material clearly indicates that there were considerable financial burdens imposed on the parishioners as regards the needs of both the local parish church and different charity institutions supported by the Church. The officially specified taxes of established amounts had to be paid unconditionally. However, while determining the quota, the possessions owned by given families were taken into account. It was also only too often that voluntary donations were collected for various purposes, which were usually accompanied by a compulsory registration of such donations on a list. That actually considerably reduced the idea of voluntarism. On the other hand, at the same time, one may also see a cash flow in the opposite direction: in the situation of a lack of any social insurances it was the Church that performed the role of an institution which enabled the elderly to survive or provided a kind of funeral benefit to families of deceased parishioners.

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