KOŚCIÓŁ KATOLICKI JAKO SIŁA POLITYCZNA W OKRESIE TRANSFORMACJI USTROJOWEJ 1989–1997 (ROZWAŻANIA NA PRZYKŁADZIE WOJEWÓDZTWA LUBELSKIEGO)
The Catholic Church as a political force in the time of constitutional transformation, 1989–1997 (the Lublin province as a case)

Summary/Abstract: As the title suggests, this paper looks into a problem of participation of the Catholic Church in political life after 1989. The author describes how the Catholic Church and its hierarchy have been adapting to the changing situation. To understand the position of the Church fully, at first this paper briefly reviews the complex socio-political situation in Poland. Before the democratic changes started in Poland in 1989, the Catholic Church had been a very important element of the country’s dualistic social structure, but the democratic revolutions in Eastern Europe caught the Church by surprise. The article deals with issues such as the Church’s involvement in elections, the place of Christian values and the Catholic Church as an institution in the legal order, public debates about abortion and birth control, reintroduction of religious instruction in public schools etc.

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