Oczekiwania wiernych wobec księdza w świetle współczesnych badań pastoralnych i socjologicznych
Current Expectations of the Faithful from Priests in the Context of Modern Pastoral and Sociological Studies

Summary/Abstract: The paper is an attempt to present the current expectations of the faithful from priests. John Paul II said that a priest should be an icon of Jesus’ Heart. A priest should be a man who proclaims God, but at the same time is close to people and their issues. A priest may not run away from the modern world and in that very world he should lead people to God. Today’s expectations from a priest are strong faith, witness to God and holiness of life, but also being “human”. He should also be a real shepherd who offers and devotes his life to others, who has time for the faithful. The sociological studies as presented comprise the years 1969-2014 and even though they are fragmental, they allow one to see trends as they occur. The oldest results of the studies stress to a greater extent general human features such as, for example: honesty, openness, communication skills and devotion to his faithful. The results of more modern research emphasize to a greater extent spiritual features of a priest such as, for example: piety, spiritual life, deep faith. Irrespective of the fact of which features are emphasized more: universal human ones or spiritual, it is certain that only an appropriate combination of the features from both of these groups will allow a priest to be mature, serve the faithful effectively and meet their expectations.

• Details
• Contents