This study seeks to explain the differences in the perception of social and pastoral service after the first and second wave pandemic in 2020 among the inhabitants of two neighbouring states, both parts of the former unified Czechoslovakia. Our research study compares subjective perception, needs, and participation among inhabitants of eastern Slovakia and north-western Czech Republic in social and pastoral service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research sample consisted of a healthy population from the Czech Republic (n = 496) and Slovakia (n = 484) over 16 years of age, of which 63% (n = 617) were women and 37% (n = 363) men. The level of education ranged from primary to postgraduate. The research sample consisted of 623 (63.6%) participants with religious affiliation and 357 (36.4%) without religion. The level of perception, needs, and participation of the participants in social and pastoral service was obtained based on a non-standardised questionnaire. The results of our study confirmed several differences in the areas studied.

The aim of this research was to compare the quality of life among University of the Third Age (U3A) students in Poland, where a novel method of educating seniors is being developed, with the quality of life among students at newly established U3As in Belarus and Ukraine, which have copied the Polish model. The research was also conducted to connect a range of socio-demographic variables with two explanatory ones: satisfaction with participation in U3A activities and the overall quality of life. A total of 515 U3A (N13) students from three Eastern European countries—Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus—took part in the research. The overall quality of life of U3A students was researched and expressed in the form of three components: stress level, sense of self-efficacy, and level of satisfaction with life. The following tools were used: PPS10 (Perceived Stress Scale), GSES (General Self-Efficacy Scale), and SWLS (Satisfaction with Life Scale). The research showed a statistically significant difference between the country of residence and the level of satisfaction with life, sense of self-efficacy, and the overall indicator of the quality of life. Polish seniors obtained higher results in all these areas when compared to their counterparts in Ukraine and Belarus.

The paper examines the recent trends in international mobility, attractivity for international students, and the number of publications of two universities (Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia, CPU and Tbilisi State Medical University, Georgia, TSMU) to understand whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected these processes and whether the adverse consequences of the pandemic were still retained after its end. In addition, we examined the influence of EU support for these processes. For this purpose, we analyzed the rates of international mobility (the number of outgoing and incoming students and employees, the number of international students, and the number of publications indexed in SCOPUS and the WoS database of CPU and TSMU before, during, and after the abolishment of administrative restrictions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The comparison of CPU and TSMU demonstrated the similarity between these universities in the development of international contacts and cooperation. The indexes of international mobility and the number of publications in the EU university CPU were higher than those in the non-EU TSMU. On the other hand, before COVID-19, the indexes of international mobility and the number of publications of TSMU were stable or tended to decline, but in CPU, they increased. COVID-19 had a negative impact on all indexes of international mobility, but the number of international students continued to increase in both universities, even during the pandemic. The use of home offices during the pandemic promoted an increase in the number of international publications among authors from CPU but not among those from TSMU. After the end of the pandemic, in both universities, the indexes of international mobility increased but sometimes did not return to pre-pandemic levels. In the post-COVID-19 period, in both CPU and TSMU, the number of international students continued to grow, and the number of publications declined. These observations highlight the trend of internalization experienced by both universities, the negative impact of COVID on their international mobility, and the importance of EU support for research.

The present study focuses on exploring the differences and relationship between well-being and experience of pastoral and psychological service of religious denomination based on religious affiliation during the first wave of the pandemic in Czechia. Our research has been focused on the investigation, comparison, and correlation between the level of well-being and pastoral and psychological service. The research sample (n = 1126) consisted of the Czech health population with age over 16 years, of which 42.4% were men (n = 478) and 57.5% were women (n = 648). From the perspective of religiosity, the study sample was divided in terms of religion into two groups—51.9% participants with religious affiliation (n = 584) and 48.1% participants without religious affiliation (n = 542). The level of well-being was identified by means of The Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). The level of experience with pastoral and psychological service was measured using our non-standardised questionnaire. The results confirmed the differences between the variables of well-being and positive experience with pastoral and psychological service based on religious affiliation. Moreover, we confirmed the hypothesis of a positive correlation between well-being and positive experience with pastoral and psychological service in Czechia.

Aim. The present study is focused on exploring of the relationship between spirituality and irrational beliefs particularly in relation to movement activities in Slovakia and Czechia, i.e., helplessness, idealisation, perfectionism, external vulnerability, and negative expectation.  Concept. Our research has been focused on the investigation, comparison, and correlation between the level of spirituality and irrational beliefs depending on the frequency of sport activities.  Method. The research sample (N = 469) consisted of Slovak and Czech health population aged 18-70 (M = 41.97, SD = 13.14), of which 42.2% were men (N = 198) and 57.8% were women (N = 271). The level of spirituality was identified by means of the Expressions of Spiritual Inventory-Revised – ESI-R (MacDonald, 2000). The irrational beliefs were measured using the Scale of Irrational Beliefs (Kondáš & Kordáčová, 2000).  Results. Research results confirmed the differences between the variables of spirituality and irrational beliefs based on the frequency of sports activities. Also, we confirmed the hypothesis of negative correlation between spirituality and irrational beliefs.  Conclusion. In our study, we focused on the correlations between irrational beliefs and spirituality in group of Slovak and Czech population. Based on our results we can draw several conclusions. Research results confirmed the differences between the variables of spirituality and irrational beliefs based on frequency of sports activities.