Religious situation in contemporary Czech society

Václavík, David; Hamplová, Dana; Nešpor, Zdeněk R.

doi:10.14712/25704893.2018.6

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Compared to the other countries of the post-Communist region, Czechs are more comfortable with non-traditional and non-Christian forms of religiosity and alternative spirituality. There is also a considerable preference of secular faith, implicit religion and non-religion, including a significant score of so-called apatheists and atheists (Václavík et al 2018;Vido et al 2016). In this respect, the post-Communist response of the entire Czech society can be interpreted as another example of (re)invention of tradition, a phenomenon typical for other post-Communist countries century, the modern interpretation of global threats offered are the outbreak of WWIII, nuclear or ecological catastrophes, globalisation or total control by means of information technologies.…”

Section: Methodological Commentarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Marian Dedications within the Current Cultural Space of Slovakia

Majo¹

2020

Traces of the Virgin Mary in Post-Communist Europe

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Cultural geography (as the main field in geography with no connection to religion) is strongly influenced by constructivist approaches today. Geographer Doreen Masey wrote in 2010 (Massey 2010: 107) that space is always being made and always, therefore, in a sense, unfinished. The ‘always’ is rather that there are always connections yet to be made, juxtapositions yet to flower into interaction, or not, potential links which may never be established. Loose ends and ongoing stories. With these ideas she perfectly outlined the relationship of space, time, and social world. In the field of religious identity and its expression it indicates not just variability of its representations but can also work as a hub to the local projections of identity interactions and how this space is formed within local actors and local circumstances. All interactions within the various scales forms two paradigms of how place and space can be analysed – as politics and poetics of space. If the cult of the Virgin Mary prevails within the Catholic religious practice, then the poetics and politics of space can have vast forms of expression and impacts. This chapter attempts to outline the spatiality of this cult represented in dedications of sacred buildings, and open up questions on forming such distributions and regional specificities in Slovakia. Research on the spatial aspects of dedications of sacred buildings provide interesting intersections of relations between sacred and profane as well as various levels of research resulting in a relationship between the ‘politics’ and ‘poetics’ of place. This chapter introduces such relationship within cultural geography. Although this approach is fully applicable in local or regional research, we have outlined the spatial aspects of the cult of the Virgin Mary as embodied in the dedication of sacred buildings, introducing the differences in the types of such dedication. The link between time and space is observed in living as well as obliterated dedications, which helps us understand in a very broad sense the dynamics of construction and maintenance of sacred space and the projections of initiatives at various levels of political administration with an impact on the poetics of space and community. Research on the spatial distribution of dedications in Slovakia is still a little explored field, even though the extensive data sources are relatively high in quality and quantity and enable the interpretation of different relations in various scales. In the con- text of important dedications, it is the Marian ones that have a significant position in church life and are the most common ones, reflecting the intensity of the worship of the Virgin Mary within the Slovak environment. The research also indicates that the importance and popularity of Marian dedications are accompanied by great diversity with growth over time. It also reflects on the background based on social changes, such as the extinction of the Kingdom of Hungary, the declaration of Our Lady of Sorrows as the patron of Slovakia, etc.

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Section: Methodological Commentarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Marian Dedications within the Current Cultural Space of Slovakia

Majo¹

2020

Traces of the Virgin Mary in Post-Communist Europe

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“…However, it is also possible that the 'rupture of the tradition' in some countries was so radical that the post-Communist period did not see a resentment of the tradition, which resulted in extraordinary acceleration of secularisation tendencies. Depending on the particular country, we face different resulting forms of transformation (see Borowik 1999;Demerath 2000;Borowik and Tomka 2001;Pollack 2003;Rosta 2012;Agadjanian 2006;Müller 2008;Marinović and Zrinščak 2006;Nešpor 2004;Václavík et al 2018;Váně 2011;Podolinská 2010;Tížik 2011). Another specific feature of post-Communist modernity is the heritage of Communist socialisation of several successor genera-tions.…”

Section: Mary Moves People and The Economic Marketmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared to the other countries of the post-Communist region, Czechs are more comfortable with non-traditional and non-Christian forms of religiosity and alternative spirituality. There is also a considerable preference of secular faith, implicit religion and non-religion, including a significant score of so-called apatheists and atheists (Václavík et al 2018;Vido et al 2016). In this respect, the post-Communist response of the entire Czech society can be interpreted as another example of (re)invention of tradition, a phenomenon typical for other post-Communist countries too, as a U-turn to the pre-Communist societal discourse and atmosphere.…”

Section: Traces Of the Virginmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contemporary Models of Marian Discourse in Slovakia

Kečka¹

2020

Traces of the Virgin Mary in Post-Communist Europe

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According to the 2001 census, the majority of Slovakia's population statistically follows the Catholic confession of Roman or Byzantine rites. In both rites, the Marian devotion has a consider- able place in religious reflection and spirituality. This study explores the religious discourse of the Marian devotion as it appears in available books and booklets on this topic. The main focus of the chapter is a comparison of the Marian discourse in Slovakia (representing a post-socialist country) and the Marian discourse in neighbouring Austria (representing a ‘Western’ country with no socialist history). For this purpose, a sample of Mariological reflections and spiritual texts was created based on their availability in all Catholic bookstores in the capital of Slovakia (Bratislava) and the capital of Austria (Vienna). The reason for this choice is that these bookstores offer books that mirror the living intellectual and religious brainstorming and reflect Christianity, in par-ticularly the pattern of the Marian discourse of the recent decades in both countries. The study comments on the absence of modern Marian literature in Slovak bookstores. The author also analyses the Marian vocabulary and topics in the both samples. The author distinguishes three existing models of the Marian discourse in Slovakia, all of traditional origin, portraying Mary as an unselfish and patient mother, Mary loving conditionally and restraining God's anger; Mary leading the legions against Satan and crushing his head. All three models are based on the traditional images of Mary and, within the Christian communities, are not understood as contradictory, but complementary. Compared to Western Christianity, the Marian discourse in Slovakia lacks two recurrent models: (1) the progressive 20th/21st century model, and (2) the traditionalist and fundamentalist mod- el. The first model has created a Marian vocabulary and contents representing a self-confident, social and communicative model of Mary. This model presents an alternative to the old models combining mild or triumphant vocabulary with mild or triumphant contents. The second model which is absent among Slovak believers is the Marian discourse of the traditionalist and fundamentalist groups of each age tolerated by official Church structures. These traditionalist and fundamentalist groups return to the old Marian vocabulary and contents that is triumphant, militant and – in this modern version – has an offensive character. This form of discourse, created as a reaction to progressive Christian groups – did not emerge in Slovakia, since there were no progressive Christian movements. Based on the research of the author, the Slovak Marian re- flection and spirituality result from traditional beliefs, having no affinity to Western progressive and traditionalist models. In this regard, it can be stated that Slovakia's isolation from the European spiritual development, which has caused traditional devotion to be fixed in its forms, is, paradoxically, continuing also after the fall of Communism in the era of religious freedom. The comparative discoursive analysis of Mariological literature in Slovakia and its Western neighbour – Austria has showed that the Slovak religious landscape is far more traditional (but not traditionalist) than the current trends in the ‘Western’ religious discourse.

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Section: Modern Maries In Post-communist Europementioning

confidence: 99%

Manifestations of Marian Devotion in the Czech Republic – the Past and Present

Holubová¹

2020

Traces of the Virgin Mary in Post-Communist Europe

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According to the author of the chapter, Marian devotion in the Czech Republic should be seen not only in the light of recent highly secularised climate of Czech society. For the current dislike for official Catholicism and de-Christianisation of Czech society, we have to go back in history. In the 19th century, Czechs became liberals, nationalists or socialists. At the same time, religion ceased to play its former role and was assigned only the role of an occasionally sought-after, yet unnecessary ‘folklore’ anachronism, typical for village population. Religious identity was substituted primarily by national identity, as well as by class identity and a ‘scientific’ worldview. The rise of the Communist dictatorship after 1948 bolstered these trends and used them – mostly unmodified – for its own benefit. The non-religious and anti-religious components were accentuated, while the forms of ‘implicit religiosity’ stayed preserved and Church organisations were forced to face systematic repression. The years 1989 and 1990 brought about radical changes in the political and spiritual history of the Czech Republic. Religion lost its principal enemy – Communism. Innumerable forms of religiosity appeared, from versions of classical and modern Christianity to the spiritual schools of the Far East. In this context, it is very interesting that the worshiping of the Virgin Mary has remained virtually unchanged. Just like in the past, emphasis is placed today on spirituality and emotion- al experience, thereby fulfilling the main conditions for survival in the modern era de facto. In addition to the traditional forms of cult and pilgrimage rituals, there are also new forms of religiosity brought about by the 21st century, especially in abundantly visit- ed places of pilgrimage. Due to the widespread use of the internet and e-mail communication, after centuries of pilgrimage tradition, there is for the first time no need to receive the written votum personally or even in representation. After 1989, visits to Czech and foreign places of pilgrimage began to appear in the catalogues of many travelling agencies. Also, bike pilgrimages represent a very popular form among young people. On the other hand, it can be also mentioned, that despite the strong Marian tradition, the general public and as well as the religious discourse on Marian devotion connected to private apparitions in the Czech Republic is at a certain point ‘marginal’. This can have two principal reasons. Firstly, the import of apparitions is caused by the absence of such apparitions at home. Secondly, the import of greater movements and groups represents a reaction to the delay of the Communist era and a smaller membership of believers.

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Religious situation in contemporary Czech society

Cited by 28 publications

References 14 publications

Marian Dedications within the Current Cultural Space of Slovakia

Marian Dedications within the Current Cultural Space of Slovakia

Contemporary Models of Marian Discourse in Slovakia

Manifestations of Marian Devotion in the Czech Republic – the Past and Present

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