Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 70 No. 2, 2000.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Aspects of Ecclesiasticism
Josip Baloban
; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Gordan Črpić
; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
In analysing the phenomena of religiosity and ecclesiasticism, it is important to take into consideration certain theological and sociological notions and facts. The first notion relates to the difference between external and internal Church membership and ecclesiasticism. The second relates to the difference between institutionalised religiosity (ecclesiasticism) and general religiosity (churchless religiosity). The boundaries between institutionalised and general religiosity are becoming more and more diffuse, resulting in Christianity a la carte, religious eclecticism and religious syncretism. The third notion concerns the observation of ecclesiasticism as a complex dynamic relationship between the individual and the Church. It is a process which is influenced by social surroundings along with institutional norms, which means a process that is subject to changes and which in turn alters the existing reality. The fourth notion takes as its starting point ecclesiasticism as a multidimensional reality, which comprises: confessional membership, confidence in the Church, religious truth, the experiential dimension, the ritual dimension, the dimension of being a Christian in society and the moral-ethical dimension. Given that it is the essentially social values examined in the EVS-1999 that are being focused on, and not only specifically Christian values, a crystallising component is missing in this article, as in the research, which is co-constitutive for ecclesiasticism.
On the basis of the dimension of confessional membership, Croatia's place on the religio-ecclesiastic map is among »Catholic« countries like Poland, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal. 84.5% of respondents in the EVS-1999, declared themselves to be Catholics, while 13.6% were in the unchurched-undeclared category. Similar results have been obtained in two independent studies conducted in Croatia during the past three years: »Religion and Morality in Croatia« (1977) and »Aufbruch« (1977/98).
The largest portion of the population continues to show a high level of confidence in the Church (59.7%), while the remainder choose either not much (29.8%) or none at all (7.4%). The decline in confidence in the Church should be observed within the entire socio-political context, in which confidence in all social institutions, particularly those of the army, school and the police, has decreased rapidly during the last two years. There is also room for further analysis into why amongst Christians themselves there is a decline in confidence in their own institution.
The dimension of religious truth is analysed with particular emphasis on the ritual dimension (attending mass), on the basis of the typology regular (weekly or more often), periodical (monthly), occasional churchgoers, and non-churchgoers (never). In Croatia, 89.1% of the general population and 95% of Catholics claim to believe in God. Among Catholics, 64.6% believe in life after death, 53.1% that Hell exists, 59% that Heaven exists, 71.85% believe in sin, and 35.6% believe in telepathy. Comparison of indicators of participation during mass and in elements of belief, reveals that participation during mass and in elements of belief have a reciprocal and complementary relationship. The less an individual participates in the ritual dimension of ecclesiasticism, the less he accepts religious truth. The intensity of acceptance is linked with the frequency of the ritual dimension of ecclesiasticism. It is interesting to note that 50% of non-churchgoers believe in God, and about 40% of regular churchgoers have difficulty with belief in a personal God. Research has shown that among the general population, as among the Catholic population, there is a widening belief in reincarnation. It is most widespread among non practising Catholics (32.3%). 15% of regular churchgoers believe in reincarnation, 17.3% of periodical churchgoers and 20% of occasional churchgoers. Is this already the beginning of modern syncretistic individualised religiosity?
For the experiential dimension of ecclesiasticism, only the prayer indicator is considered. An impressive 95% of those who consider themselves to be religious prav daily. But percentages are different for prayer and participation during mass. There is a tight correlation between the indicators of prayer and indicators of participation during mass, such that those who attend Church more regularly pray more regularly and vice versa. About 60% of regular churchgoers pray daily, while every third periodical and every twelfth occasional churchgoer prays daily. Among non-churchgoers, between 9 and 10% pray daily. Although frequency of prayer decreases among the younger generations, among the oldest generation and the youngest there is no significant difference in percentages with respect to »not praying«. Processes of secularisation have succeeded in threatening prayer, but they have not entirely displaced it from the life of Croatian citizens.
In the ritual dimension, respondents reached an unusual differentiation. In relation to the whole population, 31% are regular churchgoers, 18.8% periodical, 37.4% occasional, 11.9% nonchurchgoers and 0.7% undecided. Although women participate in religious rituals more often, there can not be said to be a pronounced feminisation of religious rituals. While in the general population 13,2% of men and 11% of women do not take part in religious rituals, 5% of men and 3% of women in the Catholic population never attend Sunday mass. Differentiated ritual participation is noticeably related to the level of education in the general population, where a significantly lower number of the more highly educated attend mass. Within the Catholic population the more highly educated do not deviate significantly from those less highly educated. The least »regular« and the most »occasional« attendance of mass is recorded in the cities of Osijek, Split and Rijeka.
A very high degree of participation in religious rituals was shown in the 12 year old age group. Three quarters of the Catholic population took part in religious rituals once a week. The most intensive participation in religious rituals at 12 years of age was by respondents over the age of 59. After that there is an erratic drop. A significant drop occurred in the generation of citizens born between 1940 and 1950, which means in the generation that was most strongly influenced by a strong atheistic model of socialisation.
With respect to rites of passage, Croatian respondents are similar to Europeans. The majority of Croatian citizens, including a portion of professed atheists, feel the need for religious riles on the occasions of birth (85.3%), marriage (90.9%) and death (91.1%). The same similarity to Europeans shows itself among atheists. Among professed atheists in Croatia, 39.5% want religious rites on the occasion of the birth of a child, 47.4% on the occasion of marriage, and 50% on the occasion of a funeral. Therefore, denial of one's ecclesiasticism and religiosity while at the same time seeking performance of religious rites for important life events is not a phenomenon specific to Croatian citizens, but is present among Europeans in general.
With respect to the dimension of being Christian in society, it is indicative that over 55% of respondents do not feel that it is important for a politician to believe in God in order to perform his duties. In fact, as many as 83% feel that religious leaders should have no influence on how people will vote in elections. Over 42% feel that it would be better for Croatia if more people of firm religious faith served in public offices. Being Christian in society with Christian convictions and complete responsibility has not yet been fully realised.
The EVS-1999 as well as the other two above-mentioned Croatian studies confirm that Croatia with its specificities is keeping pace with developments in Europe, and that events outside Croatia reflect on Croatia's citizens. It can be said, therefore, that although Croatia lags somewhat behind, everything that is happening in Europe, from secularisation, to modernisation, to individualisation... also has a visible and lasting echo in Croatia. During the Communist era, the process of stratification of and distancing from ecclesiasticism was already underway in Croatia, particularly among members of the Catholic Church. While (his process was carried by secularisation in previous decades, in recent years this process of stratification of ecclesiasticism and religiosity has been accelerated by modernisation and individualisation. If one third of regular and periodical churchgoers accept religious concepts which contradict basic Christian precepts (a personal God or a Christian conception of resurrection), then this is a case of Christianity a la carte and of a distancing from ecclesiasticism which have been present for many decades. This research confirms that religious elements from various sources are spreading throughout Croatia. These elements are gradually penetrating the general population, as well as the Catholic population. There are indications that varieties of »neo-paganism«, animism, and naturalist religiosity specific to Croatia are developing. Therefore,more space should be devoted to these phenomena in subsequent research. Besides all this, there is the presence in society of an unarticulated spirituality, which can but does not have to be connected with religiousness or rituality. Religiosity connected with institutional religiosity (ecclesiasticism) is no longer the only reality that touches the sphere of human existential and spiritual identity.
Ključne riječi
the Church; Christianity; ecclesiasticism; dimensions of ecclesiasticism; distancing from ecclesiasticism; post-Christian religiosity; non-churchgoers
Hrčak ID:
31162
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.11.2000.
Posjeta: 1.815 *