Original scientific paper
RELIGION AND CHURCH. ISSUES OF INSTITUTIONAL RELIGIOUSNESS IN CONTEMPORARY CROATIAN SOCIETY
Krunoslav Nikodem
; Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
Abstract
Th e paper analyses the issues of institutional religiousness in contemporary Croatian society. It is based on the results of the empirical research conducted as part of the project „Modernization and identity of Croatian society: sociocultural integrations and development” (130-1301180-0915) led by Prof. Ivan Cifrić. The research was conducted during the end of November and first half of December 2010 on the representative sample of adult Croatian citizens (N=1008). Institutional religiousness is analyzed according to
the following indicators: confessional affi liation, religious self-identification, personal conviction about the existence of God and institutional religious practice. Th e paper relies on the general hypothesis that in the contemporary Croatian society there are still traditional forms of religiousness tied to religious institutions. These indicators are analyzed with regards to basic socio-demographic characteristics and political orientations of Croatian citizens. In order to conduct a more thorough analysis, the results from 2010 are compared with the results from other studies conducted in the period between 1997 and 2008. The paper also offers a short overview of the fundamental theoretical approaches in the sociology of religion and, on the basis of the empirical research, considers the possibilities of their application in explaining the correlation between
social and religious changes in Croatia. Within this context, the role and potentials of the Catholic Church are also analyzed.
Keywords
religion; church; institutional religiousness; social changes; religious changes
Hrčak ID:
67436
URI
Publication date:
15.4.2011.
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