Original scientific paper

Church in the Eyes of the Young

Valentina Mandarić ; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The author of this article, using the results of the socio-religious research on the religiosity of adolescents and young people, ponders the relationship between the youth and the Church, in view of belonging and identification. The research shows that a partial belonging to the Church becomes more and more present among youth, and that it is associated with the youth's decreased identification of with the Church's basic teaching. Young people mostly feel like passive consumers of Church services and are treated that way. In that regard, the author suggests, the Croatian youth are not very different from the youth in other European countries. However, regardless of this situation, the Croatian youth still views the Church as an institution with a good reputation. The young mostly experience the Church through its social and cultural engagements in concrete society, most particularly in the social arena. They have difficulties in comprehending and accepting the mysterious dimension of the Church, which is why their picture of the Church is not always wholesome. The youth's perceptions of the Church are dominated by subjectivism. At the end of the article, the author suggests some directions for procedures that could help the Croatian youth to discover the true face of the Church.

Keywords

Church; youth; relationship; belonging; picture of the Church

Hrčak ID:

29057

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/29057

Publication date:

21.5.2002.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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