In the social teaching of the Church, one of the main topics is the matter of understanding and living freedom, especially in the “religious” sense, to which the truth leads: “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (cf. John 8:3). Where to look for the truth? The answer of Catholics is: in the Church.
This question can be narrowed down to Polish society, where the term “Polish-Catholic” functions: so why are Polish Catholics increasingly leaving the Church and abandoning religious practices? Miroslawa Grabowska, based on the results of the survey, argues that it is the Church itself, as an institution, and priests who “repel”, especially young people, with their concrete actions, behavior in the public space, but also in interpersonal relations (priest: thrown out of religion lessons; not allowed to take confirmation; treated unjustly). The main reasons for leaving the Church are systemic rather than specific: not pedophile scandals and attempts to cover them up, not money, but a generally critical attitude toward the Church and priests, and one's own worldview, in which there is no place for religious faith or the need to practice (Bruce, 2002, 7)[1]: “These personal negative experiences, environmental observations, but probably also media messages, have already formed - in some social circles - generalized attitudes of distance and dislike toward the Church. And generalized attitudes are difficult to change” (Why Poles, 2022, 13) [accessed 14.11.2023].
So what should the Church do to strengthen its authority in society? Of the various possible actions, respondents most often pointed to avoiding politics and not taking sides with any party (58%), explaining pedophilia cases in the Church and punishing those responsible (56%), not seeking money and material goods (50%), and priests setting an example for the faithful by adhering to the principles they preach (44%) (Rogulska, 2022). The research question of this article, concerning religious freedom, fits into this context: what are its foundations and how should it be brought up?
In our time, people suffer oppression of various kinds and are threatened with being deprived of the ability to act according to their own will. On the other hand, many seem inclined, under the guise of freedom, to reject all dependence and disregard the necessary principles of obedience. The Second Vatican Council pointed this out, referring especially to those whose responsibility it is to educate others, that they should strive to form such people as would respect the moral order, obey legitimate authority and at the same time love authentic freedom. The Council Fathers also pointed to the necessity of forming people in such a way that they, with their own judgment, would settle problems in the light of truth, act with a sense of responsibility and strive to follow all that is true and just, willingly uniting their efforts with the work of others. In educating for religious freedom, therefore, it is necessary to strive to make people, in fulfilling their duties in social life, act with greater responsibility (DWR 8).
Religious freedom in the Church's social activity
From the perspective of Catholicism, the right to religious freedom is one of the basic human rights, since human dignity flows from the creative act. The deep bond with God the Creator, in whose image and likeness he was created, is the source of freedom of conscience, since it concerns the very identity of each person. The Catholic Church synthesized the fruits of its reflection on the subject in the Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis humanae, stressing that “by virtue of their dignity, all human beings, because they are persons, that is, beings equipped with reason and free will, and thus with personal responsibility, are urged by their own nature, and are morally obliged to seek the truth, above all in the field of religion. They are also obliged to abide by the truth they have learned, and to arrange their whole life according to the requirements of the truth” (DWR 2). The Council Fathers also emphasized the right to the freedom to practice religion, which “consists, from its very essence, first and foremost in internal voluntary and free acts by which man directly relates himself to God; acts of this kind no purely human authority can either command or forbid. On the other hand, the social nature of man itself requires that man's inner religious acts be revealed outwardly, that he associate with other people in the field of religion, professing his religion in a social way” (DWR 3).
John Paul II stressed that the expression and practice of religious freedom must take into account the presence of individual-private and community-public aspects, which complement each other. On the personal level, one must take into account the freedom of parents to raise their children according to their own religious convictions, as well as the possibility for children to attend catechetical and religious instruction provided by the Church. This involves the freedom of families to choose schools or other means of providing their children with religious education. This is a right closely related to the principle of religious freedom. Families, specifically parents, have the right to choose for their children the kind of religious and moral education that corresponds to their own beliefs. Even when they entrust these tasks to ecclesiastical institutions or schools run by religious people, they should still and actively fulfill their educational role (John Paul II, 1994, 16).
On the community level, on the other hand, it must be taken into account that the Church exists and acts in society as a social group that organizes itself according to its own doctrinal principles and for institutional purposes specific to itself. This means that the Church, for its existence and for the realization of its own goals, can also exercise the freedom to conduct educational activities (John Paul II, 1980, 4), the purpose of which is defined by the Code of Canon Law. It is the full formation of the human person, both in relation to the ultimate goal and in relation to the common good of the community, therefore children and young people should be educated in such a way that they can harmoniously develop their physical, moral and intellectual qualities, acquire an ever more perfect sense of responsibility, properly use the gift of freedom and prepare for active participation in social life (Code of Canon Law, canon 795).
Thus, the Church's educational activity is about bringing the pupil closer to a set of values, which are the achievements of the community in which he or she lives, and unleashing his or her potentialities through this means. It is also about safeguarding the pupil from choosing pseudo-values. It follows from the above that the purpose of the educational function is to educate Christians to freedom: the freedom to choose the good (Adamski, 1994, 119).
Biographical dimension of religious freedom in the context of the phenomenon of religious change
Man is a biographical being, that is, he is aware of his subjective self (autobiography), but at the same time he is a social being, so he functions in relationships with other people (biography). The development of the human person can be put in the metaphor of his “own” life path, but placed on the “timeline” of the entire human community (KDK 5)[2]. If autobiography and biography are taken together, “biography” taken in a social context can be considered to mean the study of a person's life by referring to the concrete experiences of individuals, taking into account the social, cultural, but above all religious (Francis, 2023) [accessed 14.11.2023][3] context of their lives. Thus, if a person describes his personal self and his life, then from a social perspective the meaning of this description can be interpreted in relation to how others perceive the autobiography of this particular person. It should be emphasized, however, that such a view of the relationship between autobiography and biography involves the search for applied knowledge. Applied science is used “to learn about man and his social environment, as well as to seek solutions to problems arising from the very existence of man and his social functioning. These problems may be purely theoretical or useful, but they are always oriented toward practice” (Przybyłowski, 2013, 31).
On the basis of the CBOS survey, it can be concluded that a slow decline in the level of religious faith is being revealed in Polish society and a rapid decrease in the level of practice is noticeable: “from March 1992 to June 2022, the percentage of adults who describe themselves as believers fell from 94% to 84%, while those who practice regularly (once a week or more often) fell from nearly 70% to almost 42%, and at the same time the percentage of non-practitioners increased - from less than 9% to 19% (Bożewicz, 2022; Grabowska, 2022). We (not only we) have repeatedly asked the question about the reasons for leaving the Church, fast especially in the younger generation. And we have given answers to this question - always partial answers - pointing out the factors conducive to this phenomenon: and that the process of transmission of religiosity and religious upbringing in the family is weakening, and that school religious education is not yielding the expected results, and that big-city, highly educated social circles - and a significant number of young people are in such circles - are already largely secularized. And that religious practice was blocked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Or is it - since people still declare faith, but go to church less and less often - that the church is 'at fault'?” (Why Poles, 2022, 1) [accessed 14.11.2023]. This question becomes even more acute with regard to the increasing cases of changing denominations and acts of apostasy in Polish society. Therefore, it is worthwhile, first on the basis of specific autobiographies, to determine what this new phenomenon in Polish society, especially in terms of scale, is all about.
In Polish society, the hitherto little-known phenomenon of conversion of Catholics to Protestant Churches is increasingly revealed. Specific biographies of Poles can help in knowing (understanding) and evaluating this phenomenon. Thus, for example, Iza (age 29) confides: “I don't want to be in a Church that needs to be constantly justified.” “She started thinking about it under the influence of observations and bad experiences in the Catholic Church. - It's a conscious decision, although it all started with anger. - I resent the Catholic Church as an institution. It pains me the way some Polish bishops speak about the other, how people are manipulated and the image of God is falsified in sermons. I asked myself what would happen if I had children. Would I want them to be in the Catholic Church, go to religion and be subjected to this narrative? If I would want something deeper for my children, why should I stay myself?” (Catholics Leave, 2023) [accessed 14.11.2023].
“Iza consciously lived out her faith. She went to Mass not only on Sundays, and regularly received the sacraments. She got to know various communities, with one of them she started helping the poor in Poznan. - Today I see that the decision to convert was a process,” she says. -I met various priests, including some whose behavior should never have happened. I was able to justify it. Many times I heard that the Church is not holy, but the most important thing is the sacraments. The moment when I felt that something was ending was when I lost faith in the hierarchical priesthood and in the fact that God wants this priesthood,” she explains. The girl forced herself to give herself another chance. - I entered the sacraments wanting to believe that it works. I wanted to be above that,” she explains. - Today I know that lack of faith in the priesthood leads to disbelief in sacramental life. At that time, I stopped trusting the teaching of priests and the tradition of the Catholic Church. I began to trust more in what the Bible says,” she adds. Despite this, Iza became involved in the diocesan stage of the synod on synodality, which began last year at the initiative of Pope Francis. - The synod helped me come out of the Catholic Church,” she says. - During these meetings, I realized that this was the moment. I met people who think the same way, who are outraged by the current state of the Catholic Church: the material wealth, the way it treats women and homosexuals, the politicization, the downplaying of sexual abuse and the absurd religious lessons. I decided that I didn't want to be in a Church where something constantly needed to be fixed, justified and explained,” she enumerates. Iza first encountered Protestantism on YouTube. - A conference jumped out at me in the suggestions,” she recalls. - I thought a priest without a collar was speaking at it, but it turned out to be a pastor from International Christian Fellowship (ICF). I started attending meetings and services online. I learned that there were Protestant communities in Poznan. I ended up that way with the Baptists, and then with the Pentecostals. There I found consistency with what I believe in. For me it's such a religion of reduction: moving away from ritualism and focusing on the Bible, the other person and relationships. It's not that I suddenly became a Protestant. There were many things in me already, such as a negative attitude toward religious rituals and the teaching of purgatory,“ she confesses” (Catholics are leaving, 2023) [accessed 14.11.2023].
This biographical description can be viewed in the perspective of the results of the study, which, in generalization, allows “to answer the question of where, according to the respondents, the source, where the ‘first cause’ of non-practicing lies: in the subject, in the respondent, or outside, in the Church, the priests, in all aspects of their activity. In the first case, there would be indications of a lack of need to practice, a lack of faith (and similar, such as a change in worldview, atheism, agnosticism). These “internal” reasons also had (or still have) some cause, among which there may be “external” factors, including negative perceptions of the Church, its teachings, and priests, but this would have to be asked in an individual in-depth interview. In the second case, it would be pointing to the evil Church and priests and all their sins (politicization, pedophile scandals, greed, hypocrisy). With this approach, 'ecclesiastical' reasons are more often indicated than 'internal' ones (54% vs. 42%).” (Why Poles, 2022, 6) [accessed 14.11.2023].
Biographical analysis in the aspect of applied theology
In pastoral theology, the focus of study is the Church, which carries out its salvific mission in the context of external and intra-ecclesial conditions. John Paul II, on the other hand, clarified the purpose of the Church's mission, or rather pointed to man, who is the way of the Church, since everyone without exception has been redeemed by Christ, and with every man Christ is united in some way, even if man did not realize it (John Paul II, 1979, 14). The Pope also sets a clear research task for theology, since the activity of the modern Church towards man will only be adequate if the Church has knowledge of his current “situation.” This is an awareness of the ever-new possibilities for human development, but it is at the same time bound up with the need to have knowledge of the dangers that prevent “human life from becoming ever more human” and corresponding to true human dignity (John Paul II, 1979, 14). This is the area in which the research problem of applied theology is located; its main object of study is man as an individual, unique individual, who, however, can properly develop and realize his personal, existential, but also Christian vocation in social relations, including primarily in the family, but also in the ecclesial community (Celary, Przybyłowski, 2022, 229).
From the juxtaposition of the concrete personal “autobiography” presented earlier and its social context of “biography”, it is clear that the problem of “leaving the Church”, however, lies first in the Church itself. And it is not a question of undermining the truth about the Church, but rather about the way the Church functions in the life of the “individual” and the “community.” Perhaps, then, it would be appropriate to revise the main three dimensions of the Church's presence in personal and social life: the priesthood, the vision of holiness and the call to eternal life (finitude) with an eye to applied theology.
First of all, it should be stated that the real scorn for believers, and even more so for non-believers, is the vision of a priest without a human face; what kind of pastor or vicar is this who disregards the dignity of man and his rights? Priesthood and pastoral ministry do not automatically merge, because their “matter” is both humanity and spirit. The dignity of the priesthood also concerns the human aspects of the priestly mission, and implies the continuous improvement of human capacities that facilitate and, in some cases, altogether enable priests to fulfill their pastoral mission in the Church and the world (see Przybylowski, 2015, 412-430).
In the preparation of future priests, therefore, it is necessary to value first of all their sanctitas, but it is also necessary to take into account the importance of knowledge of psychology, sociology and pedagogy in human formation (DP 12-21; John Paul II, 1992, 58). In the life and ministry of priests, however, the importance of sanctity itself should not change, as John Paul II emphasized: “In the light of long experience, in the midst of so many different situations, I have become convinced that only from the soil of priestly sanctity can grow effective pastoral care - cura animarum. For the deepest secret of true pastoral success is not material means, especially “rich means.” The lasting fruits of pastoral toil are born on the ground of priestly hearts. This is the basis! Of course, formation, study, aggiornamento is necessary ; that is, adequate preparation that will make the priest capable of meeting urgent pastoral needs” (John Paul II, 1996, 87).
However, the ecclesiastical hierarchy, that is, and presbyters and bishops, cannot be identified with the Church of which they are members, as are all the baptized. In the light of applied theology, it would therefore be necessary to rethink what St. Augustine writes about shepherds (priests) and Christians: “we, whom the Lord in His goodness, and not by our merits in a place obliging us to give a difficult account, should clearly distinguish between two things: one, that we are Christians, the other, that we are pastors. That we are Christians applies to ourselves; that we are shepherds, on the other hand, applies to you. As Christians, we are to seek our own salvation; as shepherds, we should be concerned only with your welfare. There are many Christians who are not shepherds. They are heading to God by the easier-as-it-seems path and the sooner, the lesser burden they carry. We, on the other hand, as Christians, are to give an account to God of our own lives; but moreover, we are shepherds, and therefore we will also give an account of our shepherding” (Beginning of the Sermon, 1988, 191).
As for the vision of sainthood, it is worth referring to the teaching of Pope Francis, who teaches about the neighborhood saints based on the truth that there is no full identity without belonging to a people. For this reason, no one saves himself or herself as an isolated individual, but God draws each person, given the complex web of human relationships that are established in the human community: God willed to enter into the popular dynamic, the dynamics of the people. And the Pope further writes: “I like to see holiness in God's patient people: in parents who lovingly help their children grow up, in men and women who work to earn their bread, in the sick, in elderly nuns who continue to smile. In this perseverance to go forward, day after day, I see the holiness of the struggling Church. It is often 'neighborhood holiness,' the holiness of people who live close to us and are a reflection of God's presence, or, to use another expression, they are the 'middle class of holiness.'” There is also hope in the Pope's teaching for those who have converted from Catholicism to other Christian denominations. This is what Francis writes about it: “Holiness is the most beautiful face of the Church. But also outside the Catholic Church, in very different environments, the Spirit arouses “signs of his presence that help the very disciples of Christ.” Moreover, St. John Paul II reminded us that “the witness given to Christ to the shedding of blood has become the common heritage of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants alike.” At a beautiful ecumenical service he wished to hold in the Colosseum, during the Jubilee of the Year 2000, he said that the martyrs are “a heritage that speaks with a louder voice than divisions.” (Francis, 2018, 6-9).
By contrast, in the call to eternal life, from the point of view of applied theology, the fundamental truth is that “we do not know the time when the earth and humanity are to end, nor do we know how the universe is to be changed. It is true that the form of this world distorted by sin is passing, but we are instructed that God is preparing a new dwelling and a new earth, where righteousness dwells, and happiness will satisfy and surpass all the desires for peace that human hearts have. Then, having conquered death, the sons of God in Christ will be resurrected, and what was sown in weakness and corruption will be clothed with incorruptibility, and in view of the continuance of love and its work, the entire creation that God made for man will be freed from the bondage of vanity” (CCC 39).
Finalization, therefore, means the end, but first of all of each person individually. Religion, on the other hand, points to the universal nature of finalization - in Christianity it means the Last Judgment and the universal resurrection of all people. “If we extend over the earth in the spirit of the Lord and according to His order human dignity, brotherhood and freedom, that is, all the goods of nature and the fruits of our foresight, we will find them afterwards anew, but cleansed of all dirt, illuminated and transformed - when Christ gives to the Father the eternal and universal kingdom: the kingdom of truth and life, the kingdom of holiness and grace, the kingdom of justice, love and peace. On this earth, the kingdom is already present in a mysterious way; and its realization will come with the coming of the Lord” (CCC 39). This is still the language of conciliar teaching and post-conciliar pastoral theology (Paul VI, 1975, 21)[4].
Today's people, especially the young, instead need to be taught about finitude in the language of Pope Francis, and first in the light of hope. “Sometimes in the evening you go out with friends and, if it's dark, you take your smartphone and turn on your flashlight to provide light. At big concerts, thousands of you move these modern flashlights to the rhythm of the music, creating a wonderful scenery. At night, light makes us see things anew, that even from the darkness a face of beauty emerges. The same is true of the light of hope, which is Christ. Through Him, through His resurrection, our lives are illuminated. With Him we see everything in a new light. It is said that when people turned to St. John Paul II to talk to him about a problem, his first question was: “And what does it look like in the light of faith?”. A gaze illuminated by hope also makes things appear in a different light. I therefore encourage you to adopt this outlook in your daily life. A Christian who is animated by God's hope is filled with a different joy; a joy that comes from within. Challenges and difficulties are and always will be, but if we are endowed with a hope 'full of faith,' we face them, knowing that they do not have the last word, and we ourselves become, thus, a small torch of hope for others” (Francis, 2023).
Summary
The freedom the Church teaches about is based on the truth of Christ's Gospel. The teaching of freedom and the proclamation of the truth of the Gospel should mark a new way of the institutional Church and the lives of its members today. However, the emerging negative and pessimistic phenomena in the lives of modern Catholics must not undermine the legitimacy of the Church's existence and the fulfillment of its salvific mission (Francis, 2023) [accessed 14.11.2023][5].
Instead, the Church should change its ways of evangelization. Therefore, Pope Francis states that the question is not whether to preach Jesus, but how to preach Him, and that “how” is joy. “Either we proclaim Jesus with joy, or we don't proclaim Him at all, because any other way of proclaiming Him is unable to bring the true reality of Jesus. This is why a Christian who is disgusted, a Christian who is sad, a Christian who is dissatisfied or, worse, full of resentment and grudges, is not credible. Such a one will talk about Jesus, but no one will believe him. A person once told me about these Christians that they are cod-faced Christians, that is, they express nothing. Joy is significantly fundamental. It is essential to be alert to our feelings. In evangelism, we have to deal with selflessness because it comes from fullness, not pressure. And if one wants to fulfill evangelism - one wants to, but it doesn't work out - based on ideologies - that's not evangelism, that's not the Gospel, because the Gospel is not some ideology, but preaching, preaching joy. All ideologies are cold. The Gospel has the warmth of joy in it. Ideologies do not know how to smile, the Gospel is a smile, it makes people smile, because with good news it touches the soul” (Enough, 2023) [accessed 14.11.2023].
Finally, referring to the main idea of applied theology, one can refer to the relationship between the Church and society. “The Church does not propose technical solutions and is as far as possible from meddling with state governments. However, it must carry out at all times and under all circumstances the mission of truth for the benefit of society to the measure of man, his dignity and his vocation” (Benedict XVI, 2009, 9). On the other hand, every member of the community who is aware of his or her personal dignity and wishes to exercise his or her rights should care about a form of democracy that includes in legislation respect for personal dignity and religious freedom, which is followed by the defense, promotion and possibility of exercising the rights of the human person, especially the right to religious freedom and public profession of one's faith.
By virtue of the human right to exercise religious freedom, however, the democratic system should include a requirement for full acceptance of the religious dimension of the human person, which is not just a matter of “religion,” since religious needs are innate in human nature (Francis, 2023) [accessed 14.11.2023][6]. In a democratic society, not everyone needs to believe in this truth. By contrast, in a democracy, those who are convinced of it “have the right to have their faith met with due respect, as do the decisions that result from it in individual and community life. This is what the right to freedom of conscience and religious liberty consists in, the actual recognition of which is one of the highest goods and most serious duties of every people who truly have the will to safeguard the good of the person and the community” (John Paul II, 1988, 39).
[1] It is worth recalling here the opinion of Steve Bruce, British sociologist of religion and defender of the theory of secularization, that in the process of secularization the main role is played by indifference, not “conscious unbelief.”
[2] The Council Fathers were aware that “history itself is speeding up its course so much that individual people can hardly keep pace with it. The fate of the human community unifies and no longer scatters between different histories, as it were. This is how the human race moves from a static notion of the order of things to a more dynamic and evolutionary one, out of which is born a new and enormous tangle of problems, demanding new analyses and new syntheses.”
[3] “Benedict XVI, reflecting on his experience, during World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011, asked: joy, ”Where does it come from? How do we explain it? Certainly there are many factors that interact together. But the decisive one is [...] the certainty that comes from faith: I am wanted. I have a task in history. I am accepted, I am loved.” And he specified: “ultimately we need unconditional acceptance. Only if God accepts me, and I become certain of this, do I know definitively: it is good that I am. [...] It is good to live as a human being, even in difficult times. Faith makes us joyful from within” (Address to the Roman Curia, December 22, 2011).”
[4] A new way of evangelizing about eternal life had already been proposed by Paul VI, who stated that “this proclamation should first of all be made through witness: here we see a Christian or a group of Christians who, in the midst of the human community in which they live, show that they know how to understand others, how to welcome others, how to share with others the plight and fate of life, how to stand in solidarity with all those who aim to cultivate what is noble and good. In addition, we see these simple people, which, of their own accord, spread faith in certain spiritual goods that stand above common values, and hope in an invisible reality that even bold thought cannot produce. By means of this silent witness, these Christians raise the inevitable questions for those who look at their lives: Why are they like this? why do they live like this, what or who spurs them on? why do they abide among us? Such a testimony is already a proclamation of the Good News, silent but very powerful and effective. Already here takes place some beginning of evangelization. These questions will perhaps be the first to be raised by many non-Christians, whether they be people who have never been told about Christ, or those baptized but not practicing the Christian life, or those who live in the Christian community but not according to Christian principles, or people painfully searching for something or “Someone” whom they intuit but do not know how to name. Other, higher and more insistent questions will also be raised; they will be aroused by this very witness, as it postulates presence, participation and community of life, and is a necessary, as a rule, first part of evangelization. All Christians are called to bear such witness, and for this reason they can be true preachers of the Gospel.”
[5] In particular, “youth” is a time when doubts, drugs, meaninglessness of life are born. “Youth is a time full of hopes and dreams, feeding on the beauty that enriches our lives: the magnificence of creation, relationships with our relatives and friends, artistic and cultural experiences, scientific and technical knowledge, initiatives that promote peace, justice and fraternity, and so on. But these days, in the lives of many people, including young people, hope seems to be the great absentee. Sadly, many of your peers who experience war, violence, intimidation and various inconveniences are plagued by despair, anxiety and depression. They feel as if locked in a dark prison, unable to see the rays of the sun. This is dramatically demonstrated by the high suicide rate among young people in various countries. In such a situation, how can one experience the joy and hope that St. Paul speaks of? Rather, there is the risk that despair will set in and the thought that there is no point in doing good, because no one will recognize and appreciate it - just as we read in the Book of Job: “What is the use of hope, who will see the object of my hope?” (Job 17:15).In the face of the dramas of humanity, especially the suffering of the innocent, we too, following the example of some of the Psalms with which we pray, ask the Lord: “Why?” And it is we who can become part of the answer God will give. We, created by Him in His image and likeness, can be an expression of His love that generates joy and hope even where it seems impossible.”
[6] Pope Francis illustratively teaches this, “Christian hope is not easy optimism or some placebo for the naive: it is the certainty, rooted in love and faith, that God never leaves us alone and keeps his promise: “Though I walk through a dark valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psalm 23:4). Christian hope is not a denial of suffering and death, but is a celebration of the love of the Risen Christ, who is always with us, even when he seems to be far away. “Christ Himself is for us a great light of hope and guidance in our night, for He is 'the shining star of the morning' (Adhort. apost. Christus vivit, 33).”