On Functions of Religion in Molding the National Identity of Poles

Abstract

Poland is usually portrayed as a country with a low level of secularization, and Polish religiosity is treated as the core element of national identity. In this article, the first opinion is challenged on the basis that processes of secularization are operating in Poland. They can be traced first of all in the growing independence of individual religiosity from the institution of the Catholic Church. To explain the persistence of the high and stable percentage of believers, the authors analyze historical relations between religion and the formation of nationhood. They argue that the formation of nationhood in Europe was related to the growth of "secular rituals" that could not develop in Poland because of its prolonged lack of political sovereignty. The main thesis of the article is that religion was (and still is) the main source of collective rituals through which the national identity was formed and is sustained in Polish society. Therefore, the decreasing importance of religious identification for national identity will be dependent on the emergence of new, secular rituals. Poland's accession to the European Union is likely to facilitate such a process.