Dynamika religijności rodziców dzieci pierwszokomunijnych. Studium psychologiczno-pastoralne

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Religiosity dynamics of First Communion children parents. A study in psychological-pastoral

psychological-pastoral addresses religiosity of adults and its potential changes resulting from pastoral actions. Such an approach to the research problem stated in the title of the publication is a completely new perspective for pastoral theology. Religiosity, here understood as a moral virtue and a personal relation to God, is a special concern of the Church. The aforementioned relation of human to God is dynamic and is being shaped together with personal growth. At successive development stages it is expressed in various forms. This work concerns the religiosity of parents of First Communion children, who are usually in their early or middle adulthood. Preparing children to holy sacraments is an extraordinary time, in which the Church offers their parents religious formation. Adult catechesis is an important part of this formation. It is a planned, intentional pastoral action aimed at leading to mature faith. This book consists of six chapters grouped in two parts. In the theoretical part, human religiosity and the Church’s teaching regarding adult catechesis as pastoral formational activity are presented. This part of the publication also shows religiosity from a psychological perspective. In the empirical part the author presents research methodology and religiosity dynamics of the observed group of parents. The thesis structure matches the pastoral theology model in three-stage paradigm of the pastoral theology analysis: prescriptive, kairological and praxeological. Studying the religiosity dynamics was possible by applying longitudinal study strategy, i.e. the same group of parents was studied twice, at the beginning and at the end of the formation period, using the same standardised questionnaires designed to study religiosity in the Catholic Church. Simultaneously, the same group of parents was studied cross-sectionally. This strategy allowed the author to analyse the religiosity structure of the groups under review. All research conducted for this thesis exhibits interdisciplinary character, i.e. has one goal, which is achieved through various methods. Despite the fact that the relation between a human and God is always to some degree a mystery, studying it with the approach of pastoral theology and psychology allows to discover its quantitative and qualitative aspects. This work analyzed the dynamics of religiosity dynamics understood as a system of meanings, cognitive-behavioral structure and a personal relation to God. The findings resulting from studying the religiosity of First Communion children parents helped to improve pastoral actions aimed at this group of adults. New catechesis plans and formation program were drafted based on the religiosity observations.