Papers by Maciej Krzywosz
Metamorphoses of Religion and Spirituality in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Sławomir H. Zaręba, Maria Sroczyńska, Roberto Cipriani, Marcin Choczyński, and Wojciech Klimski, Routledge, London and New York, s. 217-230, 2022
This chapter describes the transformation of religious communication related to the use of media ... more This chapter describes the transformation of religious communication related to the use of media (speech, print, the Internet) by the Polish miracular communities. The analysis covers the period from the end of the Second World War to contemporary times. The media coverage of miraculous phenomena created by journalists has been completely omitted in the text, as they cannot be included in these communities. The first part of the chapter presents the type of Polish miracular religiosity, which is directed towards miraculous events. Next, the most important post-war miracles and apparitions (Lublin 1949, Zabłudów 1965, and Oława 1983–2002) and the use of media to promote religious content are described. The analysis shows that initially, direct verbal communication dominated, sometimes enriched by writing, usually in the form of letters. Only the apparitions of Oława in the 1980s began to be propagated on a mass scale using the printed word, on occasion supported by audio cassettes. In the third part, the contemporary use of the Internet is analysed. It follows that the Internet is used mainly by the miracular communities for informational rather than participatory purposes, resulting from computer-mediated communication disadvantages.
The Secret Police and the Religious Underground in Communist and Post-Communist Eastern Europe, edited by James A. Kapaló and Kinga Povedák, Routledge, London and New York, 2022
This chapter describes the Polish secret police (Security Service) activities against the Marian ... more This chapter describes the Polish secret police (Security Service) activities against the Marian apparition of Zabłudów, a small town in north-eastern Poland. In May 1965, 14-year-old girl Jadwiga Jakubowska publicly announced that Mary had appeared to her in the local meadow. This event gave birth to a social movement (Miracle Movement of Zabłudów) which promoted faith in the apparition and provoked a secret police operation aimed at eliminating the miracle of Zabłudów. The first part of the chapter presents the most important miracles in the Polish People’s Republic. This is followed by a description of the social context and the type of folk religiosity characteristic for Zabłudów and an account of the course of events. The final section gives an analysis of the secret police actions against the miracle and the social movement. This research, based mainly on the secret police materials, distinguishes three levels of the operation. First, information gathering, primarily through a network of agents informed about the social attitude towards the miracle. Second, creating and disseminating false and ridiculous information about members of the Miracle Movement of Zabłudów. The third level of the secret police activity was to directly intimidate the supporters of the miracle and cause a state of emergency.
Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny, 2020
In 1980, in Poland, there were about 30 religious minorities. The socio-political transformation ... more In 1980, in Poland, there were about 30 religious minorities. The socio-political transformation changed the religious landscape dramatically. In 1999, there were already 155. Not all new religions, however, were registered. In the case of the Church of Miracles, the Raelians, and the Order of Initiated Knighthood, registration was refused. The Ministry of the Interior and the Supreme Administrative Court decided that they did not fulfil the requirements of a ‘religion’. The purpose of this article is to examine, from a sociological perspective, the definitions of religion used by the court, by which the above new religious movements were not recognized as religions. The analysis shows that the court and administration ruled on the basis of substantial definitions of religion, reducing religion to believing in God or the sacred. Furthermore, the article presents the socio-cultural reasons behind the choice of such definitions, and reviews the scholarly debate on the issue.
17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) “Religion – ... more 17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) “Religion – Continuations and Disruptions”, Tartu 25-29 June 2019.
Panel: Social Aspects of Miraculous Phenomena in the Modern World.
Chair: Maciej Krzywosz.
To submit an abstract, please create a user account and log in to the EASR 2019 ConfTool portal: https://www.conftool.com/easr2019/
The abstract submission deadline is January 10, 2019.
Przegląd Religioznawczy – The Religious Studies Review, 2017
With the theory of secularisation crisis in the sociology of religion, the claim about the end of... more With the theory of secularisation crisis in the sociology of religion, the claim about the end of religion, or at least its radical privatization, is increasingly being denied. Therefore there is a need to work out a place for it in post-secular societies. The article presents and compares two radically different concepts of the religious activities in the public sphere. The first of these is the sociologist José Casanova's proposal of deprivatization of religion, perceiving the benefits of its activity in the public sphere of post-secular societies. The second concept, the Richard Rorty's privatizing of religion, sees in it primarily a threat to liberal freedoms. Therefore, the American philosopher proposes to remove religion from the public sphere and place it only in the private sphere of the individual. The text ends with the hypothesis explaining the huge contrast between the views of Casanova and Rorty, as to the presence of religion in the public sphere of post-secular societies.
Rocznik Teologii Katolickiej, 2017
This article analyzes the elements of the personal sensibility and miraculous religiosity of two ... more This article analyzes the elements of the personal sensibility and miraculous religiosity of two twentieth-century Polish visionaries, Servant of God Rozalia Celakówna and Sr. Wanda Boniszewska. The analysis is broken down into three sections. The first section elaborates on the concept of miraculous religiosity, which Polish sociologists and ethnologists of religion define as openness to any kind of miraculous occurrence. The second section provides brief biographies of Rozalia Celakówna (1901-1944) and Sr. Wanda Boniszewska (1907-2003). The third section describes the miraculous events (revelations, stigmata, proven prophecies) that occurred in the lives of both visionaries. The conclusion demonstrates how both visionaries manifested elements of miraculous sensibility; however, because both women avoided spectacular miracles and focused on their relationship with Christ (and not Mary), they definitely surpassed the scope of this research.
![Research paper thumbnail of Jak nauki społeczne badały religie – wizja Rodneya Starka. Zarys krytyki [How the Social Sciences Studied the Religions in the Rodney Stark’s Conception. Outline of a Critique]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/56038884/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Tradycja i innowacja w polu refleksji socjologii religii, 2016
One of the more popular theories in the contemporary sociology of religion is the economic theory... more One of the more popular theories in the contemporary sociology of religion is the economic theory of religion, also known as the market theory of religion. It is mainly associated with the American scholar - Rodney Stark. The text presents and criticizes the conception of the history of religious studies and social sciences popularized by him. The first part of the article presents the economic theory of religion and its scientific reception. In the second, the conception of the history of religious studies, presented by Stark, was reconstructed. For him, these religious studies were extremely ideological, before the emergence of the economic theory. They perceived religion as a false and harmful social phenomenon. Stark distinguishes here a cultural approach, that treated religions as a primitive and irrational phenomenon, and a psychological approach that treated religions as a mental illness. In this concept, the Western religious studies over the years served to fight with religion, which was reflected in religious reductionism and the theory of secularization. Only the emergence of the economic theory of religion broke this trend. In the last part of the text, I present the weaknesses of Stark’s approach, such as: skipping outstanding religious studies scholars such as Mircea Eliade and biased interpretation of some other for example Emile Durkheim. The text ends with hypotheses explaining why Stark chose an extremely one-sided conception of the history of religious studies.
Przegląd Religioznawczy – The Religious Studies Review, 2016
After World War II in Poland took place, at least 50 miracles and apparitions , which led to sign... more After World War II in Poland took place, at least 50 miracles and apparitions , which led to significant social impact and probably hundreds of others, which remained only in the local memory.
The aim of the article is to present and demonstrate the sociological aspects of the most important of them, which took place in Poland during the communist era and after the collapse of the system.
The text is divided into three parts. The first is devoted to methodological problems related to the study miraculous phenomena, especially in the Polish context. In the second, I present the most important miracles that took place after the Second World War, up to the present day. In the third, I draw some sociological aspects of these events. Article complete a brief summary.
![Research paper thumbnail of „Czy społeczeństwo ateistów może istnieć?” Wizja ateologii społecznej Donatiena Alphonsa François de Sade na tle innych koncepcji oświeceniowych ["Does society of atheists could exist?" The vision of the social atheology of François de Sade against the background other Enlightenment’s concepts]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55694838/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Pogranicza. Księga jubileuszowa Profesora Andrzeja Sadowskiego, 2015
The article presents the enlightenment concepts of the possibility of an atheistic society. The f... more The article presents the enlightenment concepts of the possibility of an atheistic society. The first question was raised by Bayle in 1682, and for the next decades many philosophers and thinkers referred to the issue. The text focuses mainly on the Marquis de Sade concept, presented in the text “Frenchmen, one more effort, if you want to be Republicans!” from 1795.
The views of Sade, analysing from the point of reason the possibility or even the necessity of an atheistic society – social atheology, are shown against other enlightenment concepts (Voltaire’s deism and D’Holbach’s conventional atheism) and their attempts to find a place of religion in modern society. Paradoxically, the thought of the Marquis’s, for whom atheism was a personally important, if not the most important part of the worldview, shows the impossibility of the existence of such a society and the necessity of God, or its substitutes, for the functioning of the human community.
![Research paper thumbnail of Zabłudowska cudowna łąka. Miejsce święte – wyśmiane i zapomniane [The miraculous meadow in Zabludow. The holy place - ridiculed and forgotten]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55695145/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Miejsca święte, miejsca przeklęte. Polskie doświadczenie przestrzeni, 2012
The aim of the article is to describe the space of the miraculous meadow in Zabludow, where in Ma... more The aim of the article is to describe the space of the miraculous meadow in Zabludow, where in May 1965 there has been a Marian apparition, and religious behavior of the people who came there. As a result of the apparition – hierophany, the so far ordinary meadow, changed its status and became a sacred place. It has set up Catholic and Orthodox religious symbols there, because Zabludow is located in the Catholic-Orthodox borderland and the believers of these confessions followed there. Arriving on the meadow, people expected different graces and subsequent miracles. The pilgrims left votive offerings (candles, rosaries, ritual towels) and took water from the dug hole, which was considered as a miraculous spring. Widely spread information about the further miracles. On the meadow people mainly prayed and sang religious songs. The local Catholic population did so in the Polish language, the local Orthodox population in the East Slavic dialects. The former Communist press ridiculed these religious behaviors, to put them in terms of ignorance and superstition. After the liquidation of the miracle of Zabludow, the miraculous meadow fell into almost total oblivion. Today there is a small chapel.
Religia i Kościół w społeczeństwie demokratycznym i obywatelskim w Polsce. Między losem a wyborem, 2012
The aim of this paper is the comparison of miracles in Polish People’s Republic, with these which... more The aim of this paper is the comparison of miracles in Polish People’s Republic, with these which took place after the fall of communism in 1989. In the text miracles are understood as a social fact based on popular religion, not the phenomenon defined by the religious organization. Analysis passed in the paper shows that we have to deal with elements of the continuity and the change. New elements are among others appearing conservative topics, mostly in the liturgy, criticism of the clergy and the use of various media. Traditional elements are the reluctance to separate from the Catholic Church, the conviction that the present time is the crucial for the future of the world and the foreboding of the coming catastrophe.
Media wolne czy bezwolne?, 2011
The paper presents various forms of restriction of freedom of speech and discrediting, mainly fro... more The paper presents various forms of restriction of freedom of speech and discrediting, mainly from the left-wing media, which George Orwell experienced in his life. The most important experience was the Spanish Civil War where he first met the lies of communist propaganda about the POUM formation in which he fought. Then, the text describes Orwell's struggles to publish "Animal Farm". Despite the formal lack of censorship, many publishers refused to publish the book, fearing the then British government allied with the USSR. The last novel – "1984" also met with criticism from some left-wing circles. The well-known Trotskyist Isaac Dutscher, in order to discredit Orwell, completely blamed him for the plagiarism of Zamyatin’s novel – "We".
Prawda i fałsz. O polskiej chwale i wstydzie, 2010
The text presents the religious revelations and messages received by contemporary Polish visionar... more The text presents the religious revelations and messages received by contemporary Polish visionaries. The analysis focuses on the criticisms occurring in them, and also on positively assessing the behaviour and worldview of Polish society. In particular they criticise the new religious customs as Communion in the hand or the function of the Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. As to the secular sphere of life, the wearing of trousers by women is and work on Sunday is criticized. Positive topics include a high level of prayer and conviction about the chosen and religious mission of the Polish nation.
![Research paper thumbnail of Badanie kapitału społecznego we współczesnej socjologii religii. Przegląd propozycji badawczych [Studies on social capital in contemporary sociology of religion. Review of conception of research]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55695429/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Kapitały społeczne i kulturowe miast środkowoeuropejskich i wschodnioeuropejskich pograniczy, 2009
This article presents research on social capital in contemporary sociology of religion. Although ... more This article presents research on social capital in contemporary sociology of religion. Although intuitively convinced of the strong connection between social capital and religion, this type of research is not very widespread. They are conducted mainly in the US, and focus on the role of religion in creating and maintaining capital and on the social benefits that religious capital can give. In Europe, research on social capital in a religious context is rare, which is probably due to the religious situation of the old continent, where religious life takes a highly individualized form, and the churches do not play a significant role in public life. Strangely, research on social capital in a religious context is also not developed in Poland, where religion plays an important role in public life.
![Research paper thumbnail of Klasyfikacja ruchów mirakularnych pod względem poziomu napięcia z instytucjonalnym Kościołem rzymskokatolickim. Próba typologii [ Classification of Miracle Movements according to the Level of Tension with the Institutional Catholic Church. An Attempt at Typology]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/56099401/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Społeczeństwo i Kościół, 2008
The aim of the article is to establish a typology of social miraculous movements that arose as a ... more The aim of the article is to establish a typology of social miraculous movements that arose as a result of a miracle or religious private revelation. It presents a continuum of movements, from those characterized by maximum tension with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to those characterized by the lack of tension or its minimal level. The key category of tension is based on the concept of costs and rewards, adopted from the theory of religious economy. Movements characterized by low tension are those to which the membership does not impose high costs, while movements characterized by maximum tension, impose large costs on the participant. An example of a movement with maximum tension (the possibility of losing freedom, health) can be movement centred around visionaries in the 16th century Spain, which was persecuted by the Inquisition. In Poland, an example of a high tension movement can be the movement established by Kazimierz Domański - the visionary from Oława,. In 1999, the local bishop Gulbionowicz imposed an interdict against people coming to the site of apparitions. An example of movements with little or no tension can be movements originating from private revelations indirectly supported by the local Church, such as revelations of Czesława Marianna Polak from Ostożny.
![Research paper thumbnail of Postawa apokaliptyczna we współczesnej polskiej religijności mirakularnej [Apocalypticism in the contemporary Polish miracular religiosity]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/99049742/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Czego się boimy?, 2008
The article presents the apocalyptic threads that appear in the contemporary Polish miracular rel... more The article presents the apocalyptic threads that appear in the contemporary Polish miracular religiosity. In the first part, it is described as a type of religiosity that focuses on miracles and apparitions. Then, fear-inducing phenomena are presented and interpreted as harbingers of the coming apocalypse. The analysis shows that these are mainly weather anomalies, weeping figures and images, as well as changes in customs and liturgical reforms in the Catholic Church. The next part focuses on the forms of the apocalypse announced in the visionaries’ messages. These are not of a global nature, but rather local catastrophes, such as floods, earthquakes and droughts. However, they can be avoided through prayers, especially, the Rosary, and universal conversion to religious faith. Another characteristic of the Polish apocalyptic messages is the absence of millenarian themes, the final battle between good and evil such as Armageddon, and the figure of the Antichrist.
![Research paper thumbnail of Fides quaerens miraculum. Na styku mistyka i Kościoła [Fides quaerens miraculum. At the meeting point of the mystic and the Church]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55695844/thumbnails/1.jpg)
W co wierzymy?, 2007
The article presents the miraculous events that took place at Ostrożne near Zambrów and Wykrot in... more The article presents the miraculous events that took place at Ostrożne near Zambrów and Wykrot in the Kurpie, at the turn of the centuries. It does this in the background of the description of the miracular religiosity, as a kind of faith, and presents the reasons for the persistence of belief in miracles in the modern world. At Ostrożne in 1984, Jesus Christ appeared to Czesława Polak, what in the Polish Marian religious landscape is an unique phenomenon. There were also other miracles, including healings. This led to the construction of a chapel in the place of the apparitions and the formation of a local shrine of “Christ coming to the people”. In 1990, at Wykrot the Blessed Virgin appeared to the farmer Stefan Gwiazda. What was unique compared to other apparitions, Mary resembled an old woman and asked for a piece of bread. In one of the subsequent apparitions, she recommended the construction of the Divine Mercy monastery, where the cult of the miraculous image would take place. In 1999, a local bishop made a consecration of the monastery which was built with the help of numerous pilgrims. The popularity of these and many other apparitions, makes one ask about the sources of the popularity of faith in miracles in the modern world. Among the many reasons can be mentioned the need for an individualized, emotional and partly beyond church religious experience which is a response to contemporary individualism.
![Research paper thumbnail of Wielokulturowość, religioznawstwo i komunikacja międzykulturowa. Nowe, wspólne pole badań [Multiculturalism, study of religion, and intercultural communication. New, common field of research]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55700113/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Pogranicza i multikulturalizm w warunkach unii europejskiej. Implikacje dla wschodniego pogranicza Polski, t. 1, 2004
This article presents the theoretical possibilities that open up for studies of religion, examini... more This article presents the theoretical possibilities that open up for studies of religion, examining religion from the perspective of intercultural communication. In multicultural societies, it is natural to exchange information between people from different cultures. For this process, positively or negatively (the conflict of civilizations), religious factor affects increasingly. In this context, studies of religion would analyze how the main religious traditions perceive strangers (stereotypes, prejudices) or how ethnocentric or universalist they are. The first attempts at pointing out the role of religion in communication processes have already been made by researchers engaged in intercultural communication. The text is an attempt to complement this perspective from the study of religion.
![Research paper thumbnail of Władza i nadprzyrodzone. Strategie władzy w stosunku do mariofanii zabłudowskiej [Authorities and the supernatural. Strategies of authorities for the Marian apparition at Zabludow]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55695872/thumbnails/1.jpg)
W kręgu sacrum i pogranicza, 2004
The aim of the article is to present the actions of the communist authorities aimed at eliminatin... more The aim of the article is to present the actions of the communist authorities aimed at eliminating the miracle of Zabludow. It took place in 1965, in Zabłudów, a small village in Podlasie and caused great social consequences. The text examines the various actions of the authorities, including propaganda and legal, aimed at eliminating the Marian apparition. I carried out a content analysis of the contemporary press and documents produced by the prosecutor’s office in Bialystok. Among the strategies taken by the authorities, strategies for silence, exclusion and repression have been distinguished. They were taken in different spheres and at different stages of the miracle. The text ends with a presentation of the modes of thought that dominated in the interpretation of the miracle of Zabludow. Research shows that modern modes of thought about religion prevailed and the proponents of the miracle of Zabludow were perceived in the context of the psychopathology (Freud) or alienation (Marx) thesis.
![Research paper thumbnail of „Cud zabłudowski” w perspektywie socjologicznej [„Miracle of Zabludow” in a sociological perspective]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55699957/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Światopogląd: między transcendencją a codziennością, 2004
The purpose of this article is to present the Marian apparition, called the miracle of Zabludow, ... more The purpose of this article is to present the Marian apparition, called the miracle of Zabludow, on the ground of the sociology of religion. In May 1965, in Zabludow in the Podlasie region, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Catholic girl – Jadwiga Jakubowska. This fact caused a lot of effects at different levels of social life. The analysis of contemporary literature on the subject, shows that the study of the Marian apparitions is the margins of contemporary sociology of religion. Few proposal are the concepts of Michael P. Caroll and Rodney Stark, but they are characterized by one-sidedness (psychoanalytic and economic theory of religion). For this reason I referred to classical sociologists of religion: Durkheim, Weber, and Wach. Their ideas can be found useful in analyzing contemporary apparitions. Durkheim developed a sociological concept of religious experience, that explains the role of society in generating individual religious experiences, which can be places during the public apparitions. Max Weber's theory of charisma and virtuoso religious explains the authority that different visionaries have and the genesis of their apparitions. The Wach’s concept of religious protest explains the tensions and conflicts that may arise between the visionary and the movement around him against the religious institution – the Church.
Uploads
Papers by Maciej Krzywosz
Panel: Social Aspects of Miraculous Phenomena in the Modern World.
Chair: Maciej Krzywosz.
To submit an abstract, please create a user account and log in to the EASR 2019 ConfTool portal: https://www.conftool.com/easr2019/
The abstract submission deadline is January 10, 2019.
The aim of the article is to present and demonstrate the sociological aspects of the most important of them, which took place in Poland during the communist era and after the collapse of the system.
The text is divided into three parts. The first is devoted to methodological problems related to the study miraculous phenomena, especially in the Polish context. In the second, I present the most important miracles that took place after the Second World War, up to the present day. In the third, I draw some sociological aspects of these events. Article complete a brief summary.
The views of Sade, analysing from the point of reason the possibility or even the necessity of an atheistic society – social atheology, are shown against other enlightenment concepts (Voltaire’s deism and D’Holbach’s conventional atheism) and their attempts to find a place of religion in modern society. Paradoxically, the thought of the Marquis’s, for whom atheism was a personally important, if not the most important part of the worldview, shows the impossibility of the existence of such a society and the necessity of God, or its substitutes, for the functioning of the human community.
Panel: Social Aspects of Miraculous Phenomena in the Modern World.
Chair: Maciej Krzywosz.
To submit an abstract, please create a user account and log in to the EASR 2019 ConfTool portal: https://www.conftool.com/easr2019/
The abstract submission deadline is January 10, 2019.
The aim of the article is to present and demonstrate the sociological aspects of the most important of them, which took place in Poland during the communist era and after the collapse of the system.
The text is divided into three parts. The first is devoted to methodological problems related to the study miraculous phenomena, especially in the Polish context. In the second, I present the most important miracles that took place after the Second World War, up to the present day. In the third, I draw some sociological aspects of these events. Article complete a brief summary.
The views of Sade, analysing from the point of reason the possibility or even the necessity of an atheistic society – social atheology, are shown against other enlightenment concepts (Voltaire’s deism and D’Holbach’s conventional atheism) and their attempts to find a place of religion in modern society. Paradoxically, the thought of the Marquis’s, for whom atheism was a personally important, if not the most important part of the worldview, shows the impossibility of the existence of such a society and the necessity of God, or its substitutes, for the functioning of the human community.
Codzienne obcowanie w zróżnicowanej narodowościowo i re- ligijnie przestrzeni niewątpliwie zdeterminowało jego zaintereso- wania naukowe, które skoncentrowały się wokół tematyki naro- du, etniczności, pogranicza, czy wreszcie patrząc już holistycznie, wielokulturowości, głównie opartej na badaniach stosunków mię-
8
Wstęp
dzy społeczeństwami pogranicza, różnych wierzeń, kalendarzy, świąt, alfabetów, języków, baśni, proroków, czy najrozmaitszych cudów i cudowności. Wraz z mijającym czasem cały ten folklor, w większej lub mniejszej części przeniesiony został wskutek po- wojennych procesów urbanizacyjnych z najróżniejszych wiosek do miast, które przeobrażały tę wielobarwną ludowość w kultu- rową hybrydę.