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Research and higher education

Research and higher education

Several aspects of religion are studied and taught in the Polish higher education institutions, including both state and private (church) universities. This research spans across a number of disciplines, from philosophy to social sciences, including theology, law, religious studies, sociology of religion, political science of religion and psychology of religion.

Legal studies: church-state law and canon law

The Polish Society of Church-State Law [Polskie Towarzystwo Prawa Wyznaniowego], established in 2008, gathers academics and practitioners studying state law related to religion and religious organisations (church-state law or confessional law). Its founders included professors Henryk Misztal and Michał Pietrzak. The aim of the Society is to support research in church-state law, as well as to integrate specialists working in this field. The Society aspires to be scientific in character and does not identify with any worldview or philosophical, religious and political system. The Society is a publisher of Church-State Law Review (Przegląd Prawa Wyznaniowego).

In contrast, the Association of Polish Canonists [Stowarzyszenie Kanonistów Polskich] founded in 1989 on the initiative of Rev. Professor Józef Krukowski, is devoted to the study of canon law, i.e. the Catholic Church’s internal legal regulations. It is a Catholic organisation, publisher of Bulletin of the Association of Polish Canonists (Biuletyn Stowarzyszenia Kanonistów Polskich).

Polish university departments engaged in research in church-state law and canon law:
 Chair of Canon and Religious Law in the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
 Chair of Canon and Religious Law in the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław
 Chair of Canon Law in the Faculty of Theology of the University of Szczecin
 Chair of Canon Law of the Catholic Academy in Warsaw
 Chair of Ecclesiastical and Concordat Law in the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
 Chair of Moral Theology, Bioethics and Canon Law in the Faculty of Theology of the University of Opole
 Chair of Religious Law in the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw
 Chair of Social Sciences and Canon Law in the Faculty of Theology of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
 Department of Law on Religion in the Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
 Department of Philosophy and Canon Law in the Faculty of Theology of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
 Faculty of Canon Law of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
 Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków
 Institute of Canon Law in the Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
 Lab of Canon and Religious Law in the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University
 Research Team “Law and Religion” in the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Opole.

Sociology of religion

The Section of Sociology of Religion (part of the Polish Sociological Association [Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne]) was founded in 1987 on the initiative of professors Władysław Piwowarski and Edward Ciupak. The members are registered in 14 regional branches. The section’s main research interests are religiosity of the Polish society and its dimensions, such as morality, religious practices and beliefs; religious minorities and new religious movements; transformations of religious institutions; interrelations of religion within the group and individual identity, ethnicity, gender; the presence of religion in the public sphere; new spirituality.

Polish university departments engaged in research in sociology of religion:
 Chair of Catholic Social Teaching and Sociology of Religion in the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław
 Chair of Sociology of Culture, Religion and Social Participation in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
 Chair of Sociology of Religion and Catholic Social Teaching in the Faculty of Theology of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
 Department of Philosophy and Sociology of Religion in the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University
 Department of Social Research on Religion in the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University
 Department of Sociology of Religion in the Faculty of Humanities of the Pedagogical University of Kraków.

Psychology of religion

The Polish Association for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality [Polskie Towarzystwo Psychologii Religii i Duchowości] was founded in 2013. The main goal of the society is to spread scientific knowledge about psychological processes underlying the spiritual sphere of human life. Since these issues are eminently interdisciplinary, the association is a platform for representatives of various empirical and philosophical disciplines.

Polish university departments engaged in research in psychology of religion:
 Chair of Philosophy of God, Religion and Psychology of Religion of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków
 Chair of Psychology of Religion and Spirituality in the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Kraków
 Chair of Social Psychology and Psychology of Religion in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
 Department of Phenomenology, Anthropology and Psychology of Religion in the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University.

Political science of religion

Political science of religion has recently emerged as a subdiscipline of political science, using theories and concepts of political science to study the political role of religion and the behaviour of religious organisations as political actors, including the analysis of their assets, goals and strategies. Such an approach, rooted in empirical social science, is distinct from the legally focused “church-state relations” or the philosophical “political theology”. While political science of religion has not matured institutionally (there are no university departments or scientific associations devoted specifically to this field in Poland), there are scholars working within the field at a number of university departments, including Faculty of International and Political Studies, University of Lodz; Faculty of Political Science, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin; Faculty of Political Science and International Studies of the University of Warsaw; Faculty of Sociology and Economics, Cardinal Wyszyński University in Warsaw; Institute of Political Studies, University of Zielona Góra.

Religious studies

The Polish Society for the Study of Religions [Polskie Towarzystwo Religioznawcze] was established in 1958. The organisation brings together Polish scientists interested in religious studies and similar disciplines. It is a member of International Association for the History of Religions and European Association for the Study of Religions.

Polish university units engaged in research in religious studies:
 Chair of Philosophy of Culture and Religious Studies in the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Kraków
 Chair of Religious Studies in the Faculty of History of the University of Gdańsk
 Chair of Religious Studies at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
 Institute of Culture and Religious Sciences in the Faculty of Humanities of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
 Institute of Religious Studies in the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University
 Lab of History of Religion in the Faculty of History and International Relations of the University of Białystok
 Lab of Religious and Comparative Studies in the Faculty of Anthropology and Cultural Studies of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

Theology

There are various associations of Catholic theologians in Poland. The main one, founded in 1924 by a group of Lviv professors, the Polish Theological Society [Polskie Towarzystwo Teologiczne] is divided into 15 sections. Other associations specialise in specific subfields: the Society of Fundamental Theologians in Poland [Polish: Stowarzyszenie Teologów Fundamentalnych w Polsce], the Society of Dogmatic Theologians [Towarzystwo Teologów Dogmatyków], the Association of Moral Theologians [Polish: Stowarzyszenie Teologów Moralistów], the Association of Polish Biblical Scholars [Polish: Stowarzyszenie Biblistów Polskich], the Polish Mariological Society [Polskie Towarzystwo Mariologiczne].

There are also two interdenominational associations: Polish section of the European Society of Women in Theological Research and the Theological Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The former supports female researchers in theology, while the latter promotes research on religious faith as a phenomenon and on the essential content of human religious beliefs and their justifications.

Polish university units engaged in research in theology:
 Chair of Catholic Theology of the University of Białystok (Catholic)
 Chair of Orthodox Theology of the University of Białystok (Orthodox)
 Evangelical School of Theology in Wrocław (Evangelical)
 Faculty of Theology of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Catholic)
 Faculty of Theology of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw (Catholic)
 Faculty of Theology of the Christian Academy of Theology (Orthodox, Old-Catholic and Evangelical)
 Faculty of Theology of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (Catholic)
 Faculty of Theology of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Catholic)
 Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków (Catholic)
 Faculty of Theology of the University of Opole (Catholic)
 Faculty of Theology of the University of Silesia in Katowice (Catholic)
 Faculty of Theology of the University of Szczecin (Catholic)
 Faculty of Theology of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (Catholic)
 Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław (Catholic)
 Theological chairs of the Catholic Academy in Warsaw (Catholic).

Catholic social teaching

Catholic social teaching (abbreviated “KNS” in Polish) is an area of Catholic doctrine concerned with topics such as human dignity and the common good in society. While not a formally recognised scientific discipline, it is situated at the crossroads of theology, moral philosophy and sociology, and treated, in the Church-affiliated academic institutions, as a distinct field of study.

Polish university departments engaged in research in Catholic social teaching:
 Chair of Catholic Social Teaching and Political Ethics in the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław
 Chair of Catholic Social Teaching and Sociology of Religion in the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław
 Chair of Catholic Social Teaching in the Catholic Academy in Warsaw
 Chair of Catholic Social Teaching in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków
 Chair of Catholic Social Thought and Socioeconomic Ethics in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
 Chair of Social Sciences and Canon Law in the Faculty of Theology of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
 Chair of Sociology of Religion and Catholic Social Teaching in the Faculty of Theology of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
 International Research and Teaching Center of Catholic Social Teaching of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.

D 1 March 2023    AAngelika Małek AMaciej Potz

CNRS Unistra Dres Gsrl

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