Pastoral Communities Based on a Model of Self-Help Groups as a Response of the Church to the Contemporary Social Changes

The Person and the Challenges Volume 11 (2020) Number 2, p. 107–122 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15633/pch.3753 Grzegorz Wąchol ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6427-7231 The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland Pastoral Communities Based on a Model of Self-Help Groups as a Response of the Church to the Contemporary Social Changes Abstract Dynamic changes in modern society generate new situations in the lives of believers, which require pastoral care. The Church should respond to the spiritual needs of all those in need, but with the decreasing number of ordained priests in Europe, organizational capacity in this part of the world is becoming increasingly limited. This article is an attempt to respond to the above problems and, using the example of the Catholic Church in Poland, shows the possibility of instilling a model of self-help groups for specialist pastoral care involving people experiencing life crises and wanting more intense religious development. Keywords Pastoral communities, Needs of pastoral care, Social changes, Self-help group. 108 The Person and the Challenges Volume 11 (2020) Number 2, p. 107–122 1. Introduction The Catholic Church as a dynamic reality develops in multidimensional ways. A mature description of any development assumes not only constant growth in a particular area but also it considers this phenomenon for qualitative changes, the differences in its increase, accumulation of another forms or indeed the loss of present forms or even quantitative decline. To maintain the efficiency or continuity of a particular action a skilful study of changes which occur through this action is needed, a historical analysis taking into consideration reasons of any observed transformation, or the attempt to formulate conclusions which allow the modification of the present forms, appropriately to new conditions. The Basic space in the Church, which is most exposed to the influence of temporal factors is pastoral work. At its core lies the Gospel but the way of its transmission can be changed in relation to the environment and era in which it occurs. The present article is an attempt to respond to the needs of development of new forms of pastoral work in a few areas of actions in the Catholic Church in Poland. The situation, in which the decline of vocation to the priesthood or the growth of demand of special pastoral work occurs, forces the reorganization of some pastoral structures. A model for some of these needs can be self-help groups which are increasingly becoming more effective in Poland. Instilled into the church environment in a right way they can contribute to build a new pastoral model. 2. Social changes in Poland as factors of changes in pastoral work The turn of the 20th and 21st centuries became time of rapid social changes in Poland. After regaining freedom on a political dimension, the people also started searching personal freedom. John Paul II, in his proclamation for the International Day of Peace in 1981, compared a free person to an artist who gradually sculpts one’s masterpiece and gives a shape to one’s lives, always moving forward into the unknown which awaits them in the future.1 Each person 1 Jan Paweł II, Chcesz służyć sprawie pokoju – szanuj wolność. Orędzie na Międzynarodowy Dzień Pokoju 1981 r., in: P. Nitecki, J. Skwara, W. Szymanek (eds.), Jan Paweł II, Nauczanie społeczne. T. IV, Warszawa 1984, wyd. Ośrodek Dokumentacji i Studiów Społecznych, no. 11. Grzegorz Wąchol Pastoral Communities Based on a Model of Self-Help Groups… 109 strives to be free, and this is the basic right of a human being, but it is relatively easy to mistake freedom for self-will.2 In the social changes that occurred in last years in Poland one can observe the choice of false facets of freedom which, in time end up in enslavement rather than giving a sense of independence. One of the signs is an increase of traditional addictions known for years such as alcoholism, drug addiction, medicament dependence, or new addictions connected with the compulsive use of electronic devices, oniomania (shopaholism) or sexual addictions.3 These kinds of problems are becoming more common, and independently from the kind of addiction, they affect, not only the person addicted directly but also the whole environment of the addict – the family, the neighbourhood, colleagues, acquaintances or even strangers who are merely affected by the social and financial costs of this phenomenon.4 Addictions destroy a value system, the sense of human dignity sense, undermine family bonds and the personal attitude to God.5 Thus, in the congregation of the faithful we face new categories of people – addicted or co-addicted who demand specialist pastoral support. One also observed radical changes in the work patterns, and forcing workers to a higher competence and flexibility. There are also new ways of virtual communication and the development of new technologies and devices. Legal articles are changing causing the urgency of acquiring new knowledge and new skills. As a result of such dynamics, the contemporary person is more often exposed to a higher level stress, has no enough time at one’s disposal or is overworked. This all has serious consequences such as the weakening of interpersonal relations, more focus on one’s own needs, a change in the value system, a materialistic or survival mode of being or sometimes a great disorder 2 3 J. Tischner, Etyka solidarności, Kraków 1981,wyd. Znak, p. 49. C. Davies, J. C. Carter, Compulsive overeating as an addiction disorder. A review of theory and evidence, “Appetite” 53 (2009), pp. 1–8; B. Wojtyniak i P. Goryński, Sytuacja zdrowotna ludności Polski i jej uwarunkowania, Warszawa 2008, wyd. Państwowy Zakład Higieny, p. 190– 192; M. Cichońska, W. Nartowska, D. Kaczmarzyk, S. Szemraj, G. Mazur, Tendencje w zakresie spożywania alkoholu, „Acta Scientifica Academiae Ostroviensis” 1 (2013), pp. 199–200. 4 L. Møller. S. Matic, Best practice in estimating the costs of alcohol – Recommendations for future studies, Copenhagen 2010, wyd. WHO Regional Office for Europe, pp. 13–19, 43–45. 5 M. Eliason, D. S. Amodia, C. Cano, Spirituality and Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment: The Intersection with Culture, “Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly” 24 (3) (2006), pp. 121–141. 110 The Person and the Challenges Volume 11 (2020) Number 2, p. 107–122 in one’s life.6 These people demand spiritual care which is appropriate to their needs and to the way of understanding the world which slowly lets them find God and open to the metaphysical sphere. Better quality of medical care and longer length of life causes the increase in number of old people, often lonely, especially when their spouse die. In 2018, in the Polish society, almost every fourth person was sixty years old.7 This intensifies the loneliness of senior citizens who often have no contact with the members of the closest family because of the generation disintegration. The (...truncated)