Pastoral Care as the Church’s Response to the Phenomenon of Secularization

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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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University Josip Juraj Strossmayer Osijek, Catholic Faculty of Theology
Abstract
The ongoing process of the secularization of European societies has been present for a few decades now. It is a great challenge for the Church who is trying to resist it in a variety of ways. Pastoral care, meant as the organized saving activity of the Church aimed at saving the man, is one such way. However, resisting the process of secularization is not the direct goal of pastoral care. If pastoral care is run in a proper way, it can be a powerful and meaningful tool of the Church in resisting laicization. The article presents various forms of ordinary and extraordinary pastoral care which contribute to the development of religiousness of believers and to spreading the Gospel in the common social life. The author first presents the role of ordinary pastoral care in this process. He then lists proclaiming God’s word, various forms of the cult and the ministry of Christian love as ways of reviving religious life. He also indicates the role of extraordinary pastoral care, especially the branch which aims at the cooperation with new developing working groups and other informal secular associations.
U tijeku je proces sekularizacije europskih društava koji je prisutan već nekoliko desetljeća. Veliki je to izazov za Crkvu koja mu se nastoji oduprijeti na različite načine. Pastoralna skrb, zamišljena kao organizirana spasenjska djelatnost Crkve kojoj je cilj spasenje čovjeka, jedan je od takvih načina. Međutim, opiranje procesu sekularizacije nije izravan cilj pastoralne skrbi. Ukoliko se pastoralna skrb provodi na pravilan način, ona može biti moćno i smisleno sredstvo Crkve u opiranju laicizaciji. U članku su predstavljeni različiti oblici redovite i izvanredne pastoralne skrbi koji doprinose razvoju religioznosti vjernika i širenju Evanđelja u zajedničkom društvenom životu. Najprije, autor predstavlja ulogu redovite pastoralne skrbi u ovom procesu. Zatim nabraja: naviještanje Božje riječi, različite oblike kulta i služenje kršćanske ljubavi kao načine oživljavanja vjerskog života. Također ukazuje na ulogu izvanredne pastoralne skrbi, posebice one vrste koja smjera na suradnju s novim radničkim udruživanjima koja se razvijaju i s drugim neformalnim svjetovnim udruženjima.
Description
teologia pastoralna
Keywords
the Church, Crkva, secularization, sekularizacija, laicization, laicizacija, pastoral care, pastoralna skrb, ordinary pastoral care, redovita pastoralna skrb, extraordinary pastoral care, izvanredna pastoralna skrb
Citation
"Diacovensia – Teološki prilozi", 2020, Vol. 28, nr 1, s. 95-106
ISBN