Cultural heritage and the regulation of religious freedom: the case of poland and czech republic
| Autor | Piotr Szymaniec |
| Cargo | Dr. habil. in law, Associate Professor |
| Páginas | 4-41 |
Rev. direitos fundam. democ., v. 23, n. 3, p. 4-41, set./dez. 2018.
DOI: 10.25192/issn.1982-0496.rdfd.v23i31484
ISSN 1982-0496
Licenciado sob uma Licença Creative Commons
CULTURAL HERITAGE AND THE REGULATION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: THE
CASE OF POLAND AND CZECH REPUBLIC
A HERANÇA CULTURAL E A REGULAMENTAÇÃO DA LIBERDADE RELIGIOSA: O CASO
DA POLÓNIA E DA REPÚBLICA CHECA
Piotr Szymaniec
Dr. habil. in law, Associate Professor; Angelus Silesius State University of Applied
Sciences in Wałbrzych (Poland).
Abstract
The paper poses the question of the extent to which the difference of
religious structure and religiosity between Poland and the Czech
Republic has an impact on regulations on religious freedom. Based on
historical research the author claims that, despite this difference, after
the collapse of the Soviet system both Poland and the Czech Republic
decided to reintroduce the same “co-operative” model of the relations
between state and churches and religious associations, which already
had been implemented in the interwar period (1918–1939) and should
be considered as a part of Prussian and Austro-Hungarian legal
legacy. Reintroducing this model could be perceived as the return to
the heritage of legal history and legal culture. It is emphasized,
however, that the religious nature of a society influences the
implementation of legal provisions, and on that ground confessional
elements in Polish legal system are more noticeable than in the Czech
Republic.
Key words: Poland, Czech Republic, church–state relations, religious
freedom, religious associations, national identity.
Resumo
O artigo questiona até que ponto a diferença de estrutura religiosa e
religiosidade entre a Polônia e a República Tcheca tem um impacto
sobre a regulamentação da liberdade religiosa. Baseado em
pesquisas históricas, o autor afirma que, apesar dessa diferença,
após o colapso do Sistema Soviético, tanto a Polônia quanto a
República Tcheca decidiram reintroduzir o mesmo modelo
“cooperativo” das relações entre Estado e igrejas e associações
religiosas, o qual já havia sido implementado no período entre
guerras (1918-1939) e deve ser considerado como parte do sistema
legal da Prússia e do Império Austro-Hungaro. Reintroduzir esse
modelo poderia ser percebido como o retorno à herança da história
jurídica e da cultura jurídica. Ressalta-se, contudo, que a natureza
CULTURAL HERITAGE AND THE REGULATION OF RELIGIOUS...
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Revista de Direitos Fundamentais & Democracia, Curitiba, v. 23, n. 3, p. 4-41, set/dez, de 2018.
religiosa de uma sociedade influencia a implementação de
disposições legais, e que os elementos confessionais no sistema
jurídico polonês são mais perceptíveis do que na República Tcheca.
Palavras-chave: Polônia, República Tcheca, relações igreja-estado,
liberdade religiosa, associações religiosas, identidade nacional.
1. INTRODUCTION
It is an obvious observation that religiosity in the Czech Republic is not as
pronounced as it is in Poland. In the Czech Republic, according to data from 2011,
34.5% of the population declares themselves as unreligious persons, and a further
44.7% of population does not declare, at least in the census, any religion,
1
while in
Poland a vast majority of society confesses Catholicism. The present paper poses the
question of the extent to which the difference of religious structure has an impact on
regulations on religious freedom. In the author’s opinion, a comprehensive answer to
this question requires looking back on the processes of building modern nations in the
nineteenth and early twentieth century. These processes had distinct features in the
Polish lands and Czechia, although both Poles and Czechs were deprived of their
independent states. Moreover, their importance consists in the fact that during that
period, the Polish and Czech elites developed different attitudes towards religion in
general, and to the Catholic Church in particular.
2. THE BUILDING OF MODERN NATIONS
I will stress several factors which influence the place of religion in the nation-
building process in Czechia, and then analyse the case of Polish lands. The counter-
reformation was very successful in the Czech lands in the eighteenth century, and the
Czech Baroque culture contributed much to the development of a “people’s church” and
a particular model of religiousness.
2
What is also very important, during the reign of
empress Maria Theresa and her son, Joseph I, state control over the Catholic Church
was tightened. This particular policy towards the Church, which is known under the
name of Josephinism, consisted in particular in the closing of many orders and
convents and restricting the autonomy of the Church, which became even more
1
Cf. J. Havlíček, D. Lužný, “Religion and Politics in the Czech Republic: The Roman Catholic Church and
the State”, International Journal of Social Science Studies, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 193.
2
Cf. T. Petráček, In Maelstrom of Secularization, Collaboration and Persecution. Roman Catholicism in
Modern Czech Society and the State, Lublin: EL-Press, 2014, pp. 15 –16.
PIOTR SZYMANIEC
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Revista de Direitos Fundamentais & Democracia, Curitiba, v. 23, n. 3, p. 4-41, set/dez, de 2018.
connected to the monarchy than before. At the same time, however, the scope of
religious freedom was enlarged. Due to the laws introduced during the Thirty Years’
War, Protestant churches could not legally function in the Czech lands. That situation,
however, changed in 1781 when Joseph I issued a patent on toleration which enabled
Lutherans, Calvinists and Orthodox believers to organize their religious services and
even to build their churches (although this right was limited). Their religious affiliation
did not imperil their legal status. Similar rights were given to the Hussites in the
following year.
3
However, these reforms did not lead to a change in religious
convictions. The vast majority of people remained faithful to the Catholic Church, and
only 2 percent of the society declared themselves as Protestants (most of them were
Calvinists).
4
It seemed, therefore, that the Catholic Church retained its strong and stable
position at the threshold of the nineteenth century. Thus, the question should be asked:
what factors played an important role in reversing this situation? In my opinion, the
movement of the so-called national awakeners (národní buditelé) is of crucial
importance in this regard. The members of the first generation of the awakeners were of
the opinion that all the inhabitants of the Bohemia could become the members of one
Bohemian nation, regardless of their ethnic and religious background. The only
important thing was their affection for the common local culture.
5
The notion of nation
which was developed by the first awakeners was, therefore, of more cultural and
geographic than ethnic character. Needless to say, however, this notion evolved and
changed its character during the next decades of the century.
After 1848, the movement of awakeners was becoming more anti-Catholic. This
was a major change, since the Catholic clergy played an important in the first phase of
national awakening at the beginning of the century.
6
The movement put more emphasis
on the role of Hussitism in the development of the Czech nation in the fifteenth and
sixteenth century. The major figure among the awakeners in that period was František
Palacký (1798–1876) who in his historical works developed the view of the importance
of Hus in Czech history. The fact that Palacký’s family was Protestant was not without
significance for the development of his standpoint, although he was not openly against
3
Cf. K. Vocelka, “Enlightenment in the Habsburg Monarchy: History of a Belated and Short-Lived
Phenomenon”. In O.P. Grell, R. Porter (eds.), Toleration in Enlightenment Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2000, pp. 196–210; H. Kaczmarek, Czechy. Kościół i państwo, Kraków: Wydawnictwo
WAM, 2016, pp. 75–78.
4
J.R. Tretera, Z. Horák, Religion and Law in the Czech Republic, Religion and Law in the Czech
Republic, Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International, 2014, p. 26.
5
Cf. Z. Tarajło-Lipowska, Historia literatury czeskiej. Zarys, Wrocław: Ossolineum, 2010, pp. 93–94.
6
Cf. H. Kaczmarek, Czechy…, pp. 88–92, 97.
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