The Roles of Religion in Building Resilience among Rural Inhabitants: Evidence from a Case Study in Poland

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates whether religion as an important feature of culture affects the formation of personal and social resilience, thus becoming a developmental factor. A questionnaire surveying a sample of 100 rural residents in the Łowicz Diocese in Poland showed that religion was still ‘going strong’, being an enduring element of national and local culture. The results from this Polish Catholic region undermine prevailing secularisation theories. The research shows that faith provides a significantly positive strength needed to cope with daily life, as well as during crisis situations. It enables people not only to ‘survive’ but also to ‘live well and creatively’. It supplies needed continuity and enhances community solidarities. By consolidating resilience, religion gives people’s lives meaning, and augments subjective senses of wellbeing. As a source of social capital, religion mobilises people into joint activities for the parish and local community.

KEYWORDS:

• Poland
• religion
• faith
• resilience
• rural areas
• community
• disputed secularisation

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marta Błąd

Marta Błąd is a professor at the Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. Her interests intersect economics, sociology, theology and philosophy.

Piotr Kaczmarek

Piotr Kaczmarek is a priest of the Diocese of Łowicz. He graduated from the Higher Seminary in Łowicz with a doctor of philosophy (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw), and is currently the rector of the Higher Seminary in Łowicz. He is an assistant professor at the Catholic Academy in Warsaw.