Wykład prof. A.Kościańskiej na Uniwersytecie Wileńskim (online)
Catholicsm and reproduction in socialist and postsocialist Poland: “Some arguments used against contraception do not always correspond to reality”/Katalikybė ir reprodukcija socialistinėje ir posocialistinėje Lenkijoje: Kai kurie argumentai prieš kontracepciją ne visada atitinka tikrovę
This presentation focuses on debates, practices and activisms related to birth control in state- socialist and postsocialist Catholic Poland. Firstly, the lecture examines debates over marriage and contraceptives in the 1960s in Więź, a progressive Catholic monthly. The contributors followed closely the international Catholic debate over contraception in the 1960s and argued that many Catholics experienced painful dilemmas concerning birth control and as result often left the Church. Secondly, it shows Polish reactions to the publication of Humanae Vitae. It analyses the struggle between progressive Catholics and conservative Catholics, especially the bishop Karol Wojtyła, who strongly supported the encyclical. The third part of the presentation discusses the social consequences of Humanae Vitae. It analyses the existing statistical data on religiosity in Poland and on the usage of birth control methods, which are officially forbidden by the Church, as well as in-depth interviews with Polish Catholics conducted by Cathorep project team (https://www.etnologia.uw.edu.pl/en/cathorep). It argues that the prohibition of contraception is one of the factors contributing to the fact that religion in Poland is mostly a matter of ritual, and not necessarily the way of life.
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