| Summary: | The objective of the article was to analyze principal discursive strategies employed in the period 1994–2015 in
creating the category of masculinity by clergymen. Owing to the intertextuality of the ecclesiastical discourse
the research material contained, beside statements of Polish bishops and priests, also offi cial documents issued by Vatican as well as popes’ opinions. In addition, I included discourse on masculinity in the Catholic
communities of laymen. The research material embraced nearly 100 texts. In the analysis I used proposals of
discursive-historical approach in the critical discourse analysis. Most of the discursive strategies are characterized by a clear patriarchal nature. Polish hierarchs and priests opt for the equality of men and women, but
simultaneously many expressions demonstrate a topos of asymmetry of gender roles, as well as the strategy of
the man’s superiority over the woman. The ecclesiastical discourse clearly demonstrates homophobic opinions
on homosexual relationships. The sharp attack of the Catholic Church on new progressive ideas referring to
masculine roles as well as relations between women and men, which has intensifi ed over this decade, should
be perceived as an attempt to protect the shaky traditional gender order and to maintain the normative and
symbolic power by the hierarchs.
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