Masking or Unmasking the Evil? Polish Opinion-Forming Weeklies vis-à-vis the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland

Almost twenty years have passed since the end of John Paul II’s pontificate. The Roman Catholic Church in Poland faces a serious crisis, stimulated not only by secularisation processes, which are characteristic for Western Europe, but also by a whole series of adverse events that unfolded at the end...

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Main Authors: Joanna Paszenda, Michał Mateusz Rogoż
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/2/141
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author Joanna Paszenda
Michał Mateusz Rogoż
author_facet Joanna Paszenda
Michał Mateusz Rogoż
author_sort Joanna Paszenda
collection DOAJ
description Almost twenty years have passed since the end of John Paul II’s pontificate. The Roman Catholic Church in Poland faces a serious crisis, stimulated not only by secularisation processes, which are characteristic for Western Europe, but also by a whole series of adverse events that unfolded at the end of the year 2020; they resembled a disaster marathon and had a considerable potential to attract media attention. A wide spectrum of Polish opinion-forming weeklies, ranging from left-liberal to ultra-conservative and far-right ones, as well as those associated with the Polish Episcopate, published accounts of the situation within the Catholic Church. In this manner, press discourse shaped the public perception of Catholicism in Poland. An analysis of the periodicals’ content disclosed a strong polarisation of opinions and a variety of interpretations. Differences between the particular weeklies were identified at the level of agenda-setting and prioritisation, framing, persuasion techniques employed, and additional contexts that were evoked, including the legal, moral, historical, philosophical, and religious ones.
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spelling doaj.art-baeed59a03374e95a4980dabbf91b3de2023-11-16T22:58:42ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-01-0114214110.3390/rel14020141Masking or Unmasking the Evil? Polish Opinion-Forming Weeklies vis-à-vis the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in PolandJoanna Paszenda0Michał Mateusz Rogoż1Institute of English Studies, Pedagogical University of Kraków, 30-084 Kraków, PolandInstitute of Information Science, Pedagogical University of Kraków, 30-084 Kraków, PolandAlmost twenty years have passed since the end of John Paul II’s pontificate. The Roman Catholic Church in Poland faces a serious crisis, stimulated not only by secularisation processes, which are characteristic for Western Europe, but also by a whole series of adverse events that unfolded at the end of the year 2020; they resembled a disaster marathon and had a considerable potential to attract media attention. A wide spectrum of Polish opinion-forming weeklies, ranging from left-liberal to ultra-conservative and far-right ones, as well as those associated with the Polish Episcopate, published accounts of the situation within the Catholic Church. In this manner, press discourse shaped the public perception of Catholicism in Poland. An analysis of the periodicals’ content disclosed a strong polarisation of opinions and a variety of interpretations. Differences between the particular weeklies were identified at the level of agenda-setting and prioritisation, framing, persuasion techniques employed, and additional contexts that were evoked, including the legal, moral, historical, philosophical, and religious ones.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/2/141the Roman Catholic ChurchPolandcrisisprotestspress discoursepersuasion techniques
spellingShingle Joanna Paszenda
Michał Mateusz Rogoż
Masking or Unmasking the Evil? Polish Opinion-Forming Weeklies vis-à-vis the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
Religions
the Roman Catholic Church
Poland
crisis
protests
press discourse
persuasion techniques
title Masking or Unmasking the Evil? Polish Opinion-Forming Weeklies vis-à-vis the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
title_full Masking or Unmasking the Evil? Polish Opinion-Forming Weeklies vis-à-vis the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
title_fullStr Masking or Unmasking the Evil? Polish Opinion-Forming Weeklies vis-à-vis the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
title_full_unstemmed Masking or Unmasking the Evil? Polish Opinion-Forming Weeklies vis-à-vis the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
title_short Masking or Unmasking the Evil? Polish Opinion-Forming Weeklies vis-à-vis the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
title_sort masking or unmasking the evil polish opinion forming weeklies vis a vis the crisis in the roman catholic church in poland
topic the Roman Catholic Church
Poland
crisis
protests
press discourse
persuasion techniques
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/2/141
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