Problemy życia religijnego rodzin katolickich na Syberii (w Nowosybirskiej Administraturze Apostolskiej) po upadku systemu komunistycznego w 1991 roku

Abstract

There has been a revival of the Catholic Church in the Russian Federation since 1991. The communist era has left tremendous destruction in the sphere of faith and morals. Preparing in 1994 for the first – after 70 years of communism – diocesan conference, bishop J. Werth sent a questionnaire to Siberian parishes of Novosibirsk Administration. Some questions referred to problems of family life. It turned out that 77% of respondents observed religious feasts at home, which kept faith alive. Truly, this was home liturgy. The main factors which broke the family in Russia were: moral catastrophe of the society, a lack of Church and political system. Communism deprived the faithful of basic human values, which would enable them to carry out their marital life in a responsible way. Atheism painfully touched the generation of adults, who are now coming back to religion thanks to the youth. A serious threat to Russian families of today is posed by the following factors: ignorance and religious naivety, a lack of responsibility, commonly practiced abortion, mixed marriages, secular models of living, a lack of a living Church and moral and material poverty. Many positive changes could be brought through social activity of state, schools, social institutions and activity of lay people. A task to efficiently elevate morals of such a huge country as Russia can be achieved only together with the Orthodox Church. This need makes us undertake more intense efforts for ecumenism.