Abstract:
Culture and fait are mutually interconnected. This interconnection occupies plenty of room in John Paul Il’s writing and his teaching. The reason is that when this invaluable tie gets slack we face various threats. Faith must be, as it were, incorporated in culture, so that it could be lived through to the full by man. At the same time faith ennobles and actuates culture. The latter then constitutes a milieu for faith to be acceptes. The mutual intermingling of faith and culture takes place in various set-ups and levels. The author deals with „the encounter” of faith and culture in the family space, pinpointing what chances there are in this milieu for that intermingling. He analyzes what possibilities may be created in a family by the space of word, symbol, ritual and value. Here a conscious upbringing may enrich young generation by the elements of culture which are deepened and extended by the religious values, and by faith rooted in culture, that is a culture which is closer and more personal. The author pinpoints that the spaces of family life which he shows are important for the encounter of culture and faith. Unfortunately, they face a special crisis today. We can notice this crisis especially in that culture dangerously distance itself from and becomes insensitive to religious contents and inspirations. Such a distancing has nothing to do with the autonomy proper to these realities. In this crisis the culture of word undergoes degradation, a sensitivity to symbol disappears, the ritual becomes diluted, and the essential values remain ineligible in their meaning. Such situation is a challenge for the actuation of pastoral and pedagogic ministry towards the family in which man is should first experience faith incorporated in culture and should be rooted in the culture which is truly profound and rich.