Published: 2023-12-27

Voices from a Hundred Years Ago. On the Need to Reform Education and Upbringing in Roman Catholic Seminaries on Polish Lands at the beginning of the Twentieth Century

Krzysztof Lewalski
Gdańsk Studies
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.26142/stgd-2023-020

Abstract

The article concerns the issues that found expression in the church press and during clergy meetings at the beginning of the 20th century. Then a discussion broke out on the need to reform education and upbringing in theological seminaries. The reasons for the failures of the seminary system, included unfavorable political conditions, low requirements for candidates, short study period, incompatibility of curricula with the changing requirements of social life, lack of appropriate textbooks and teaching methods, and a small and constantly changing number of lecturers. Students of theological seminaries in the Kingdom of Poland usually did not have thorough theological education or a passion for learning. Therefore, there was a demand to raise the intellectual level and education standards of the clergy so as to strengthen the weakening bond between Catholicism and the intelligentsia. It was considered very important to introduce lectures on sociology and pedagogy into seminars. In order to deepen the intellectual and spiritual formation of the students, it was also proposed to raise the requirements for the seminary staff and to ensure more frequent contacts between superiors and students.

Keywords:

theological seminary, ratio studiorum, education and upbringing

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Citation rules

Lewalski, K. (2023). Voices from a Hundred Years Ago. On the Need to Reform Education and Upbringing in Roman Catholic Seminaries on Polish Lands at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Gdańsk Studies, 53, 109–122. https://doi.org/10.26142/stgd-2023-020

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