Pilgrimage as a Source of Culture: A Theological and Cultural Reinterpretation of Pilgrimage Tradition in the Polish Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/TiCz.2025.014Keywords
pilgrimage, theology of culture, community, identity, religiosity, anthropologyAbstract
The aim of this article is to present an interdisciplinary analysis of pilgrimage that takes into account its theological, cultural, anthropological, and historical dimensions. The analysis is based on research material collected within the framework of a scholarship-funded project carried out in 2024, comprising twenty expert interviews with representatives of academic circles and practitioners involved in the tradition of pilgrimage in Poland. The authors propose a reinterpretation of pilgrimage as a culture-forming phenomenon, deeply rooted in Polish history, yet examined from the perspective of late modernity as a response to processes of secularization, individualization, and identity transformation. The theoretical framework draws on the works of Victor Turner, Mircea Eliade, Paul Ricoeur, Zygmunt Bauman, and Marcel Mauss. The findings demonstrate that pilgrimage fulfills essential spiritual, communal, and symbolic functions. It emerges not only as a religious act but also as a vehicle for cultural continuity and a means of moral and spiritual renewal. The study contributes to the fields of theology of culture and contemporary religious and identity studies.
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