Sabrina P. Ramet is Professor of Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), in Trondheim, Norway.  Born in London, England, she earned her PhD in political science at University of California, Los Angeles, USA in 1981. She is the author of 12 scholarly books and editor or co-editor of 32 previous books, including Religion and Politics in Central and Southeastern Europe:  Challenges since 1989 (2014).
Irena Borowik is Professor of Sociology in the Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University, Poland.  She earned her PhD in sociology at the Jagiellonian University in 1988.  She is the author, editor, or co-editor of numerous books, including Religion, Churches, and Religiosity in Post-Communist Europe (2006).

INTRODUCTION

The Strength of the Church - An Introduction: Sabrina P. Ramet

PART ONE - THE POLITICS OF RELIGION SINCE 1989

Chapter 1: Controversies in the social & political engagement of the Catholic Church in Poland since 1988 -- Sabrina P. Ramet

Chapter 2: The Many Faces of John Paul II -- Stanislaw Obirek

Chapter 3: The Roman Catholic Church In Poland vis-à-vis Europe and the Processes of European integration: Three images of Europe -- Katarzyna Leszczynska

Chapter 4: Radio Maryja and Fr. Rydzyk as a creator of the National-Catholic ideology - Ireneusz Krzeminski

Chapter 5: The war on gender? The Roman Catholic Church's discourse on gender in Poland - Anna Szwed and Katarzyna Zielinska

Chapter 6: The Politics of Religious Education in Poland after 1989 - Marcin Zwierzdzynski

Chapter 7: Religious minorities in contemporary Poland -Zbigniew Pasek

PART TWO - VALUES AND ATTITUDES TODAY

Chapter 8: Religion in Poland between tradition and modernity, or religious continuity and change in conditions of transformation - Irena Borowik

Chapter 9: The Public Engagement of the Catholic Church in Polish Society - Janusz Marianski

Chapter 10: Polish religious values as reflected in the European Values Study - Mira Marody and Slawomir Mandes

Chapter 11: Religiosity, the Catholic Church, and Politics in Poland -- Miroslawa Grabowska

Chapter 12: Visible Religion, Invisible Ethics - Wojciech Pawlik

Religion, politics and social attitudes in transforming Poland - a conclusion - Irena Borowik

Further readings

About the editors and contributors

This volume brings together leading scholars to examine how the Church has brought its values into the political sphere and, in the process, alienated some of the younger generation. Since the disintegration of the communist one-party state at the end of the 1980s, the Catholic Church has pushed its agenda to ban abortion, introduce religious instruction in the state schools, and protect Poland from secular influences emanating from the European Union. As one of the consequences, Polish society has become polarized along religious lines, with conservative forces such as Fr. Rydzyk's Radio Maryja seeking to counter the influence of the European Union and liberals on the left trying to protect secular values. This volume casts a wide net in topics, with chapters on Pope John Paul II, Radio Maryja, religious education, the Church's campaign against what it calls "genderism," and the privatization of religious belief, among other topics.