Tradycyjne koncepcje sekularyzacji

How shall one approach the powerful wave of secularization which has been exercising the influence on Europe since the dawn of the modern age? How have the changes taking place been described by theologians and influential thinkers? The present paper brings the traditional secularization concepts into focus by highlighting the negative aspects of this process and it destructive influence on religious practice and expression. The concepts accentuating the neutral or even positive features of this phenomenon will be addressed in a separate essay. In the past, the discourse on secularization was dominated by entirely negative assessments of the subject. Secularization was viewed as dechrystianization, as a decline and extinction of faith. Such an approach is to be seen in all papal encyclicals up until the ones promulgated by Pope Pius XII. It has finally given rise to the thesis, founded on the idealized Christianity model of the Middle Ages, of continual disintegration of the Church taking place from the period of Protestantism to atheism, stimulated by the increasingly insolent attacks of the Satan. The present article is intended to provide an overview of this current of thought, which is permeated with the earnest desire to preserve the heritage of Christian faith in its intact form. The paper discusses secularization from the point of view of J.M. de Maistre, L.G.A. de Bonald, J.L. Balmes, R. Guardini, D.von Hildebrand, J. Maritain and E.L. Mascall. Traditional concepts of secularization have come to underlie the defensive vision of the Church and the Catholic Action programme expressed in the motto: instaurare omnia in Christo. Despite the passage of time, the traditional view of secularization has not disappeared. The components inherent in this concept continue to revive, especially in the context of fears and anxieties induced by the chaos and confusion of the present day.