POLISH CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY (Die Religionserziehung in der Familie im Kontext der Gegebenheiten in Polen)

The value and the importance of family religious education has been often recalled by the Holy Father John Paul II, who indicated, that family is the natural environment for religious education of a human person. However, it is not possible to understand religious education undertaken in the Polish family without presenting its coherence with the Church and their situation in the context of socio-political, educational and pedagogical changes. The transformation which, society and family had undergone after the World War II effected the search for new ideas and concepts of family religious education. The Church in Poland has always searched for the possibilities of preserving own identity as well as the identity of the Domestic Church - family, in order to find a place in a violently and drastically changing social, political, economic, cultural and religious conditions. Author of this article presents the issue of religious education in the family with the special attention given to the Polish context. Firstly, demonstrates the terminological presuppositions connected with religious education. Secondly, introduces the context of Polish education in general. Then, religious education in the family in the perspective given by John Paul II with the focus on the Polish situation. In the end, gives educational and pastoral conclusions and postulates.