WSPÓŁCZESNE OBLICZE POLSKIEGO PRAWOSŁAWIA

Nowadays, Polish Orthodox Church has the uniform oranizational and legal structure, transparent institutional dimension, its own specific character and tradition. It has also shaped an objective religious culture which for hundreds of years has been an integral part of the culture in Poland. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the broad dimension of the social and religious conditions of Polish Orthodox Church in the perspective of Polish society. On the basis of gathered research material it has been shown that the Polish Orthodox Church is characterized by a relatively strong differentiation, which often results in inconsistency of its image, as well as dim knowledge of the Orthodox society causes stereotypical and biased perception of the Orthodox Church and its members.