AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
4 Comparison of the activity of the university pastoral centre
and the university
We live in a pluralistic society and the diversity of opinions is a
reality that we cannot deny. This also applies to the higher
education environment in which the flow of thoughts and the
creative emerging atmosphere should be unhindered. We do not
assume that there is anything like a unified attitude in this
environment putting religious faith as the highest-ranking value.
However, what we might expect is some acceptance and respect
that among the students are those who have religious beliefs and
want to develop them during university. In this subchapter we
try to find the answer to the question of whether it is perceived
like that by the participants.
The participants stated the despite the educators being practicing
believers, they did not explicitly reveal their religious beliefs to
the students, so the participants implicitly interpreted this as
meaning they are operating in an atheistic environment. I think it
was two different worlds (11M5). As if the world of science and
specialized vocational training was absolutely separated from the
world of religious faith. Students identified people of a similar
mindset among the university educators in different ways. For
example, based on whether they accepted an invitation to UPC
events. I registered the invited professors, so I was able to see
who was religiously oriented and had nothing against
communicating in that way too. So, then, one discovered who
was a believer without trying to find out (4M5).
An important role in this issue was played by the subject which
they student studied at university. I think that the UPC did not
want intentionally to act against the faculty and against the
teaching. It went its own way, and a person could choose which
way to go. Whether it would be the teaching style of the faculty,
which had a certain post-communist character, because I felt
there was, in a way, a materialistic approach to the perception
of the person, that is, in my field, in psychology (8W7). The
study of this discipline also brings knowledge of facts that are
intertwined or directly related to the content of religious beliefs.
It was striking to our participants that in the common material
for psychology and theology it was lectured that the expert
opinion of psychology excluded the attitude of theology.
According to the participants, there was a lack of effort to
integrate or at least some admission of the integration of both
positions. For example, the soul is only a chemical transmission
or personality part of a chemical transmission. That was
presented, about which I was not internally convinced. The fact
that I am also convinced of something different was something
that the UPC helped me to integrate. But I don't think that it
wanted to go against our faculty. Rather, the reverse. The faculty
was not convinced that spiritual life helps a person progress so
much. But that’s only some people, not everyone (9W7). The
participant appreciated the work of the university pastoral centre,
which she understood as an opportunity to integrate professional
and theological aspects into a whole that would be beneficial for
her personal growth.
On the other hand, the UPC's activities in this area were too
strict for other participants, without the possibility to discuss the
problem. One student felt as if they were being guided to the
only “correct” opinion, which would be an attitude consistent
with the church's position. In school, it was more like a
discussion. It ended in a neutral way, but it sparked a discussion,
with this opinion and that opinion when we were doing, for
example, family law. And in UPC it always led towards the
believers' conclusions as to how to look at this world (5W10).
We can discuss whether this fact should be evaluated positively
or negatively. On the one hand, it is logical that UPC presents
and defends the Church’s position. On the other hand, faith is the
free response of a person to the offer of faith, so the person to
whom it is offered ought necessarily to feel freedom in terms of
whether they choose it or not.
The participants perceived the activities of the university and the
university pastoral centre to be neutral or contradictory. They did
not agree whether the UPC’s position on the offer of faith
sufficiently respected human freedom. It is important to know
what, how, in what way I should communicate or act, what a
Christian should know in order to properly defend their views.
On the other hand, sometimes I felt at UPC that it was so strict,
that it has to be that way and that’s it. Without my having my
own opinion, or my having the time to form my own opinion. So,
I liked at school that it was so open, not every opinion was
rejected (6W10). This attitude of UPC partly reflects the fact that
in the pastoral practice of the Catholic Church it appears quite
often. It is a dogmatic promotion of faith as a necessity, without
a comprehensive justification, without solid theological and
anthropological argumentation, discussion and sufficient respect
for the individual's personal freedom. The presence of this
attitude in the activities of the UPC means that the special
pastoral care in this regard is not sufficiently “special” because
to communicate and defend faith in the rarefied intellectual
environment of a university requires a different approach than in
the parish, where the priest must work with the entire age and
intellectual spectrum of believers. We do not mean that UPC
should offer more doubt about belief or more scepticism, but it
certainly should place more emphasis on discussion, deeper
argumentation and respect personal freedom more. Of course,
this should go hand in hand with a deep spiritual life. The
participant must feel that the decision for faith is their free and
joyful decision, not a forced response created by the
requirements of the Church as an institution.
4.1 Criticism of the community levelled at the University
Pastoral Centre
The aim of the research was not to find out the critical
reservations of students against UPC's activities, but during the
interviews this topic constantly arose naturally, so we decided to
include this part in the final report.
The first part of the participants' reservations concerned the
closed nature of the community at the UPC. The people at UPC
like to close themselves off from others. Outwardly, everything
looked open, but in fact I often encountered closed relationships
and groups, so I didn't feel at home at UPC (3M1). This
criticism has two possible origins. Either it is caused by a
situation where a new student comes into the community and
needs some time to adapt to the community. Creating
relationships requires an openness on both sides that cannot be
programmed or enforced. The second reason is the non-
acceptance of various proposals, when a member of the
community put forward proposals but the others do not accept
their proposals. There was another objection about the closed
nature, but in different sense. There were enough activities for
people who were at the centre of things. However, the people
there were the same people who came to everything, so the
community was a bit closed (13M1). Every type of activity in the
university pastoral centre has its fans. For example, students who
organized literary evenings or exhibitions have mostly not
visited other activities.
For the more spiritually minded students with rich experience
from spiritual life, some members of the prayer community were
too superficial. Sometimes it was just so superficial. Even though
we had those bible meetings where I had the opportunity to hear
some opinions, they were strange. But it was good that it was
possible to point out that they were bad (14W10). And of course
we cannot avoid the various conflicts, misunderstandings and
mutual animosity that can affect any community. The
relationships were not quite right. Of course, not everyone gets
on with everyone, but I have more neutral impressions from it
(5W10).
Some of the participants' critical comments concerned the
programme offered by the pastoral centre. I would have liked
there to be wider range of regular meetings, which would be the
best place to build personal relationships (4M1). This proposal
lacked a more specific vision in the participant's statement.
Further proposals were not solely dependent on the decision of
UPC management. According to the participants, the UPC
priests could teach at the university where the UPC was
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