Faith and fatigue in the Extreme Way of the Cross in Poland
In this article, I examine a new religious initiative of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland called the Extreme Way of the Cross (EWC, Ekstremalna Droga Krzyzowa). Proclaimed as a new form of spirituality', the EWC has rapidly become a nation-wide phenomenon, with more than 450 routes and 52,0...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
[2018]
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| In: |
Religion, state & society
Year: 2018, Volume: 46, Issue: 2, Pages: 108-122 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Poles
/ Extremer Kreuzweg
/ Pilgrimage
/ Passion play
|
| Further subjects: | B
Experience
B Poland B Religion B Catholic Church B Body |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | In this article, I examine a new religious initiative of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland called the Extreme Way of the Cross (EWC, Ekstremalna Droga Krzyzowa). Proclaimed as a new form of spirituality', the EWC has rapidly become a nation-wide phenomenon, with more than 450 routes and 52,000 registered participants in 2017. I start with a description of the history, organisational features and main principles of the EWC, followed by the social-religious profiles of its participants. Drawing on Elaine Peña's concept of devotional labor', I shed light on how a strenuous, long night-time walk, combined with the rule of silence and meditation on the Passion of Christ, can lead EWC participants to an immediate experience of the sacred, in which a fatigued human body plays a central role. To this end, I discuss the EWC in the context of the traditional Catholic Ways of the Cross and Passion Plays, and contemporary pilgrimage in the Western Christianity. |
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| ISSN: | 1465-3974 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, state & society
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09637494.2018.1456767 |