Answer to global crisis of Faith is not more synod

Sociologist of religion Polak: We are in the middle of an epochal change

Viennese theologian in "Sonntag" interview: "Of course, this also has an effect on religion and faith"

According to the Viennese theologian and sociologist of religion Regina Polak, humanity is currently experiencing fundamental upheavals: Pope Francis, too, apparently assumes "that we are currently experiencing not only small changes, but actually an epochal change." The theologian, who teaches at the University of Vienna, compared this in the Viennese church newspaper "Der Sonntag" with the change from antiquity to the Middle Ages or from the Middle Ages to modern times. This is connected with "a massive change in values," with a change in the way science, the world and reality are thought about. "And that, of course, also affects religion and faith," Polak said in the interview.

A crisis of faith has been evident since the 1970s, he said, with the decline of traditional ideas and forms of practice. However, the most recent studies of the European Values Study are striking, said the interdisciplinary scientist. The statement "I believe in God" has been consistently agreed to by about 75 percent in Austria since the 1980s. "This value plummeted to 54 percent after the pandemic," Polak said. "This shows that the crisis has taken hold of the heart of faith."

Crisis, the theologian said, is "not an objective state." An event, she said, leads to "a massive shaking of everything previously taken for granted," such as the notion of steady progress or rising prosperity. It is a "contingency experience" that everything that was previously valid is suddenly no longer certain. This forces a society and every individual to act accordingly.

What is to remain must change

In an address by Pope Francis, Polak found a quote from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel "The Leopard" that fits this diagnosis: "If we want everything to remain as it is, everything must change." Says Polak: "It's always about an inner and outer change at the same time. So on the one hand, it's about a change in mental attitude, biblically speaking an inner conversion. And on the other hand, it's about a change in structures, that is, a committed effort in different areas of society."

In this situation, hope from a biblical perspective does not mean that "everything will automatically be all right. Rather, it is a matter of "not losing one's orientation to God, combined with resistance and active shaping of society." Time and again, he said, people have opted for violence and destruction. The acute crises would make her "anything but hopeful," the theologian referred to the climate crisis as an example, where "we are already in the middle of a catastrophe. From her faith, however, she draws the strength that it is worthwhile to work to make the biblical promises a reality, Polak said. "But there is no guarantee of an - earthly - happy ending!"

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