Typen van religieus-kerkelijke binding

Samenvatting

Polls determining religious-ecclesiastic ties should not inquire after church attendance alone. The depth of faith and the acceptance of the values are important factors which show different kinds of ties to the church. K. Dobbelaere (Sociological analysis of catholicity, Leuven, 1966) tried to take the above factors into account without realizing, however, that when questioning the knowledge of the faith, one has to inquire also after the level of education. A poll taken as described in The Catholics and their education, (J.A. van Kemenade, Nymwegen, 1968), specified the following aspects of religiousness: (1) acceptance of the hierarchy of the church, (2) the institutional aspects (rules, as church attendance etc), (3) ethical values, (4) need for innovations, (5) religiousness as expressed by following the rules or by ethical conduct, and (6) the Catholic as the only norm. The analysis showed an attachment to the institutional aspects, a demand for a more democratic approach, but not for many changes, and the rejection of the Catholic Church as the exclusive value system. Based on the importance given to the church as an institution and as a value system, a typology was formed. Catholics were divided into 6 groups based on complete or weak acceptance. These were related to variables such as degree of urbanization, social milieu, religious homogeneity of the community, education, age, and group mentality. Found was a weak relation between integration in the church and social milieu, and a strong relation between both urbanization and age, and religious orientation. The prognosis is that the church as an institution will decrease in importance. 3 Tables. K. Dillman.