Religious Education and the Formation of Civic Identity in State Gymnasiums of the Tarnopol Voivodeship (1921–1939): The Case of the Wincenty Pol State Gymnasium in Tarnopol

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of religious upbringing and is role in the formation of civic identify among students of state gymnasiums in the Tarnopol Voivodeship during the interwar period, using the example of the Wincenty Pol State Gymnasium in Tarnopol. The purpose of the article is to investigate the specific features of religious upbringing and its influence on the formation of civic identify among students of state gymnasiums in the Tarnopol Voivodeship during the interwar period through the case study of the Wincenty Pol State Gymnasium in Tarnopol. Particular attention is devoted to the analysis of the interaction between state educational policy, confessional structures, and the everyday religious practices of school youth. The methodological framework of the study is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and interdisciplinarity. The research employs historical-comparative, systemic, and microhistorical methods, as well as the approach of the history of everyday life, which male it possible to reconstructs both the legal and institutional foundations of religious upbringing and is practical implementation in the daily life of the gymnasium. The source based included school reports, normative acts of the Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Education, interwar pedagogical press, catechetical literature, and materials related to the educational legislation of the Second Polish Republic. Results. The study demonstrates that religious upbringing in the state gymnasiums of the Tarnopol Voivodeship served as an important instrument of moral formation and political socialization of youth. The multi-confessional character of the student environment determined the functioning of several models of religious instruction within a single educational institution. It was established that religious education encompassed not only the teaching of catechism but also a wide range of everyday practices, including participation in religious services, retreats, the activities of the Sodality of Mary, the Missionary Union, scouting, and military-patriotic organizations. The integration of religious rituals into state holidays and patriotic ceremonies contributed to the formation of the model of the “believing patriot” and to the sacralization of the state idea. Conclusions. Religious upbringing at the Wincenty Pol State Gymnasium constituted an integral part of the broader system of state education in interwar Poland. The school functioned not only as an educational institution but also as a space for the formation of civic loyalty, moral discipline, and confessional identify among school youth within the multi-confessional environment of the Tarnopol Voivodeship.