The Stabilization of Believers\u27 Structure and/or the Swinging of the Pendulum - Religiosity in Istria: The Contribution to the Socio-Religious Map of Croatia

U tekstu se iznose podaci o proširenosti različitih dimenzija religioznosti u Istri na temelju istraživanja provedenog početkom 1998. godine (N - 813). Autor utvrđuje različitu ulogu religije i religijskog u oblikovanju nacionalnog identiteta u Istri u odnosu na ostale dijelove Hrvatske. Druga specifičnost istraživanog područja jači je utjecaj modernizacijskih procesa nakon Drugog svjetskog rata od prosjeka države. Istraživanje je pokazalo da su na istraživanom području masovno, gotovo opće prošireni pokazatelji tradicionalne religioznosti. Istodobno, posljedica različitih okolnosti povijesnog razvoja dublji su tragovi sekularizacijskih procesa u istarskom društvu od hrvatskog prosjeka, prisutni u svim istraživanim segmentima religioznosti. Proces “retradicionalizacije”, karakterističan za sva tranzicijska društva, u Istri je imao slabiji odjek. Nedosljednost aktualne religijske samoidentifikacije i ponašanja ispitanika te disolucija njihova dogmatskog sustava upućuju na konkluziju o nestabilnom karakteru postojeće (ne-)religioznosti.This text, based upon the research conduced at the beginning of the year 1998, includes the data related to the extent of various dimensions of religiosity in Istria (N - 813). The role of religion and religiosity throughout the process of the formation of national identity in Istria in comparison with the other parts of Croatia has been established by the author. The stronger influence of the modernisation processes after the Second World War which exceeds the Croatian average, presents another specific situation in the course of the research. The results of the research have shown that the signs of traditional religiosity are massively spread in the area. At the same time, the higher degree of the traces of the secularization process of the Istrian society compared to the Croatian average as the consequence of various historical conditions, are evident in all research segments of religiosity. The process of “re-traditionalism”, characteristic for all the transitive societies, proved not to be well accepted in Istria. The lack of the actual religious self-identification as well as the examinees’ reactions and the dissolution of their dogmatic system all lead to the conclusion about the instable character of the existent (non) religiosity