Baptism and dedication – between the sacred and the profane

Abstract

The article presents baptism and dedication in the context of the duality of the sacred profane. The author shows the struggle between the Communist authorities with the Church, pushing religion to the margins and secularizing Poles and Slovaks through administrative actions. Both in Poland and Slovakia they had to divert the faithful from religious ceremonies and reception of the sacraments, by taking over the administrative organization of secular ceremonies. The article presents the script and setting of the dedication Uvitanie detí to života in the communist era. Then the author presents the current state in both countries. She notes that after the fall of communism, today in Polish offices this event is not organized, contrary to Slovakia, where it survived and operates in Slovak society. The text includes a description of the contemporary Uvitanie detí to života ceremony, which is not that different to those of communist times. It emphasizes that, in turn, in Poland there are alternative baptism ceremonies, modeled on Western habits – naming party, which draws the interest of certain groups.