Andrzej Adamski

‘Transmitted Eucharist’ in the statements of Polish bishops during the COVID-19 pandemic: communicative and religious aspects

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The COVID-19 pandemic and the declaration of lockdown by the state authorities forced a change in lifestyle in virtually every sphere, from work and study to entertainment and the practice of religion. During the lockdown, people in Poland turned to the Internet to fulfil their duties and maintain at least the illusion of normality. The pandemic caused a significant increase in the role of the Internet in private and professional communication worldwide. A nationwide survey carried out by my team showed that around 40% of parishes had taken to broadcasting the Sunday Eucharist over the Internet. In contrast, the Internet itself had begun to act as a prayer book for many, which resulted in the formulation of search engine queries for various forms of prayer. Almost all churches and communities were prepared to make some changes to their worship practice, from modifications through restrictions to suspension. The decisions made in this regard depended on the ecclesiology and governance of the church. In Poland, individual churches either restricted (Catholic and Orthodox Church) or completely suspended (Protestant Church) their religious life in a real community dimension, but all maintained contact with their faithful in different ways, using modern technology and access to public media. On this occasion, questions have been raised anew about the nature of participation in the broadcast Eucharist. Interestingly, official announcements and letters from the bishops referred once to 'participation by transmission' and at other times to 'spiritual connection'. This activity was also the subject of other expressions. Based on a database collected during the pandemic, containing the statements of the Polish bishops on this issue, the authors will answer the question of how the Polish bishops approached the question of the broadcast Eucharist in their official announcements and how the discourse created by them can refer to both communicative and pastoral and even dogmatic issues.