Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in summer 2013 undergraduate student Elisabeth Lembo interviewed Marcin Baran, S.J., professor of Political Science at Ignatianum, the Jesuit University of Krakow. In this interview Baran discusses his Jesuit background, the history of Jesuits in Poland, and the connection between religion and social justice in the nation.

What is your background as a Jesuit, and how did you get to Ignatianum?

I studied theology in Rome for three years, and then completed my doctorate in Philosophy from Munich. I completed my dissertation on the notion of good and focused on the importance of having a relationship to something. I was interested in studying the making of modern identity and how we conceive ourselves through examining the role of a self-need to have a relation to “good” or to “value.” I completed regency in a parish based here in Krakow that was called “Life as vocation” and had plans to work in the philosophy department here at Ignatianum; however, due to limited jobs available at that department, I accepted a job in political science.

Why did you choose to come teach in Krakow?

I wanted to do something with Polish young people. Originally, I wanted to teach at the high school level—I feel like it is the best time, with young people at the age of 15 to 19, to translate some ideas about beliefs and teaching. At the university, there is not always as much enthusiasm and excitement. I came back to teach here because after experiences teaching abroad in Rome and Munich, it was important for me to come home to Poland. I particularly wanted to offer my international experience to Polish students because many don’t have the opportunity to travel internationally and obtain a universal perspective.

How do you express Jesuit pedagogy in your classes?

First, I show that I’m a Jesuit during the first hour of the first class. There are only two in the political science department, so it is interesting to many students when I wear my Jesuit outfit. They see my outfit, and I explain the history and order. Usually, it depends on the content of the lecture whether or not I can really incorporate the Jesuit perspective. I will often offer the perspective of social teaching of the Church on a topic. In terms of the Ignation pedagogy, there is a “way” of doing. People have a different speed of learning, which is important to always consider as well. I am always encouraging students to participate in the lectures. It is important for me to know that they receive what is taught and that they are not passively learning. I strive to teach people how to think, not to simply accept it, forming a new elite.

Can you tell me a bit about the early history of Jesuits in Poland?

The Jesuit order has always played a very fundamental role for Catholics here in Poland. At the end of the sixteenth century, during the Reformation, Jesuits were opening up schools here in Poland. Then, in the second half of the sixteenth century, the last king of the Jagiellonian dynasty favored Protestants, and many nobles at the time were Protestants. Also at this time, however, Jesuits were determined to continue to teach, and some even led aristocratic children to become interested in Catholicism. Jesuit schools really preserved Catholicism in Poland, and Jesuits had a monopoly on schools in this country.

How has Poland’s history most clearly affected the country?

I think the problem with history’s negative role in Poland is that there is no continuity of Polish elites. After the Partition, there were some intellectual elites, and the Church, specifically Jesuits, was working to preserve this. In fact, the period of 1918 to 1938, after the Partition and before the Second World War, had been the best time for this country. At this time, Poland was rebuilding, and there were elite classes and universities developing in the country. Then, during the Second World War, came the liquidation of Polish elites. Germans and Soviets eliminated Polish elites, from professors to priests to officers, through a systematic elimination. We are now in the Third Republic, and some say this is a different Poland. There are very few leaders in the country that knew how Poland was before the war, and this has played a significant role in education here in this country.

How has the development of education affected modern Poland?

In terms of Jesuits, I’ve only met a few who remember the Second Republic of Poland before the Second World War. These Jesuits are important because they are a living memory of those times and may try to make a continuity between Poland before and after the war in order to bring back some of its history. In this country, Jesuits play a critical role as we try to educate the new elites of the day. I believe that current elites of the day are part of a poor moral and intellectual sense. A huge part of the leaders were brought up under the post-communist way of thinking, and there is a lot of maneuvering that goes on.

Almost all politicians have some connection with communism. Here in Poland, we need a new beginning. We need education to try to take the best things in our tradition from the Second Republic and reflect on the modern history of problems today. This emergence of education will help give identity that is lacking. It is true that in some ways, history had been misinterpreted by communists. We as Jesuits ought to take up our tradition and offer it as something new to the Polish people. We have the most to learn from the [United] States. We need to learn the traditional ideological background. Most importantly, we must show how to run a school and try to transplant this into the Polish university system.

What are your specific hopes for Ignatianum?

I’m hoping to work with organizing a Jesuit collaborative such that everyone at the university is involved. This will mean talking about our school’s spirituality, order, and history in a way that everyone can participate. I will be working for a few months in Sri Lanka and am then going to Chicago, where I will work at a Polish Jesuit parish. I am planning on going to Loyola to meet with other Jesuits and learn about exchange possibilities. I want to see a school and a society where people are the root. Overall, there needs to be some form of connection between the deans and teachers and students among this school and others in Poland and abroad. Networking is becoming more popular and is important to the success of all schools.

How does the Jesuit mission, specifically of social justice, appear here at Ignatianum?

This school was started by Jesuits. The older Jesuit educators were thrilled to be able to re-open the school in post-communist era, but today there is only a minority that truly remains with Ignation pedagogy. When I was offered this job, I didn’t have a large sense of what Ignation pedagogy was. This school began to grow very quickly, and there were a lot of administrative tasks to be taken care of that sidetracked many leaders of the school from focusing on the Jesuit mission. There was a great focus on running the school, coping with students, and not a lot of time to reflect on the identity. It is critical that schools here reflect on spirituality and Ignation pedagogy.

What is the connection between high identification with religion, and the work towards social justice in this country?

In this country, there are too many “cultural Catholics.” Many people go to church but do not actually practice their religion. A large part of this is because of the strict separation that was forced under communism. For that reason, I believe, the idea of bringing the lessons of religion into daily life through “social justice” is a relatively new concept to Poland. I know that civil societies and NGOs are popular in America, but there are still not very many of these in Poland. We are living under the inheritance of the former system in which the state takes care of everything, so social justice isn’t really a concern for many. Yet many, Jesuits especially, are hearing the term of “social justice,” particularly from the West, and are slowly discovering the need to do something on the basis of addressing structural poverty.