PASTORALNA SLIKA OBITELJI U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI I MLADI U NJOJ
A PASTORAL VIEW ON FAMILY AND YOUTH IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Summary/Abstract: This article presents a picture of the catholic family in Bosnia and Herzegovina in relationship with young people. Religious socialization of the youth in Yugoslavian society after the Second World War was tightly connected with family tradition and upbringing. The Croatian catholic family, especially in villages, was an important place for the transmission of religious tradition, customs, and moral values to the young. A negative impact on family life, connected with the religious socialization of the youth, was caused by the working abroad of one or both members of the family. This negative impact on the catholic family in Bosnia and Herzegovina was also magnified by the war situation (1992-1995) that almost completely destroyed the character of B&H families. Because of massive migration during the war, the family lost its traditional role, customs, and property. A patriarchal mentality could still be seen in the B&H catholic family, especially as it continued to emphasize a woman's role primarily as a housewife and mother, and secondarily as a business partner. Another problem is that women and mothers are not employed enough in state-run businesses, and therefore they don't have good benefits. One of the global phenomenons in B&H, according to the United Nations Development Programme, is the feminization of poverty. Because of general, uneven, conditions in which they live, women are more likely to be stricken by poverty. Looking at the pastoral care of the Catholic Church concerning the family, we can say that there is no coordination or systematic planning of pastoral care for families, either on the bishopric level or on parish level. It is time for the Catholic Church in B&H to implement its line of procedures concerning the pastoral care of families into concretely structured programs led by qualified priests, religious men and women, and lay people.

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