Roman Catholic Poles and Mariavite Poles Religious Divisions as a Source of Differentiation of Local Structure

This article presents a two-denominational village community in central Poland (Roman Catholics and followers of the Old Catholic Mariavite Church). The author strives to combine an anthropological interpretation of her field studies with a broader historical and social perspective. Mariavitism emerged fromRoman Catholicism a hundred years ago. Today it no longer provokes the spontaneous social sanctions of the followers of the mother Church. The structural dichotomy, indistinguishable in everyday life, has been channelled in the local political division. Celebrations of holidays in the village public space are a site of fractional rivalry between political actors and they also serve as a symbolic means of expression for different social forces. Because of the dense local relations and symbols and their interpretations, the local community is easily manipulated politically and this is weakening their civic activity.