BETWEEN UNIVERSALISM AND ETHNIC PARTICULARISM: POLISH MIGRANTS TO THE UNITED KINGDOM; PERSPECTIVE FROM THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION

Detailed analysis of the research results pertaining to the role of religion in acculturation process of Poles in UK clearly points to the fact that Polish priest become a key person for understanding dynamic of acculturation process of both groups: immigrants and host population. Therefore the following perspectives on the role of Polish priest will be provided: • Perspective of Polish priests working in UK • Perspective o Polish parishioners • Perspective of British parishioners • Perspectives of Polish church hierarchy • Perspectives of British Church hierarchy • Perspectives of British priest with whom Polish priest shares work in the parish Paper points to various difficulties in fulfilling expectations of different groups towards Polish priests, conflictual characteristic of priest’s role, and deficits in proper preparation of priests for their work in UK. As the theoretical background of the process The Interactive Acculturation Model ( Bourhis, Moise, Perreault, Senecal 1997) will be employed. The model points to the influence of host population on the final outcome of acculturation process of newly arriving group.