"The Roma in the Church yesterday and today". Roma participation in church life from 1918 to the present
Abstract
This article will report partial results of the "Relationship Changes of Christian Churches towards Romanies on the Territory of Czech Republic from 1918 to the Present " research. The reader/ listener will be introduced to the situation of the Romany minority in the Czech churches.
With the support of historical resources and studies the article presents the changes of church representative's views on the Romanies since 1918 to the present. Furthermore the current situation in different Czech regions and churches will be depicted - special attention is drawn to the places and methods of Romany involvement in the churches as well as the missionary and pastoral work which leads to the involvement.
The questionares and interviews then reveal some particular information about individual groups and people, whose work in the church is devoted to the Romanies. The presentation of partial research results will also include a short description of the research methods used in the project.
The article also discusses the difficulties which are brought by the socially controversial and problematic nature of the research topic.The conclusion of the article sums up the relationship metamorphoses of the Christian Churches towards Romanies since 1918 and it also shows which regions and churches are on the top of the hypothetical "Romany involvement list".