Social Questions in the Work of J. V. Jirsík

The article shows the example of christianly motivated social activities during the 19th century in the diocese of České Budějovice. It brings examples of the publication activities of Jan Valerian Jirsík (bishop of České Budějovice, 1851-1883) on social problems, as well as examples of themes from social spheres which were on his initiation processed by clerical pastoral conferences. The themes were related to work at factories and children's employment, the formulation of current social problems, and the social engagement of priests. The article expresses an interest in the introduced problems even before the publication of the document Rerum novarum. It also shows the methodology by which the bishop involved the priests of the whole diocese in thinking about social matters. Jirsík finds a solution to the questions only in the application of catholic teaching, in other words, in the in-church perspective.

Keywords: Social work; Social policy; Pastoral; Jirsík; Jan Valerián; Bishop (1798-1883); Church and society