Pastoral care, or persuasion? The influence of church leaders and their control of clergy and believers. Research of religiosity, communication strategies of priests and their image in letters in the late 19th and early 20th century. Tomáš W. Pavlíček SUMMARY The author of the Ph.D. thesis examines the religious culture in Bohemia in the late 19th century. Contrary to the concept of secularization and the prevalent opinion about an extraordinary decline of religiosity in the Czech society, he attempts to explain the interdependence of social and religious changes in the modern times. Within the sociological concept of secularization and disenchantment of the world, the author focuses on three phenomena: the vocation of a priest, religious practices and conversion, which he treats as religious concepts and at the same time applies them in historical research. The biggest part of the thesis is devoted to the first object of the research - the attitude of a priest towards his vocation, as the clergy is the agent of religious change. The thesis contributes to the current discussions about the relationship of the church and the state and the role of clergy in the society. The main questions are: What is the role of a priest in the religious changes? In what way or under what circumstances does a person get the...