ABSTRACT
The chapter outlines the problem field that opens up when we combine two research categories: religious discourse and politeness. Politeness, which is an intrinsic and at the same time socially relevant element of interpersonal communication, has already been the subject of intensive research for several decades, so the chapter begins with a synethetic presentation of the most prominent concpetions of politeness and ways of describing it in different spheres of life. The next section shows the characteristics of religious discourse (in its Catholic variety), which may determine the phenomena of politeness in a specific way (such as human-to-human and human-to-deity communication). An exemplary analysis was carried out on the speeches of the last three popes, delivered during their meetings with communities of different religions, confessions or nationalities. It covered the face-enhancing acts of the addressee realised in address forms, thanks and expressions of enjoy at the contact. The final section contains suggestions for further research that may enrich our knowledge of both politeness and religion.
