I have said for awhile now that pointing to Poland as an example of a good "Catholic" nation is not really a great idea as their younger generation is falling away from religion just as they are in the rest of Europe and the west. Yes, the might be more "Catholic" right now than other countries like Italy, France, and Spain, but Poland is probably only a couple of decades away, maybe less, than following in their footsteps. They're also always one election away from their civil laws following the rest of Europe, and that may happen sooner rather than later. And once it does, there is no going back. John Paul II pretty much single-handedly preserved Catholicism in Poland's population for decades longer than it would lasted otherwise.
I would also be interested in similar survey/analysis done on the Philippines, another strong "Catholic" nation, like Poland. That is another country that is usually brought up as an example of a country upholding Catholicism but I hear that the younger generation is also falling away from religion like much of the west currently. I wonder if it's the same situation as Poland where the faith will largely fade over the coming decades.
In the original Boston, 130 miles north of London, there is only one small Catholic Church in a town of 60,000+ people. The exact population stats are shakey because of the huge number of recent emigrants from Eastern Europe, many working on the fertile flatlands around Boston. St Mary's has two weekend masses in English and two in Polish. The parish priest is English and there is a resident Polish priest. This priest is just one of those mentioned in the article as working outside Poland, serving the Polish diaspora across western Europe.
This mass emigration is another source of weakening of the Polish church. There is the sheer loss of numbers, plus the fact that it is usually the young people with "get up and go" who have got up and gone. There is also the fact that emigration leads to lapsation. Once away from home, it is easy to quietly cease to worship. I have not seen any solid figures, but I have seen guestimates of up to 75% lapsation among immigrant Catholics.
And how many children, even with two practising Polish parents, will still be practising after 20 years of being brought up in England? I recall an English colleague years ago with a Polish boyfriend. His parents disliked her because she was not Catholic and she did not want her children raised Catholic....
I live in Bedford, UK, where our grade-II historic (and most beautiful) church in the center of town is Polish-speaking-only. Several Masses on Sunday and frequent reconciliations following weekday Masses as well. Bedford also saw a great deal of immigration from Poland, and even at the English-speaking parish where we attend, a good number of parishoners are Polish, as well as from India and Nigeria. Unshockingly to you, I'd imagine--very few English... Not even us: we're Americans.
The Poles in my home town of Reading mostly worship at the handsome ex-Anglican Sacred Heart, which they were able to buy when it was narrowly saved from demolition. The local conservationists' legal eagles pointed out that the Church of England had obtained permission to demolish the Church, but not the surrounding wall. So, rather than get an embarrassing further legal consent, the C of E sold it to the Poles.
The Poles used to worship at St James, a few hundred yards away. They left a lovely icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa as a souvenir. St James has at least 54 nationalities worshipping within its historic walls. Not many Irish or English.
My husband and I spent a week in Krakow this summer, and I attended Mass daily while we were there. Every parish I visited, even those outside of the main square where so many tourists visit, had people of all ages attending- even at daily morning Masses. While I am not disputing the study, the young people with whom we had conversations are aware of how the world is trying to pull them away from the faith, but they are staying strong and involved in the Church.
On a side note, we also spent 7 weeks in the Czech Republic outside of Brno, and the Church is staying strong and growing with a large number of families and young people on fire for Jesus!
An increasing number of Poles are growing up with no memories of Pope John Paul II or Communism. And news of Church scandals are tarnishing the institution’s image. In addition, the birth rate for Poles is very low, and outside of Ukrainians, few choose to emigrate to Poland. Add to this the continued emigration of young Poles to Western Europe, and the Church’s future doesn’t look good.
It's interesting how the communists in vain tried so hard to kill the Church, while capitalism didn't even really try, but turned out to be far more successful in this regard
TL;DR: Poles who reached adulthood before the fall of communism are largely Catholic; those who were no more than small children are largely non-Catholic; and those who were adolescents are a mixed bag. It's as if overnight, a flip was switched, and the people lost their ability to hand on the faith from one generation to the next.
When flying to Europe, I once had a four hour layover in Dublin. I was kidding with the young 25 yo flight attendant when I said perhaps I have time to slip out and go to Mass (it was a Sunday morning). So I asked him if he knew of any parishes nearby. He replied that HE DID NOT, AND BESIDES, NO YOUNG PEOPLE IN IRELAND GO TO MASS ANYMORE.
I have said for awhile now that pointing to Poland as an example of a good "Catholic" nation is not really a great idea as their younger generation is falling away from religion just as they are in the rest of Europe and the west. Yes, the might be more "Catholic" right now than other countries like Italy, France, and Spain, but Poland is probably only a couple of decades away, maybe less, than following in their footsteps. They're also always one election away from their civil laws following the rest of Europe, and that may happen sooner rather than later. And once it does, there is no going back. John Paul II pretty much single-handedly preserved Catholicism in Poland's population for decades longer than it would lasted otherwise.
I would also be interested in similar survey/analysis done on the Philippines, another strong "Catholic" nation, like Poland. That is another country that is usually brought up as an example of a country upholding Catholicism but I hear that the younger generation is also falling away from religion like much of the west currently. I wonder if it's the same situation as Poland where the faith will largely fade over the coming decades.
In the original Boston, 130 miles north of London, there is only one small Catholic Church in a town of 60,000+ people. The exact population stats are shakey because of the huge number of recent emigrants from Eastern Europe, many working on the fertile flatlands around Boston. St Mary's has two weekend masses in English and two in Polish. The parish priest is English and there is a resident Polish priest. This priest is just one of those mentioned in the article as working outside Poland, serving the Polish diaspora across western Europe.
http://stmaryschurchboston.org.uk/
This mass emigration is another source of weakening of the Polish church. There is the sheer loss of numbers, plus the fact that it is usually the young people with "get up and go" who have got up and gone. There is also the fact that emigration leads to lapsation. Once away from home, it is easy to quietly cease to worship. I have not seen any solid figures, but I have seen guestimates of up to 75% lapsation among immigrant Catholics.
And how many children, even with two practising Polish parents, will still be practising after 20 years of being brought up in England? I recall an English colleague years ago with a Polish boyfriend. His parents disliked her because she was not Catholic and she did not want her children raised Catholic....
Bill,
I live in Bedford, UK, where our grade-II historic (and most beautiful) church in the center of town is Polish-speaking-only. Several Masses on Sunday and frequent reconciliations following weekday Masses as well. Bedford also saw a great deal of immigration from Poland, and even at the English-speaking parish where we attend, a good number of parishoners are Polish, as well as from India and Nigeria. Unshockingly to you, I'd imagine--very few English... Not even us: we're Americans.
The Poles in my home town of Reading mostly worship at the handsome ex-Anglican Sacred Heart, which they were able to buy when it was narrowly saved from demolition. The local conservationists' legal eagles pointed out that the Church of England had obtained permission to demolish the Church, but not the surrounding wall. So, rather than get an embarrassing further legal consent, the C of E sold it to the Poles.
The Poles used to worship at St James, a few hundred yards away. They left a lovely icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa as a souvenir. St James has at least 54 nationalities worshipping within its historic walls. Not many Irish or English.
Same! We too have a very nice Our Lady of Czestochowa icon in the cry room.
My husband and I spent a week in Krakow this summer, and I attended Mass daily while we were there. Every parish I visited, even those outside of the main square where so many tourists visit, had people of all ages attending- even at daily morning Masses. While I am not disputing the study, the young people with whom we had conversations are aware of how the world is trying to pull them away from the faith, but they are staying strong and involved in the Church.
On a side note, we also spent 7 weeks in the Czech Republic outside of Brno, and the Church is staying strong and growing with a large number of families and young people on fire for Jesus!
An increasing number of Poles are growing up with no memories of Pope John Paul II or Communism. And news of Church scandals are tarnishing the institution’s image. In addition, the birth rate for Poles is very low, and outside of Ukrainians, few choose to emigrate to Poland. Add to this the continued emigration of young Poles to Western Europe, and the Church’s future doesn’t look good.
It's interesting how the communists in vain tried so hard to kill the Church, while capitalism didn't even really try, but turned out to be far more successful in this regard
TL;DR: Poles who reached adulthood before the fall of communism are largely Catholic; those who were no more than small children are largely non-Catholic; and those who were adolescents are a mixed bag. It's as if overnight, a flip was switched, and the people lost their ability to hand on the faith from one generation to the next.
When flying to Europe, I once had a four hour layover in Dublin. I was kidding with the young 25 yo flight attendant when I said perhaps I have time to slip out and go to Mass (it was a Sunday morning). So I asked him if he knew of any parishes nearby. He replied that HE DID NOT, AND BESIDES, NO YOUNG PEOPLE IN IRELAND GO TO MASS ANYMORE.