Polish Church in devastating decline, says Catholic Primate

The once staunchly Catholic homeland of St. John Paul II is in a “devastating” decline among young people largely because of clergy sexual abuse and only a continuous process of “purifying” itself can counter that regression, says the Primate of Poland.

Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno and Primate of Poland was commenting on recent data since 1992 published by CBOS, Poland’s state research agency, showing that less than 25% of young Poles currently practice their Catholic religion. In the early 1990s, that figure was almost 70%.

“These are simply devastating numbers,” said Archbishop Polak, in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP). “A very strong re-evaluation is taking place in the young generation.”

He said the Church hierarchy’s inability to deal with cases of abuse against minors had played a major part in this decline. “Undoubtedly the negligence of [Church] superiors, who did not stand on the side of the wronged, undermines our credibility as a church community,” he said.

That observation has been largely reinforced in recent years by the many sexual abuse scandals that have shaken the Church in Poland. 

Journalist Tomasz Sekielski produced a documentary on Church sex abuse in 2019 that raised the ire of many Poles.

The state commission on pedocriminality then published a document last July that showed 30% of the cases of sexual abuse of minors committed between 2017 and 2020 had been committed by members of the clergy.

This issue of sexual abuse has also led to a significant drop in seminary admissions. 

The Conference of Major Seminaries in Poland has reported that the local Church experienced a 20% drop in seminary enrollment last year, with only 356 men in priestly formation, compared to 441 in 2020 and 828 just nine years ago.

This is despite the Church in Poland taking up several initiatives to fight against this sex abuse scourge.

Pope Francis issued the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi in 2019 to deal with the bishops who mishandle or try to cover up abuse cases. 

Since its publication, the Vatican has issued a salvo of disciplinary sanctions against nine Polish bishops in the past year alone. 

The latest was against retired Archbishop Marian Golebiewski of Wroclaw. The 83-year-old prelate was found guilty of "negligence" in cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests. 

Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski of Krakow on December 28 became the latest Catholic prelate to issue a decree to strictly curtail contact between priests and underage youth aimed at combating pedocriminality in the Polish Church. 

Nonetheless, Polak says that the issue of abuse has “caused a deep crisis of faith” for many Catholics, leading to declining church attendance and some to abandon the church completely. 

The only way to “rebuild the credibility of the Church” is to show that “we stand in truth and we take responsibility for clearing up all these crimes”, Polak told PAP. “It is not an easy process of purification, but it is necessary so that we become ever more credible.”

Archbishop Polak has already spoken of the Church's "great shame and pain" and asked for forgiveness for both the crimes and the "negligence" of the perpetrators' superiors. 

A poll published in 2020 showed that 54% of Poles said they do not trust the Church and only 33% that they do. About 80% believed that the church is not doing enough to protect children. Another survey showed that only 9% of young people viewed the church positively.