Poland, a Catholic Favorite, is Losing Religion

Poland is a country identified with the Catholic Church. While Italy is home to the Vatican, Poland has a long history of devotion to the faith. Recently, however, a conservative publication sounded the alarm that religious instruction in public schools is being lowered in importance and resources. When one reads the statistics of Catholicism, one can see why. 

Only 1/3 of Polish adults say the attend weekly mass. As with all polling asking, "How often do you attend mass?" many, thinking no one keeps track, no doubt overstate how often they attend. The number of priests and those entering priesthood training is falling. The same thing is happening in Italy, home of the Vatican.

Lots of tricks have been used to get people to church. Decades ago it was the guitar mass. In Protestant churches it was Christian rock and/or adding a contemporary service with little preaching and lots of music. While apparently are some exceptions, attendance keeps falling. The peculiar thing is that the countries one would think best for church attendance are some of those where it is falling most rapidly.

I have not checked recently, but a few years ago Unitarian/Universalist churches were doing better than most Protestant denominations. The three I was familiar with were all adding to their churches. I suppose there are such churches in Europe and I wonder how they are doing?

I wonder if falling numbers in Poland, Germany and Italy played a role in the selection of Pope Leo. Without the right candidates from Africa or Asia and Europe fading, maybe a U.S. born Pope looked like the only choice available.