Younger people in Poland getting less religious

26-08-2022

Central Europe

Among the younger generation in Poland, fewer and fewer are religiously active. The new results of long-running research show that by CBOS, a state research agency.

It is reported by Notes from Poland that the percentage of "non-practitioners" has grown from 9 per cent in 1992 to 19 per cent now. This is notably stronger among young people than among older people (38 versus 13 per cent). It is firm in the cities among people with higher education.

Still, 90 per cent of the Polish population is officially linked to the Roman Catholic Church. Also, 84 per cent of the people describe themselves as believers, compared to 94 per cent in 1992.

The sharpest drop is seen in the shrinking number of people who practise their faith at least once per week: 42 per cent against 70 per cent 30 years ago.

The reasons for losing faith or non-activity differ from lack of interest in God to scandals that have hit the church.

Walking through Kazimierz, you feel the burden of history. Photo Flickr, Rafael Wagner

Weekly column: Christian life in Poland: In this Catholic city you can see traces of Jewish milk and honey

It was the first time this friend of mine visited me in Krakow. I told him, I would take him to Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter. It was on a Saturday. My friend asked me why bother going there if everything would be closed on the Jewish holy day. I was confused for a minute and then suddenly connected the dots saying: No, my friend! It is indeed called a “Jewish quarter” but not because Jews live there today. It is called so because of the history of that part of the city!