The Deacon's Bench
According to the latest figures from the Polish Institute of Catholic Church Statistics, only 39 percent of declared Catholics take part in Sunday Mass.
The figure marks the first time Mass attendance has dropped below 40 percent, head of the Institute, Wojciech Sadlon told Polish Radio. “People who go to church merely spurred on by tradition do not experience a deep personal commitment, and have started to stop practising the faith,” he said.
“Along with the modernisation of [Poland], including cultural and economic changes, as well as more attractive offers put forward to Poles, religious values and faith simply lose out to spending free time with friends or watching TV,” Sadlon added.
Meanwhile, the new numbers show that 16.3 percent of church goers attend Communion, slightly up on last year’s figures.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In