Dramatic drop in Poles entering priesthood

Photo: Glowimages

According to data compiled by the Rzeczpospolita daily, 589 Polish men joined seminaries this year in preparation for ordination as priests.

In 2005, following the death of Polish pontiff Pope Jan Paul II, the number was 1145.

The intake dropped to 1029 in 2006, and again in 2007 to 786. From 2012 to 2013 the level dropped by 10 percent alone.

The situation is echoed in seminaries preparing Polish men for a monastic life, where compared with 2005, some 51 percent less Poles took up vocational studies.

Father Marek Dziewiecki, national priest for vocations, has commented that “there are various reasons for this decline.

“Firstly, we have a demographic crisis,” he said.

“Secondly, there is a great wave of emigration from Poland.... And finally, the third, we have seen a crisis of faith here in Poland.” (nh)