Francis Effect: Now Poland Is Also Lost

The Polish Church suffers from a shortage of priests, Poznan Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki wrote in an April 25 pastoral letter. He expects a "significant decline" of the number of priests and the merging of smaller parishes.

Poznan Archdiocese has currently 635 priests in 414 parishes. Few years ago, a quarter of all European seminarians was Polish.

At the beginning of Benedict XVI's pontificate in 2005, a record number of 1,145 men entered the Polish seminaries. Last autumn, there were 441 new seminarians - a decline of over 60%.

Since 1989 - the year when Communism ended and Family Pope John Paul II triumphed - the fertility rate in Poland has been below replacement level. After Poland joined the EU in 2004 over two million young Poles abandoned the country leaving the elderly behind.

Picture: Stanisław Gądecki, © Mazur, CC BY-NC-ND, #newsSzdzwtbaup