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Poland Experiencing Rise In Secularism

By Howard M. Friedman

The New York Times reported yesterday on growing secularization in Poland. 95% of Poles identify as Catholic, but only 41% attend Mass regularly. In the large cities of Warsaw and Krakow, that number drops to 20%, as Catholicism becomes more a cultural identity.  There is a strong anticlerical movement in Poland, not attached to Church sex scandals, but more a function of  rebellion against authority.  Many are upset with the Church's taking sides in political battles and its intervention in social issues, such as Parliament's debate over in vitro fertilization.  In part to counter the secularizing movement, last month a 108 foot high statue of Jesus was erected in the small western Polish town of Swiebodzin.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 12, 2010 (boomark / email).