Poland: Sharp Drop in Vocations

Whereas the 84 diocesan seminaries of Poland had received 1,029 new candidates for the academic year 2006-2007, they were only 786 at the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year. This means a drop of 24%. The total number of seminarians registered a 10% drop over a year. The Church in Poland also made known that admissions in men and women religious orders were also on the decrease.
Bishop Wojciech Polak, who is in charge of the National Council of the Ministery of Vocations, struck a reassuring note when interviewed by ENI agency: “We are not yet witnessing a radical disaffection for vocation, nor experiencing a serious lack of priests.” He does not think that the drop in vocations is due to the bad publicity done to the Church in Poland because of the infiltration of the clergy by the secret police of the former communist regime, nor to the accusations leveled at the Catholic radio station Radio Maryia for its nationalistic leanings.
“The decision to enter the religious life is not taken under the influence of short term events,” said Bishop Polak who is also the president of the European Vocational Service for the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences. He added: “Today’s culture discourages steady lifelong commitments.” And he observed that “Poland is affected by demographic changes on a European scale, and anyway, the number of potential candidates is in decline.” (Sources: Apic/ENI)