The percentage of the population attending Mass fell marginally from 38.2 percent to 36.9 percent, with those taking holy communion falling from 17.3 percent in 2018 to 16.7 percent in 2019. The number of those christened in 2019 (372,900) fell by over 3.5 percent in the same period.
As in past years, the highest attendance figures as a proportion of the population were recorded in the south of the country, reaching over 60-70 percent. The lowest figures were recorded in the northwest and in the city of Łódz in central Poland (under 25 percent). This is of course reflected in the numbers of priests ordained in each diocese.
According to the Church’s own research institute, 87.6 percent of children attended religious instruction in schools. The figures in the big cities such as Warsaw tended to be up to 10 percentage points lower than in rural and southern Poland.
Meanwhile, the number of monks and nuns is relatively stable. However, the number of nunneries and monasteries has fallen by 2 percent year over year. The number of monks on foreign missions represents just over 25 percent of the total number in the Polish Church.
The year 2019 also saw an increased presence of the Catholic Church on the web.
The number of parish websites increased by 7.5 percent from 2016 figures, with 62.6 percent of parishes now having their own internet presence. Almost 25 percent of parishes now have their own profile on social media as well, representing an increase of 8 percent over 2016.
Title image: People walk by the Temple of Divine Providence, a major church in the Polish capital of Warsaw, Poland, AP images.
