CATHOLIC POLAND INCREASINGLY DISTRUSTS CHURCH AMID PEDOPHILIA SCANDAL

Mon 21 December 2020:

Despite Poland being over 90 percent Catholic, a survey published on Thursday suggested that approximately 41 percent of Poles view the Church favorably. This is a decrease of 8 percent from September, according to The Straits Times Europe and a survey by the CBOS institute, quoted by the Polish news agency PAP.

Meanwhile, 47 percent of the 1,010 adults surveyed earlier this month said they disapproved of the Church, up from 41 percent in September.

The survey echoes the results of a poll by another group last month when 40.4 percent of respondents said they trusted the Church, a decrease from 58 percent four years ago. Similarly, 42.4 percent of Poles said they distrusted the Church.

The Church’s reputation in Poland has been impacted by scandals, such as that of Polish Bishop Edward Janiak who resigned in October over suspicions he covered up sexual abuse of children.

The Straits Times reported that since the scandal and demonstrations, increasing numbers of Poles have been formally leaving the Church and opting out of Church lessons in public school.

This is the lowest approval rating the Church has had since 1993. Investigative website OKO.press reported that people were dismayed by its “excessive” role in social and political life that year – a strict anti-abortion law took effect that January and Warsaw signed a treaty with the Vatican several months later. The situation now seems to have repeated itself, as many Poles are angered by new restrictions on abortion and dismayed that the clergy have been embroiled in sex abuse scandals.

The Catholic Church traditionally plays an important role in Poland, especially compared to fellow EU nations. The bishops and the Catholic media are considered one of the bedrocks of the support of the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.

However, the Church’s approval rating has been steadily declining in recent years. Its positive perception dropped below 50 percent in May 2019, which coincided with the premiere of a documentary about the sexual abuse of young boys by the Polish clergy. The film caused an uproar, receiving more than 20 million views on YouTube in just eight days.

The scandal was followed by the resignation of Edward Janiak, a bishop at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalisz, who was accused of shielding the priests that were implicated in abusing children.

The Church’s reputation took another dent in October, when the country’s highest court removed severe fetus deformities from the already short list of reasons for which a woman is legally permitted to seek an abortion. The ruling immediately sparked widespread protests across the country.

The fierce protests ultimately forced the government to miss the deadline for the certification of the court ruling, which has indefinitely delayed the implementation of the new abortion restrictions.

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