Catholic Churches Look to Poland to Solve Priest Shortages

Whilst the number of men seeking to enter into the priesthood slumps across Europe, Catholic churches are turning to Poland where priests are becoming one of the country’s newest exports.

At Krakow’s Franciscan Missionary Centre, displays of African masks and Asian costumes pay homage to the days when priests trained here were sent off to spread the Roman Catholic faiths in distant lands.

These days, however, half of the missionaries trained at the 600-year-old centre will not go much further than their European neighbours, with the exception of those who take a hop over the water to North America.

"The Church is universal, not just Polish," said Father Marek Lesniak at the Krakow seminary, whose alumni man parishes of this large archdiocese and also work in Austria, Britain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United States as well as Russia, Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazil.