More Polish Priests Needed for Churches in UK

With a flood of Poles pouring into Britain after Poland joined the European Union, the Roman Catholic Church urgently needs more Polish priests to minister to their native congregants.

Thousands of Poles board planes and buses every week in search of work in Britain, as Britain is among only a handful of EU countries to have fully opened its job market to migrants from eastern Europe.

About two million of Poland's 38 million people have left since accession in 2004, sparking concerns that a "brain drain" of entrepreneurial young workers could lead to a skills shortage back home.

"We have recently got in eight new priests from Poland. We need more but the problem is where to accommodate them," said Monsignor Tadeusz Kukla, the Vicar Delegate for Poles in England and Wales.

"There are over 500,000 Poles working in Britain. We encourage them to integrate but we want to preserve their religion and culture. Once they lose their identity, they lose everything," Kukla told Reuters.

Kukla, overseeing more than 130 Polish-language churches in his mission, said: "Confession is the language of the heart. I have been here over 25 years but I still pray in Polish."

Poland's consul-general in London, Janusz Wach, reckoned up to 3,000 Poles are living rough on the streets of Britain. Many are turning to crime to fund themselves and some have become alcoholics and drug addicts, he said.

Another big problem for a Catholic church trying to tend to a transient flock is knowing how long the workers will stay.

"It is a moving population. If the situation improves in Poland, then they will go home just like the Irish people did," Kukla said.