
-
Shaken NATO allies to meet Trump's top diplomat
-
Israel's Netanyahu arrives in Hungary, defying ICC warrant
-
Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children
-
Stocks tank, havens rally as Trump tariffs fan trade war
-
Altomare hangs on to tie defending champ Korda at LPGA Match Play
-
Paraguay gold rush leaves tea producers bitter
-
Health concerns swirl as Bolivian city drowns in rubbish
-
Syria says deadly Israeli strikes a 'blatant violation'
-
Financial markets tumble after Trump tariff announcement
-
Starbucks faces new hot spill lawsuits weeks after $50mn ruling
-
Europe riled, but plans cool-headed response to Trump's tariffs
-
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
-
New coal capacity hit 20-year low in 2024: report
-
Revealed: Why monkeys are better at yodelling than humans
-
Key details on Trump's market-shaking tariffs
-
'A little tough love': Top quotes from Trump tariff talk
-
US business groups voice dismay at Trump's new tariffs
-
Grealish dedicates Man City goal to late brother
-
US tariffs take aim everywhere, including uninhabited islands
-
Trump sparks trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
Israeli strikes hit Damascus, central Syria; monitor says 4 dead
-
Slot 'hates' offside rule that gave Liverpool win over Everton
-
US stocks end up, but volatility ahead after latest Trump tariffs
-
Barca oust Atletico to set up Clasico Copa del Rey final
-
Mourinho grabs Galatasaray coach's face after losing Istanbul derby
-
Grealish strikes early as Man City move up to fourth in Premier League
-
Reims edge out fourth-tier Cannes to set up PSG French Cup final
-
Liverpool beat Everton as title looms, Man City win without Haaland
-
Jota wins bad-tempered derby as Liverpool move 12 points clear
-
Inter and Milan level in derby Italian Cup semi
-
Stuttgart beat Leipzig to reach German Cup final
-
Trump unveils sweeping global tariffs
-
Italian director Nanni Moretti in hospital after heart attack: media
-
LIV Golf stars playing at Doral with Masters on their minds
-
Trump unveils sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs
-
Most deadly 2024 hurricane names retired from use: UN agency
-
Boeing chief reports progress to Senate panel after 'serious missteps'
-
Is Musk's political career descending to Earth?
-
On Mexico-US border, Trump's 'Liberation Day' brings fears for future
-
Starbucks faces new hot spill lawsuit weeks after $50mn ruling
-
Ally of Pope Francis elected France's top bishop
-
'Determined' Buttler leads Gujarat to IPL win over Bengaluru
-
US judge dismisses corruption case against New York mayor
-
Left-wing party pulls ahead in Greenland municipal elections
-
Blistering Buttler leads Gujarat to IPL win over Bengaluru
-
Tesla sales slump as pressure piles on Musk
-
Amazon makes last-minute bid for TikTok: report
-
Canada Conservative leader warns Trump could break future trade deal
-
British band Muse cancels planned Istanbul gig
-
'I'll be back' vows Haaland after injury blow

Young Poles abandoning 'frozen' Catholic Church
It is still one of Europe's most Catholic countries but Poland is seeing a rapid secularisation -- particularly among younger generations.
"The children on my courses barely know who Adam and Eve were," said Dawid Gospodarek, a journalist from the Catholic press agency who teaches ethics and religious culture at a school in Warsaw.
According to the latest polls by the CBOS institute, 84 percent of Poles say they are Catholic and 42 percent say they are practising.
Among 18-24-year-olds, only 23 percent say they are practising -- compared to 69 percent in 1992.
Theologian and anthropologist Stanislaw Obirek says the Church has lost relevance for young people because of a refusal to move with the times.
"The Polish Church played a crucial role in the liberation from the Communist regime in the 1980s," said Obirek from the University of Warsaw.
"It retains a superior attitude and a frozen hierarchy that rejects modernisation," he said.
"Poles who have grown up in an open society no longer recognise themselves in it."
- 'Spiritually empty' -
Young people are increasingly turning away from an institution often perceived as being in crisis, damaged by revelations of sexual abuse and accusations of interlinkage with political authorities.
A symptom of this trend is mockery of the late pope John Paul II, an emblematic figure of Polish Catholicism whose statues dot the country.
The number 2137 -- the exact time of his death in 2005 at the age of 84 -- has become an ironic code on social media for making fun of the Polish pontiff.
For young people who do go to church, talking about faith is no longer seen as normal.
"It is impossible for me to talk about religion with my friends because they make fun of me," said Weronika Grabowska, a 25-year-old economy student.
Grabowska remembers "spiritually empty" masses from her childhood with old-fashioned sermons.
"If a priest reproached me for living with my partners without being married, I would be sad. Then I would go look elsewhere," she said.
Sexuality and reproductive rights are one of the points of tension between the Church and society.
"In the 1990s, homosexuality was seen as an invention of the decadent West," said Robert Samborski, a former seminarian who lost his faith.
Like many, Samborski was sent to a seminary "like other young men not interested in women".
"LGBTQ+ people have been more visible in recent years which makes the homophobic discourse of the Church unacceptable" said Samborski.
- Reform or tradition? -
While Samborski and others predict a collapse for the Polish Catholic Church, some believers hope for reform of the institution.
The Catholic organisation Congress advocates a more liberal approach to religion and contests the clerical hegemony in Poland.
Its members align themselves more with the more open approach of Pope Francis and progressive German Catholics, who have for example allowed blessings for homosexual couples in church.
"I would like to be adopted by the German Catholic Church," said Uschi Pawlik, a bisexual Catholic who works in the foundation Faith and Rainbow.
She is "not very optimistic" about the future of Polish Catholicism and its capacity to reform itself.
Other groups of believers hold to more traditional views and see Poland as a last bastion for Catholicism.
Piotr Ulrich, a 22-year-old organist, attends the Latin mass practised in some Warsaw parishes.
In his circles, condemnation of sex before marriage, homosexuality, abortion and in vitro fertilisation are not subject to debate.
Ulrich said Poland has a "messianic role" for Christianity and says the Church's power is "in the propagation of a clear message not the dilution of its identity".
T.Bondarenko--BTB