Page 32 - LOTN Autumn Issue 54 2023

FAITH AND CULTURE

przeciwstawienia się obecnie głoszonym ideom, które za katolicki, które nadal będą cenić swoje katolickie dziedzictwo
wiele lat zapewne będą już bardzo mocno zakorzenione, a i widzieć w tym drogę prawdy, drogę do Nieba, a nie czynnik
mam tu na myśli skrajny indywidualizm, hedonizm, nihilizm zagrażający ich autonomii. I ufam, że Polacy na obczyźnie
i bawienie się w boga, który sam stwarza zasady moralne nadal będą wybierali autentyczne wartości, którymi
i przez to popada w relatywizm, nie potrafiąc odróżnić kierowali się nasi przodkowie, Jan Paweł II i inni wielcy święci
prawdziwego dobra od zła. ziemi polskiej. A dlaczego tak myślę? Bo Polacy żarliwą walkę
Pomimo wszystko wierzę, że w Szkocji, za wiele lat wciąż o wiarę mają we krwi.
będzie wiele polskich dusz, wspierających lokalny Kościół

Polish Catholicism In Scotland - Where

will we be in ten year's time?

BY LIDIA KONAR

oles are undoubtedly a significant group in Great Britain: We are one of difficult and exhausting. It should be mentioned here that the current Bishop of
the largest ethnic minorities in this country and our language is the Aberdeen, Hugh Gilbert, is very favourable to Poles and tries to support them as
third-most widely spoken in the UK. Many of my compatriots, like much as he can. There are some who may ask: "Why do you need a Polish priest
Pmyself, are Catholics. I think I am not exaggerating when I say that if you live in Scotland?” Well, it is not about trying to distance ourselves from the
Poles have helped to revive Catholicism not only in Scotland, but in Great locals - a priest who can speak our mother tongue is a great gift in exile. You may
Britain, in general. In this article I would like to discuss the subject of Polish speak several foreign languages, but your mother tongue will always be the one
Catholics in Scotland and what their religiosity will look like in ten year's time. closest to your heart. These are our roots, our identity. You experience confession
The local Polish community consists now of several generations: over 160,000 differently in your own language and a fragment of the Gospel heard in your
of our compatriots settled on Scottish soil after World War II, mainly due to the native language resounds differently in your heart.
arrangements made at the Yalta Conference in 1945, according to which Poland In a decade, there may be significantly fewer Polish priests in Scotland
was handed over to Stalin, the leader of the USSR. Polish soldiers returning to than there are now. Perhaps these and other difficulties will overwhelm our
the new, "people’s homeland",which was then controlled by communists who compatriots and some of them will leave the Church. I cannot vouch for all
carried out Soviet orders, had little chance of survival let alone a normal existence my fellow countrymen and women who practise Catholicism at present, but I
- the communist government considered them the greatest enemies of the new believe that, despite everything, many of them will remain in the Church. I think
system. Consequently, many Poles decided to remain in Britain. Further Polish we’ve got a bit used to the rotation of Polish priests in the Granite City. When yet
migrants came to Scotland in the second half of the 1960s, and then at the turn another priest leaves, you can say: "Well, it’s hard. Somehow though you must
of the 1970s and 1980s. All the above-mentioned groups today constitute a very live on. Many years ago, they weren’t here, and yet you went to church. Why
small percentage of the faithful of the local Catholic Church, because most of the would you stop now when they’re gone?”.
first generation are no longer alive. The Catholic Church in Scotland was greatly Firstly, the seeds of faith are usually planted in the home of your birth. This
strengthened by the influx of Polish emigration after Poland’s accession to the is where we learn to pray, where we observe the example of our loved ones:
European Union - in the first three years after accession, from 400,000 to over grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and extended family. It is largely thanks
a million of our compatriots arrived in Britain. Today, a large part of this young to them and to their example of: regular attendance at Mass; receiving the
Polish community attends Sunday Masses in various parts of Scotland. According sacraments of confession and holy communion and embracing the other
to the 2011 Scottish census, over 70% of Poles identified themselves as Catholic traditions of the Church, that we are now churchgoers. It is similar when it comes
and this group constituted over 5.5% of all Catholics in Scotland. In recent years, to performing good works such as the giving of alms and devotion to the cult of
the number of Polish churchgoers has decreased slightly. A large group of our saints. I suspect that in ten years time there will still be such holy Polish families
compatriots returned to Poland, or changed their country of residence due to in Scotland.
Brexit, when the United Kingdom (UK) withdrew from the European Union. The Secondly, the strong Christian tradition in Poland dates back to the 10th
Covid pandemic which followed was no doubt also a factor. In 2021, about 40,000 century. It was carefully nurtured by subsequent generations, and it was in
fewer Poles lived in Scotland, the total number being reduced to approximately the Church that Poles sought solace during the Swedish invasion of the Polish-
62,000. Of those that remained there were also those Poles who stopped going Lithuanian Commonwealth when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was
to church, not wanting to stand out amongst their secular Scottish neighbours. torn between its three neighbours - Russia, Prussia and Austria, and erased from
It’s not easy to be a Catholic abroad. There are many barriers, not least that the map of Europe for 123 years. Faith also helped the Polish nation survive the
of language. The future of Polish Catholics needs to be seen in context. First of difficult times of World War I, the period of shaping the borders in 1918-20 and
all - there are no independent Polish parishes in Scotland - there are only Polish the related skirmishes with its neighbours, including the famous Polish-Bolshevik
chaplains attached to local parishes, so therefore, the Polish community cannot war. Thanks to the Church, Poles survived 44 years of communism. The Church in
make any decisions on its own but are subject to the will of an administrator of Poland supported social liberation movements, including “Solidarity”, and thus
a given parish. Moreover, in Scotland, for several years there has been a visible contributed to political changes. This wonderful heritage is undoubtedly a very
crisis related to the number of Holy Masses in Polish, and with the availability important factor shaping contemporary Polish Catholics, including those living
of Polish priests. This has affected many communites, which can be seen in the abroad.
example of various communities, including the Polish Catholic community in Thirdly, Poles have a large pool of saints to draw inspiration from - among the
Aberdeen. Over the past few years, several Polish priests have left the Granite City Catholic saints and blessed there are about 300 people associated with Poland,
- the last one left in October 2022. Currently, the duties of the Polish chaplain in including many who lived in the recent past such as St Brother Albert, a great
Aberdeen are temporarily performed by Fr Piotr Rytel, who also serves as a priest advocate of the poor, St Faustyna Kowalska, the apostle of Divine Mercy, St
in Banff which is 46 miles away. He doesn’t complain but it must make his job Maksymilian Kolbe, martyr of mercy, or Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko murdered

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