Das Bollwerk des Katholizismus wankt

Even in Poland, the Catholic Church is in deep crisis - in a country that used to be considered one of the last bastions of Catholicism in Europe. Women are demonstrating by the tens of thousands against abortion legislation and combining this with sharp criticism of the Church. Polish cardinals are being reprimanded by Pope Francis, even the late Polish Pope John Paul II has been caught in the maelstrom of criticism from his countrymen.
Reinhold Vetter analyses the historical, political, and social background for the belated onset of secularisation in this country: from Christianisation in the Middle Ages to the special path under communism, to current developments.