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Poland is often seen as a stronghold of the Catholic faith. Yet today, many Poles are now protesting against the Church’s political over-reach - by simply leaving.

With more secular, more ‘western’ ideas and movements penetrating what was once a bastion of Roman Catholicism in Eastern Europe, more and more people are deciding to part ways with the Church. While around 90% of Poles identify themselves as Catholics, only 40% go to church regularly: and that number is falling as the Church loosens its grip on society – as the country becomes what Poles themselves call ‘more European’.

The decision to leave is not an easy one. So just what is the practical side of apostasy? How does one formally ‘separate’ from the church? What does it mean for the individual as well as society? Once you are out, how does life change afterwards? And why is the phenomenon surging right now?

Presenter John Beauchamp follows the journey of a number of individuals who have either parted with the church or are in the process of doing so. We explore the struggles they have to embark on to tear themselves away from the Catholic church in Poland, which still tries to hold a firm moral grip on Polish society – and which often overreaches its permissible mandate by swaying voting habits and directly telling people how to lead their lives.

(Photo: A Pro-LGBT activist holds a portrait of the Virgin Mary that reads 'Jesus also had two fathers' during the annual Krakow Equality March 2020. Credit: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images)

Producers: Bartosz Panek and Jarosław Kociszewski
A Free Range and Overcoat Media Production for Â鶹Éç World Service