Post by rdywenur on Aug 17, 2007 23:18:09 GMT -7
Poles spark church boom
www.expressandstar.co.uk
8/15/07
Roman Catholic churches around the Midlands are enjoying a boom in
popularity due to the influx of thousands of Polish workers and
their families.
Local priests said their once-flagging congregations had been
boosted by the arrival of thousands of Poles in the Black Country,
Staffordshire and wider areas.
In Wolverhampton, Polish priest Kazimierz Stefek, pictured, has been
working at St Mary and St John's Church in Snow Hill for four years
and said at least a fifth of his congregation came from the Eastern
European country.
"At weekend mass we have around 250 people attend and, at the very
least, 50 of those will be Polish," he said today. "There has been
an increase here at the church and the number keeps growing over
time."
Stafford is also home to a Polish priest – Father Wladyslaw Marmol
of St Austin's Church, in Wolverhampton Road. Father Marmol came to
Stafford 30 years ago and performs mass every Sunday in Polish.
He said historically there had always been a large Polish community
in the borough since the Second World War, partly due to the need
for fruit pickers and other farm workers in surrounding agricultural
areas.
He said about seven per cent of the congregation was Polish, with
about 50 Poles attending mass every Sunday.
Poles, Africans, Americans and Filipinos are among the Bloxwich born-
and-bred worshippers at services at St Peter's RC Church in Walsall,
according to Father Michael Bonaccorsi, who is of Italian descent.
In Lichfield, Monsignor Michael Sharkey, from Holy Cross and St
Peter and Paul Churches, said there had been an increase in the
number of Poles attending both mass and the local primary school.
Monsignor Patrick McKinney at Our Lady and All Saints Catholic
Church, New Road, Stourbridge, said: "I know there probably is an
increase in Polish congregations at churches in the cities because
there are more job opportunities."
Kidderminster councillor Fran Oborski added: "The congregations at
Our Lady of Ostra Brama, in Pitt Street, are always full and it is
lovely because of all the children who attend."
Up to a sixth of Sunday churchgoers at St Michael's RC Church, West
Bromwich, are Polish.
www.expressandstar.co.uk
8/15/07
Roman Catholic churches around the Midlands are enjoying a boom in
popularity due to the influx of thousands of Polish workers and
their families.
Local priests said their once-flagging congregations had been
boosted by the arrival of thousands of Poles in the Black Country,
Staffordshire and wider areas.
In Wolverhampton, Polish priest Kazimierz Stefek, pictured, has been
working at St Mary and St John's Church in Snow Hill for four years
and said at least a fifth of his congregation came from the Eastern
European country.
"At weekend mass we have around 250 people attend and, at the very
least, 50 of those will be Polish," he said today. "There has been
an increase here at the church and the number keeps growing over
time."
Stafford is also home to a Polish priest – Father Wladyslaw Marmol
of St Austin's Church, in Wolverhampton Road. Father Marmol came to
Stafford 30 years ago and performs mass every Sunday in Polish.
He said historically there had always been a large Polish community
in the borough since the Second World War, partly due to the need
for fruit pickers and other farm workers in surrounding agricultural
areas.
He said about seven per cent of the congregation was Polish, with
about 50 Poles attending mass every Sunday.
Poles, Africans, Americans and Filipinos are among the Bloxwich born-
and-bred worshippers at services at St Peter's RC Church in Walsall,
according to Father Michael Bonaccorsi, who is of Italian descent.
In Lichfield, Monsignor Michael Sharkey, from Holy Cross and St
Peter and Paul Churches, said there had been an increase in the
number of Poles attending both mass and the local primary school.
Monsignor Patrick McKinney at Our Lady and All Saints Catholic
Church, New Road, Stourbridge, said: "I know there probably is an
increase in Polish congregations at churches in the cities because
there are more job opportunities."
Kidderminster councillor Fran Oborski added: "The congregations at
Our Lady of Ostra Brama, in Pitt Street, are always full and it is
lovely because of all the children who attend."
Up to a sixth of Sunday churchgoers at St Michael's RC Church, West
Bromwich, are Polish.
