Society

"I'm Staying in the Church." Who Are the Young Catholics?

Lednica 2000 youth gathering. Lednica Fields near Gniezno, June 6, 2015 / MAREK LAPIS / FORUM

Media attention focuses on the crisis in the Church and accelerating secularization. But many young people still find their spiritual home in Catholicism.

By Piotr Sikora

"Faith is, above all, a decision. My conscious faith began with that decision. Faith is trust arising from experiencing God in everyday life. To believe is to open one's heart to His presence and learn to find Him in the ordinary. For me, faith means seeking God in every single second," says twenty-five-year-old Weronika from Łódź, founder of the popular Instagram profiles @zbogiemsprawa and @kato_single.

A Conscious Minority

Weronika's profiles have tens of thousands of followers. Statistically speaking, however, Weronika is in the minority within her generation. As sociological research indicates, the secularization of Polish society accelerated sharply during the pandemic. The trend was particularly pronounced among young Poles. In 2021, the proportion of 18- to 25-year olds who did not attend church at all was twice as high as in 2015. Today it is one in every three young people, while only one in four attends services regularly. Among people in their thirties, the proportion of believers is only
slightly higher.

Was My Grandfather a Nazi? Germans Are Opening Up Their Family Archives

Millions of NSDAP documents have been posted online this year. Germans are increasingly looking into their ancestors’ wartime experiences. Will digital archives break through the wall of family amnesia? By Paweł Zarychta A few months ago, the acclaimed German writer Judith Hermann published her autobiographical novel entitled Ich möchte zurückgehen

Human Cannibalism. When Did It First Appear And What Does It Tell Us About Ourselves?

Why has a behaviour that is widespread in the natural world and has recurred many times throughout human history become subject to one of the strongest human taboos? By Kasper Kalinowski On 9 March 1945, at 9 am, the commander of a Japanese battalion, Major Matoba – who was later taken

Ian Rankin’s Scottish Tenacity. What Is the Secret Behind the Success of His Crime Novels?

Ian Rankin, author of the John Rebus series, has never really experienced a dip in form, even though he has sold tens of millions of books. After a break of several years, he returns with A Heart Full of Headstones. By Piotr Kofta The contemporary crime novel is governed by

No More Kisses

A vice-president with African-American or Asian roots, such as Kamala Harris, was unthinkable even to people whose job it is to make up stories in Hollywood. By Piotr Tarczyński No American politician aspires to the role of vice-president; no one enters politics in the hope of one