Nearly Two-Thirds of Poland's Priests Want To Say 'I Do'

Tygodnik Powszechny is the weekly newspaper that caters to Poland's Catholic intelligentsia. Last week it lifted the "vail" of mystery exposing the results of a survey that indicated 60% of Roman Catholic priests in Poland want the right to marry and have families.

But, according to a yet to be published study, only a third of young priests in staunchly Catholic Poland who quit the priesthood do so for the sake of women.

Existential problems and ideals are the main reasons young priests quit. According to the social scientist, Jozef Baniak of Poznan's Adam Mickiewicz university, "A woman, if she appears, is in the background. First there is a crisis of the priest's identity and then he looks for someone in whom he can confide his problem.

Jesuit Father and psychologist Jacek Prusak told TP more and more priests consider leaving the priesthood because they feel lonely, isolated and misunderstood. "Not everyone can cope with the fact that at the beginning of the 21st century priests are no longer regarded as the priest they knew in their youth," he said.

The question of marriage I understand. The prospect of a divorce ...