Poles spark church boom

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.