The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Religiosity in Poland

Abstract

Background: Poland is one of Europe’s most religious societies. Methods: The article presents the results of an online survey conducted in April 2020 during the period of the Polish government’s strictest restrictions to date in response to the pandemic. A quota sample of 1001 adult Poles was surveyed. Results: Around one-fifth (21.3%) of people declared that they spent more time praying and engaging in other religious practices than previously. As many as 61.3% of people who previously practiced religion several times a week spent more time on these practices, and, more interestingly, religious observance also increased among people who had previously practiced only once every few years (15.9%) and those who had not previously practiced at all (7.4%). People who previously practiced sporadically or not at all, but who began to pray more during the pandemic, are found to be distinguished from others by a greater fear of losing their job. Spending more time on religious observance is shown to be related to, e.g., disregard for some government restrictions, possession of less knowledge about COVID-19, and a greater tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. Conclusions: Overall, religious practices increased during the Polish spring lockdown. Although these increases are unlikely to be long-lasting, changes in religiosity caused by COVID-19 appear to be a real phenomenon. As the pandemic continues, more research on different aspects of this phenomenon is needed.

A Typology of Poles’ Attitudes toward COVID-19 during the First Wave of the Pandemic

“…Our bivariate analysis showed that people who participated most frequently in religious rituals mostly displayed a cautious attitude (51%; other people being split equally among the other two attitudes, 24.5% each). Restrictions imposed by the state, which included restrictions on participating in religious rituals, were certainly difficult for such people, and the Polish media reported violations of government restrictions in connection with religious rituals [ 47 ].…”

The Experience and Correlates of God’s Silence among Christians

“…It can therefore be said that a sense of God's absence or inaccessibility is not a rare phenomenon and that it is linked with doubts concerning His existence or His nature (i.e., attributes). A survey study on the effect of faith and spirituality on coping with the consequences of coronavirus among Polish Christians (Kowalczyk et al 2020) revealed that for most respondents they were a positive strategy of coping with distress, but not always a sufficient one in the face of the threat experienced (Boguszewski et al 2020;Sulkowski and Ignatowski 2020). The aim of the present study was to check the prevalence of the experience of God's silence among Christians during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Wilt et al 2020), and 67% of respondents in a representative Polish sample admitted that they experienced tensions in their relationship with God (Zarzycka 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic situation also influenced the amount of religious and spiritual struggles experienced by Christians (Dein et al 2020); this was the case in Poland too (Boguszewski et al 2020;Kowalczyk et al 2020;Sulkowski and Ignatowski 2020). Conducted on a sample of 771 subjects, mostly Christians with a moderate or high level of religiosity, our research addressed the significant role of the experience of God's silence in the human spiritual and mental spheres.…”

An Exploratory Study on the Attitudes of the Greek Believers towards the State’s Measures during the First Wave of Coronavirus Pandemic

“…Given this strong relationship between church activities and the spread of the virus, governments of the world justifiably "took drastic measures" such as the restriction of religious activities and "the closing of churches" in order to limit the spread of coronavirus (Vermeer and Kregting 2020). Further, Boguszewski et al (2020) in Poland conducted a quantitative and survey research of a sample of 1001 respondents about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Poles' religiosity as measured by increased devotion to prayer and other religious practices during the pandemic. This research has shown that religious practices increased during the Polish government's strictest lockdown (Boguszewski et al 2020).…”

“…Further, Boguszewski et al (2020) in Poland conducted a quantitative and survey research of a sample of 1001 respondents about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Poles' religiosity as measured by increased devotion to prayer and other religious practices during the pandemic. This research has shown that religious practices increased during the Polish government's strictest lockdown (Boguszewski et al 2020).…”