Opting out of Religious Education and the Religiosity of Youth in Poland: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

For several years now, a large number of secondary school students in Poland have given up Religious Education. The basic hypothesis is that the religiosity of young people is the main correlate with the abandoning of religion classes. In order to analyze this phenomenon, qualitative research was carried out in the form of in-depth interviews with secondary school students who had opted out of religion classes. The interviews were conducted in January and February 2022, with 29 students of randomly selected general secondary schools from various cities of Poland who had opted out of Religious Education. The technique called computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) was used. Young people were first asked about their reasons for giving up Religious Education, and then about their religiosity. The 16 questions in the interviews were divided into the following groups: attitude to Religious Education at school; and attitude to faith and religious practices, with reference to the Church and Catholic morality. These studies have shown that an increasing percentage of young people do not identify with the Catholic Church and do not want to participate in confessional Catholic Religious Education. The main conclusion of the study is to rethink the current concept of Religious Education in Poland so that it will be more open to students with different religious beliefs and worldviews.