The New Parochialism? Polish Migrant Catholic Parishes on the Path of Change

Abstract

The text engages with the ongoing discussion about the role played by religion in social life, with attention paid to transnational dynamics of religiosity in migrants’ individual experiences, expectations and modes of involvement. We concentrate on the research problem: how does the Roman Catholic Church, through the networks of the faithful, facilitate, challenge, and intersect with the adaptation or integration of migrants in their new settings? The study draws on a survey conducted with a sample (n = 620) Polish Catholics in Great Britain in 2019. With the cluster analysis, we distinguished five categories of participants in parish life. The results of the study concern the declared expectations of the respondents in the confessional and non-confessional (charity, leisure, tourist, or cultural) activities. It shows two paths of respondents’ religious experience: the old parochialism and the new one. The first attitude, represents a general religious-community context, while the second one emphasizes socio-cultural background and cooperative style of work based on associations and goals-achievement. Our findings concern the socio-cultural specificity of migrants resulting from belonging to migrant parishes outside Poland and how this specificity can be juxtaposed with information concerning mainstream Catholic parishes in Great Britain.