THE Roman Catholic Church is trying to poach priests from Poland to work in Scotland as it struggles to cope with expanding congregations of immigrants.

About 20,000 Poles have arrived in Scotland in the past two years, after Poland joined the European Union, and they now make up a large proportion of congregations in many chapels. The number of Polish priests recruited in Scotland has risen from two to 10 in the past two years but the church says this is not enough to cope with growing demand.

Now Scottish bishops are approaching their counterparts in Poland to recruit priests to work in this country.

As well as assisting at English-speaking masses, priests are holding separate Polish masses for those with poor English or who prefer to worship in their native language.

As part of the recruitment drive, Bishop Peter Moran of the diocese of Aberdeen travelled to Poland earlier this year to entice priests to come to Scotland.

Father Ryszard Swider, from Krakow, is one who took up the call. He is now based at St Mary’s cathedral in Inverness, where the Polish contingent makes up around a third of the congregation.

“We now hold two special masses a month and I travel throughout the diocese to hold masses in Polish in Invergordon and Fort William. We are also planning to hold Polish masses in Aviemore and Grantown-on-Spey,” said Swider, 50, who had never been to Scotland before.

“The people from Poland who live here have many different jobs, including working in factories, in the fish industry and in hotels and restaurants. The Polish people are very happy and some of them are trying to learn English but, even if they speak English, it is one thing to know the language and another to pray in it. The religious vocabulary is not the same that you come across in common life.

“But while every nation has its own traditions as well as its own way of praying, the gospel is the same.”

Father Michael Savage, of St Mary’s cathedral in Aberdeen, who works with Swider, said: “Most of our masses are full, with around 300 people attending of whom about one third are from Poland. Having a resident priest from Poland does make a huge difference.”

Poles, who are almost all Catholic, forged strong links with Scotland during the second world war and the Scottish Catholic church is keen to make them feel at home.

A spokesman for the church said: “St Mary’s church in Edinburgh now holds two masses in Polish, with around 1,000 people attending, and it also has a notice board at the back.

“The number of Polish people in Scotland has boosted our congregations at a time when over the past 10 years we have seen a fall of maybe 18%.”

Vincent Logan, the Bishop of Dunkeld, has sent out a letter encouraging Polish immigrants to attend not only mass in Polish but also in English with the hope that they will become “fully part of the Catholic community” in the diocese.

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