The Church is under scrutiny. IBRiS: Public trust is falling dramatically.

The Catholic Church has lost the trust of nearly a quarter of society over the past nine years, according to a study conducted by IBRiS for the Polish Press Agency (PAP). Currently, just over a third of Poles declare trust in the Church.

According to the IBRiS survey, the total percentage of people who declare trust ("definitely" or "rather") in the Catholic Church fell from 58% in September 2016 to 35.1% in September 2025. This is a drop of 22.9 percentage points.

At the same time , the level of distrust almost doubled over the same period, from 24.2% to 47.1%.

IBRiS noted that the "most alarming change" occurred over the past year. Between October 2024 and September 2025, the aggregate trust index fell by 4.3 percentage points.

The Institute noted that this is one of the worst rates of decline recorded in the history of the survey. According to IBRiS, during the same period, the percentage of "strongly distrustful" respondents increased by 4.8 percentage points, suggesting that this group is the main factor in the decline.

"The presented results leave no doubt – we are facing a crisis of trust at an unprecedented rate. A decline of over 4 percentage points in just one year signals that the existing processes of trust erosion have accelerated. The institution of the Church is increasingly losing its position as a natural authority in society, which is particularly visible in the growing group of people who strongly distrust it. These results indicate the need for deep reflection and a strategic shift in communication to regain at least some of the lost social capital," said Kamil Smogorzewski, Communications Director at IBRiS.

According to the Institute, the survey also shows a growing polarization of attitudes toward the Church. The percentage of people who "strongly trust" the Church has reached a record low of 7.2%, while the group of "strongly distrustful" people accounts for 26.1%.

The survey was conducted on September 12-13, 2025, on a representative sample of 1,067 adult Poles, using the CATI method. (PAP)

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