WARSAW, Poland – A national Catholic newspaper has become Poland’s top-selling weekly, outstripping its secular competitors.
Gosc Niedzielny (Sunday Guest), a 92-page tabloid owned by the Archdiocese of Katowice, was confirmed Aug. 23 as the country’s highest-circulation weekly with more than 144,000 copies.
Father Tomasz Jaklewicz, deputy editor, told Catholic News Service Aug. 26 that the paper had benefited from a vigorous chief editor, Father Marek Gancarczyk, and youthful editorial team, as well as from support by Catholic parishes nationwide.
He said the staff had made sure the paper is “contemporary and up-to-date in form and content and addresses the issues most preoccupying people here in an open, approachable way.”
ZKDP, the association that controls Poland’s press distribution, said Gosc Niedzielny, which runs local editions in half of the country’s 34 Catholic dioceses, had boosted sales by 5.5 percent in the past year, overtaking its nearest secular rival, Polityka, whose circulation fell by 2 percent to 142,000.
Father Jaklewicz said Gosc Niedzielny offered a positive sign to counter media claims that the Polish Catholic Church faced decline with falling priestly vocations and Mass attendance.
“Although the church has its problems and weaknesses, there are many good, hopeful things happening as well,” he said.
“The mainstream media generally paints a negative picture of church life and also reflects the secular perspective of Warsaw and other large cities. By contrast, we’re closer to the majority of society and not affected by anti-church pressures,” he said.