Neglected and beaten children of Polish immigrants suffer in British foster care, writes daily Polska.

The number of mistreated Polish children in Great Britain is on the rise, with over 100 of them already taken away from the parents by state social services, writes daily Polska. This is exceptionally hard for these children, as they are placed with foreign foster families, where they feel alienated from the environment; very often they don’t even speak English. This situation was to be expected, writes a columnist with the paper. Millions of Poles travelled to Britian over the last couple of years, most of them unemployed, so it was obvious that not everyone would be successful, and failure could trigger pathological behaviour in some of these people. Such cases have already been highlighted by the media. The efforts of consulate officials or charity organizations, though appreciated, are not enough to solve the problem. These children need to be taken back to their homeland, to Polish foster homes. It’s the government’s and the society’s responsibility to bring these children back. Ombudsman for children’s rights Marek Michalak has already pledged to help remedy the situation, writes the newspaper.

Over a half of seminary candidates in Warsaw are graduates of schools of higher education, writes Życie Warszawy. This is quite surprising as earlier the applicants were younger and mainly former students of general and technical secondary schools. This year’s freshmen of Warsaw’s Theological Seminary include a physicist, chemist and a marketing specialist. A priest cited by the paper has said that people in their late twenties have experienced a lot in their secular life and so their choices are more well-considered than that of younger people. Also, while the numbers of applicants across the country are falling, Warsaw has on the other hand seen a growing interest of males in priesthood.

The Polish government or the politicians haven’t officially reacted to the ongoing violence against Christians in India as yet, writes catholic newspaper Nasz Dziennik. Meanwhile, the European Parliament has adopted a resolution condemning the attacks against the country’s religious minority. Deputy head of the ruling Civic Platform parliamentary club was quoted as saying that persecutions must not become a political issue, as any engagement of a political party in religious matters is bound to end in a religious conflict.

Smoking has now ceased to be an intrinsic element of social life, writes Dziennik, on the basis of a comparison of two surveys conducted by Polish research agency TNS OBOP in 1974 and 2008. It looks as though the Poles’ attitude towards cigarettes has changed over the years, as smokers are no longer perceived as stylish, elegant or sophisticated, and are now seen as egoists emitting poisonous carcinogenic fumes. Moreover, the number of sporadic smokers and regular smokers has since decreased. For instance, the percentage of those consuming around 20 cigarettes a day has fallen from 52 to 46 percent. Also, more people are willing to kick the habit, which may be attributed to the modern-day image of non-smokers.