Supermarket chapel idea angers Poland

Architect Eric Kuhne told the weekend edition of the daily Zycie Warszawy that malls "should be connected to the culture and traditions of the city". While more than 90 per cent of Poles claim to be believers, the numbers going to mass and obeying the fourth commandment - to remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy - have dwindled as more and more families spend their Sundays in the hypermarkets that have sprung up in recent years. Some priests welcomed Kuhne's idea, saying it would "bring them closer to the faithful" and pointing out that Polish airports, hospitals and even the Parliament have places of worship. But Zycie Warszawy quoted former member of Parliament Jozefa Hennelowa, a Catholic journalist, as saying that "supermarkets are symbols of consumerism and installing places for prayer would be like setting up a fair in a church."